Sergej Newski receives one of Russia’s most prestigious cultural awards: the Golden Mask 2014. The Berlin-based composer is awarded for his opera Franziskus, which was premiered at the Bolschoi theatre in 2012. The Golden Mask is given to him, librettist Claudius Lünstedt and the artistic team of “Franziskus” for “reviving the subject of the sacred in contemporary musical drama and for the strong artistic result”.

The international awards were established in 1993 by the Theatre Union of Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Moscow Government. The prize ceremony took place at the Bolschoi Theatre on April 18, 2014.