The Venice Biennale's International Festival of Contemporary Music was established in 1930 and was the first festival to run alongside the International Art Exhibition that had characterized the birth of the Biennale back in 1895. The 51st International Festival of Contemporary Music will be held in Venice from October 4 to 13. It will be directed by Giorgio Battistelli, of the International Festival of Contemporary Music from the Venice Biennale and chaired by Davide Croff.

Sixty-one composers from around the world - including from Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, China, Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe- with 17 commissions, 25 world premieres and 22 Italian premieres, will be the focus in Venice at the coming festival.

The prestigious award for lifetime achievement, symbolized by the Biennale's Golden Lion, will this year be assigned to Giacomo Manzoni. The prize is attributed "to the composer and intellectual of music who has spanned 50 years of activity, constantly exploring and renewing his language with an experimental approach stimulated by an intimate expressive need". In homage, the Orchestra di Verona will perform the world premiere of "La Legge," an early work by the maestro.

An international jury will instead award the Golden Lion for music of the present, chosen from the music and musicians invited to the Festival.