The RUTH World Music Prize

No one really knows how its name came about, not even those who originally launched the RUTH World Music Prize in the very early 2000s. It might have been an acronym for Rudolstadt and Thuringia, it could just as well have been an allusion to the English word ‘roots’ – or perhaps both! What’s undebatable is RUTH’s significance for the Rudolstadt-Festival: The winners’ concert is a highlight every year and the programme would be inconceivable without it.

The handmade RUTH trophy was first awarded in 2002. Ever since, it has been presented annually for outstanding achievements by musicians, journalists, scientists or organisers based in the German-speaking countries. Accordingly, the award figures highly in the identity and the public perception of world music in Germany. RUTH also helps emphasise the particular qualities of the genre compared to pop, rock, jazz or classical music.

The RUTH German World Music Prize is presented by the Rudolstadt-Festival. The awards ceremony takes place every year during the festival which starts on the first Thursday of July.