The ECHO KLASSIK 2017 award ceremony will take place on 29th October 2017 in the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg. German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk will host the gala, which will be broadcast on ZDF that same evening at 10pm. The submission period for the ECHO KLASSIK 2017 will get underway today, 20 February 2017. Record companies are invited to submit their best productions to the Deutsche Phono-Akademie, the Cultural Institute of the Federal Association of the German Music Industry (BVMI) by 10 March 2017. All submissions will be viewed and evaluated by a jury of renowned industry experts who will choose the final prizewinners in a special jury meeting. Submissions can be made online at <link http: www.echoklassik.de en nc klassik-einreichung _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>www.echoklassik.de/en/nc/klassik-einreichung/. For more information on the guidelines, please visit <link http: www.echoklassik.de en klassik-hintergrund external link in new>www.echoklassik.de/en/klassik-hintergrund.

BVMI Managing Director Dr. Florian Drücke: "We’re still savouring the wonderful night we had last year, which was also hosted by Thomas Gottschalk. And we’re already looking forward to the sequel in 2017 which will take place in the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, which has achieved legendary status only a few weeks after its opening – so it promises to be a really very special evening! Special thanks go out to our partners – the City of Hamburg's Cultural Authority and Germany’s TV broadcaster ZDF – for making this possible."
 
ECHO KLASSIK – A Gathering of National and International Classical Music Stars

The ECHO KLASSIK is one of the most prestigious music awards in the world. In 2017, it will be handed out for the 24th time in a row. Each year, a virtual who's-who of the classical music scene attends the glamorous ceremony.

The German music-industry body known as the Deutsche Phono-Akademie, the cultural institute of the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI), has organised the ECHO KLASSIK awards and honoured outstanding performances by national and international artists annually since 1994. The winners are chosen by a jury consisting of prominent industry experts. The key goals of the ECHO KLASSIK are to recognise extraordinary recordings but also to use the prestigious award to foster young talent and bring the fascination and diversity of classical music to a broader audience.