The laureate will now be commissioned to compose a work which takes into account the instrumentation possibilities of the Academy students, the Academy's website says.

Žuraj will compose a Raummusikwerk or spatial music, a composition which exploits the acoustic architectural possibilities of the Academy building.

The 36-year-old composer will receive the award during a gala concert in November next year.

Žuraj received several awards before, including the Prešeren Fund Prize last year for his musical breakthrough in Slovenia and abroad in the last two years.

"Through talent, determination, passion, and intense musical research, Žuraj created his own distinct musical language, incorporating compositional know-how and technology," the Prešeren Prize committee said at the time.

In 2012, the International Rostrum of Composers, an annual forum which promotes and publishes pieces of classical music, ranked his piece Warm Up piece as a recommended work.

He has also received a grant of the German art institute Villa Massimo in Rome, an important stepping stone for artists working in Germany.

Žuraj graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music and then continued his studies at the Carl Maria von Weber College of Music in Germany's Dresden.

He composes mostly symphonic, chamber, and electroacoustic music, but he is also an expert in digital music notation.

In recent years, his music has been played alongside prominent international artists and ensembles, such as Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain.

The Claudio Abbado Composition Prize is named after the chief composer of the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra Academy from 1989 to 2002. Past laureates include Jörg Widmann (2006), Bruno Mantovani (2010), and Valerio Sannicandro (2014).