Jerusalem - Two outstanding figures in the world of music, Pierre Boulez and Riccardo Muti, will share the $100,000 Wolf Prize in the Arts for 2000, it was announced today.

Maestro Pierre Boulez, 74, is cited as "one of the most creative personalities in the realm of music." The Wolf Prize jury stated that "he is simultaneously a great composer, an outstanding conductor, a philosopher of music and a distinguished teacher. Considered a prominent contemporary figure combining the creator and the investigator, he has gone a long way in the investigation of the acoustical limits of sound, as well as its influence on people."

Boulez is the creator and director of the IRCAM (Institute de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique) at the Pompidou Centre in Paris where investigators from the world over are intent on deciphering the codes that link music to human beings.

Maestro Riccardo Muti, 58, is "one of the most outstanding conductors of our time" it was said. "His musical charisma brings excitement to concert halls and opera houses. His creative activities have found expression beyond the boundaries of the domain of music. Muti constitutes one of the most important links in the chain of development of the image of the conductor, whose interpretation of the masterpieces of symphonic music and opera enriches the contemporary world of music", it was stated.

Principal Conductor of the Scala Philharmonic Orchestra since 1987, Maestro Muti was appointed Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonic Orchestra in London, and Musical Director and Conductor Laureate of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Viennese Philharmonic. His Mozart opera performances have become an important tradition at the Salzburg Festival over the years. He was awarded this year the honorary doctorate by the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED IN JERUSALEM IN MAY 2000

The Israel-based Wolf Foundation was established by the late German-born inventor, diplomat and philanthropist Dr. Ricardo Wolf. A resident of Cuba for many years, he became Fidel Castro's ambassador to Israel, a country in which he lived until his dead in 1981. Five annual Wolf Prizes have been awarded since 1978, to outstanding scientists and artists, "for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples, irrespective of nationality, race, color, religion, sex, or political view." The prizes, of $100,000 in each area, are given every year in four out of five scientific fields, in rotation: Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine and Physics. In the Arts, the Prize rotates among Architecture, Music, Painting and Sculpture. Until now, a total of 186 scientists and artists from 19 countries have been honored.

Previous Wolf Prize Laureates in Music include among others, composers Olivier Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Luciano Berio and Gyorgy Ligeti.

The 2000 Wolf Prizes will be conferred by the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Ezer Weizman, at a special ceremony, at the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem, on Sunday, May 21, 2000.