On May 12th, in Royal Albert Hall, London, Arvo Pärt received the Composer of the Year award on the annual Classic Brit Awards gala.
The composer was there to collect his award and also to  make a speech, in which he expressed his appreciation towards Classic Brit Awards and his country.
Here Mr. Pärt words:

„I am greatly moved by this honour, it means a lot to me and my country. I would like to thank my colleague and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and of course my friend Manfred Eicher, the  legendary producer of ECM. I am also very happy that the award of this prestigious prize will allow the name of one man to be heard in this room, a man without whom my fourth symphony would never have been created and to whom this work is dedicated. This man is Russia’s number one political prisoner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has become a victim of state judicial terror. I pass this award in spirit to this man, to whose bravery and nobility I can only bow in awe….      Thank you!“
The nominees for Classic Brit Awards were announced on April the 7th and awards were given in 7 different categories.
In addition to six Artist of the Year awards, organizers celebrate also the Artist of the Decade awards.
The other two nominees for Composer of the Year were Eric Whitacre and Karl Jenkins.
The BPI- organisation which connects British music industries and artists- was founded in 1973 and Classic Brit awards are given since 2000, with the aim to give credit to different music forms from classic to modern and crossover music, from opera to movie music and from traditional music to theatre.
Awards give credit to solo musicians and music collectives on both national and international arena.
In 2003 Arvo Pärt recieved an award for his piece „Orient and Occident“ in the category of modern music.
In 2010 his 4th symphony recorded for ECM, recieved a great international attention and a considerable success among critics.
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