Thomas Adès has been awarded the Grand Prix artistique 2025 de la Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca by the Institut de France, in recognition of his extraordinary artistic and musical contribution. The prize is given in recognition of the entire career of an artist of international stature, alternately in the fields of painting, sculpture, and musical composition. The prize includes an endowment of €100 000. The award will be formally presented to the composer at a ceremony in Paris on 18 June.
Laurent Petitgirard, member of l’Académie des beaux-arts, said the celebrated 2024 performances of The Exterminating Angel in Paris “illustrated Adès' persuasive power and inventiveness, as well as his masterful conducting skills." In 2023 Adès led a sold-out run of his debut ballet score Dante at the Opéra national de Paris, choreographed by Wayne McGregor and designed by Tacita Dean. In November 2024 Adès was in residence at the Fondation Louis Vuitton as composer, conductor, and pianist.
His music has been a presence in France for nearly three decades, following the French premiere of Living Toys from Ensemble intercontemporain at IRCAM in 1996. In April 2026 Adès returns to Paris to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in the French premieres of Aquifer and In Seven Days, with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist. In August 2025 he and Kirill Gerstein perform the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris at the Festival Ravel and Festival de San Sebastián.