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Press Releases
New generation of composers win out in shortlist for British Composer Awards revealed on Radio 3's In Tune
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BBC Radio 3 today revealed the shortlist of composers
nominated for the British Composer Awards, the prestigious new
music awards run by the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters.
Significantly the age range for the nominees has continued to
drop and gives the classical community every reason to have
faith that the next generation of top UK composers are already
doing great work.
Nominated composers include Judith Bingham,
James MacMillan and Elliot Carter alongside younger composers
including John Holland, Luke Bedford and Joe Cutler.
This year an impressive 268 submissions were received for
works premiered between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008.
The
judging panels are made up of more than 60 music
professionals and have chosen three works in each category to
make up this year's shortlists.
Due to the open nomination
policy the selection of works accepted and judged is
extremely diverse.
A new initiative for 2008 is the Sonic Art Award. For the
first time a category will be devoted to the recognition of
Sonic Art, which will focus on live electronics, interactive
installations and collaborative multi-media performance.
Giving added weight to this innovation, there will also be two
Sonic Art performances wrapped into the Awards ceremony.
The
artists, Eugene Perera and Mick Grierson, will present their
interactive work as part of collaboration for the awards
between the academy and Sonic Arts Network.
Elliot Carter is on the shortlist for the International Award
for Three Illusions For Orchestra; Carter will be
celebrating his 100th birthday this year.
Joining him is one
of only three female composers to make this year's shortlist,
Kaija Saarioha for Mirage, and the established German
composer Hans Werner Henze for Sebastian im Traum which
premiered at the BBC Proms in 2007.
Radio 3 partners the British Academy of Composers &
Songwriters and the Performing Rights Society for the British
Composer Awards and today announced the shortlist on the In Tune programme.
Radio 3 also broadcasts a five-part series called Composing
Today as part of Performance On 3, which runs in the week
leading up to the awards ceremony on 2 December.
It will
explore many of the current issues surrounding contemporary
music.
Roger Wright, Controller of Radio 3 and Director of the
BBC Proms, says: "We are delighted to be associated with the British Composer
Awards for the sixth year running.
"The academy has made real
strides in highlighting the richness and diversity of
composition in this country, a scene which BBC Radio 3
uniquely supports with broadcasts and performances, and as the
world's most significant commissioner of new music."
Sarah Rodgers, Concert Chair of the British Academy of
Composers & Songwriters, comments:
"Entries for the awards this year were one of the strongest
sets we have received and this is reflected in the list of
nominees.
"An exceptional year and by no means dominated by
familiar names, this is the British Composer Awards working at
its very best, discovering emerging talent alongside
established creativity."
Ellis Rich, Chairman of PRS (Performing Right Society),
sponsors of the awards, comments:
"The wealth of talent represented by these nominations
underpins how vibrant and important the music scene is in the
UK.
"We are proud to be the sponsor of these awards and
continue to work hard for all the songwriters, composers and
music publishers we represent."
The winners of the 2008 British Composer Awards are announced
at the Law Society, London on Tuesday 2 December, and a
special programme devoted to the awards is broadcast on BBC
Radio 3, In Tune, on Wednesday 3 December at 7.00pm.
The nominations
Chamber
Joe Cutler - Folk Music
Jonathan Harvey - Sprechgesang
Dave Price - Lee's Game
Choral
James MacMillan - Tenebrae Responsories
Colin Matthews - Alphabicycle Order
Michael Zev Gordon - This Night
Community or Educational Project
No Award
Instrumental Solo or Duo *
Judith Bingham - Fantasia (from The Lost Works of Paganini series)
Patrick Nunn - Transilient Fragments
Jonathan Pitkin - Con Spirito
International Award
Elliott Carter - Three Illusions For Orchestra
Hans Werner Henze - Sebastian im Traum
Kaija Saariaho - Mirage
Liturgical
Judith Bingham - Missa Brevis Awake My Soul with accompanying anthem The Shepherd
James MacMillan - 4 Motets from The Strathclyde Motets
Howard Skempton - Three Motets
Making Music Award
Alexander Campkin - Counting My Numberless Fingers
John Holland - Green Sky
Cecilia McDowall - A Canterbury Mass
Orchestral
Luke Bedford - Wreathe
Rolf Hind - Maya-Sesha
Mark-Anthony Turnage - Ceres
Sonic Art **
Ed Hughes - Auditorium
Terry Mann - The Bells Of Paradise
Janek Schaefer - Extended Play
Stage Works
Jonathan Dove - The Adventures Of Pinocchio
James MacMillan - The Sacrifice
Edward Rushton - The Shops
Vocal
Joe Cutler - Akhmatova Fragments
Simon Holt - Suenos
Howard Skempton - The Moon Is Flashing
Wind Band or Brass Band
Adam Gorb - Adrenaline City
Gavin Higgins - A Forest Symphony
Joseph Phibbs - The Spiralling Night
* The winner of the Choral category will receive £5,000 funding from the PRS Foundation for New Music.
** The winner of the Liturgical category will receive £1,000 funding from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Notes to Editors
The British Composer Awards are run by the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters in association with BBC Radio 3 and are sponsored by the Performing Right Society (PRS).
The British Academy of Composers & Songwriters is the single voice for all music writers. With over 2,000 members, it is the recognised independent trade association for UK music creators.
The British Composer Awards is the only Awards event designed to celebrate contemporary classical composers in the UK. One of the awards' key objectives is to promote the commissioning and performance of contemporary music. They command equal respect alongside the academy's Ivor Novello and Gold Badge Awards.
Academy Fellows: John Adams, David Arnold, Sir Malcolm Arnold, John Barry, Pierre Boulez, Sir John Dankworth, George Fenton, Sir Elton John, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
PRS, the Performing Right Society, licenses the public performance of music on behalf of its 60,000 composer, songwriter and music publisher members and pays royalties to them according to the usage of their works. PRS works in an operational alliance with MCPS – the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (the MCPS-PRS Alliance) – creating a future for music.
Radio 3 Publicity
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