Ukraine's highest state cultural award — for the conceptual requiem dedicated to the fallen Mariupol residents. Ceremony 9 March 2026.
Sviatoslav Lunov became laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize 2026 in 'Music' category for the conceptual 'Requiem for Mariupol' (see separate news about the premiere) — Ukraine's highest state cultural award. The Shevchenko Prize Committee decision was announced 9 March 2026 — on Taras Shevchenko's birthday. This is Lunov's first Shevchenko Prize in his life (52 years old). The grounds for the award were the Committee's decision regarding 'the creation of «Requiem for Mariupol» as a composer-musicological achievement of national significance, integrating canonical Catholic-Orthodox requiem form with Ukrainian national traumatic experience of 2022-2026, creating a universal musical monument to the heroic defence of Mariupol'. Lunov redirects the laureate's prize (monetary in the amount of 240 thousand UAH) entirely to the Mariupol Restoration Foundation (founded by Pavlenko — see PR3). The prize award ceremony was held in Kyiv at the Great Hall of Kyiv Conservatory with the participation of Ukraine's President Olha Stefanyshyn, Composers' Union of Ukraine Chair Volodymyr Zubytskyi, premier conductor Volodymyr Sirenko. In his gratitude speech, Lunov emphasized: 'This requiem is not my composition. This is the composition of the Ukrainian people, which I had the opportunity to write down in notes. The prize belongs to each of the 70 thousand Mariupol residents who survived, and each of the 25 thousand who perished.' Honor concert ran immediately after the prize award — Kyiv Conservatory performed fragments of the Requiem.
