Rihm is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival. He was honoured as Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001. Most recently, he is the recipient of the 2015 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition sponsored by the University of Louisville for his orchestral work In-Schrift 2.