The Ivors Academy has announced the nominees for the 20th Ivors Composer Awards: and the composers in the frame for this year’s awards span a broad range of music, across the classical, jazz and sound art forms.
The winners will be revealed in a live ceremony on 15 November at the British Museum in London.
The awards, formally known as the British Composer Awards, were launched in 2003 and take place annually. A total of 45 works have been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award across nine categories, including community projects and stage works. The awards are supported by PRS for Music.
Some major names in classical music, including Thomas Adès, George Benjamin, Cecilia McDowall and Rebecca Saunders, are amongst the nominees. Elsewhere, though, almost half of the shortlist is made up of first-time nominees. These include composers Lara Agar, Kristina Arakelyan, Laurence Osborn, Hannah Kendall and Freya Waley-Cohen.
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The live awards ceremony will be hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenter and BBC Music Magazine columnist Tom Service, who is joined by Radio 3 colleague Hannah Peel. The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 19 November as part of the station’s New Music Show, the station’s weekly programme dedicated to the latest cutting-edge and experimental new music. The episode will also be available on BBC Sounds.
Many of this year’s nominated works use music to reflect on human experiences. Una Lee’s Down Gone explores themes of racism and sexism, Liz Dilnot Johnson’s When a Child is a Witness – Requiem for Refugees commemorates children affected by war displacement, whilst Laurence Osborn’s Essential Relaxing Classical Hits is about self-destruction in the age of late capitalism and social media.
Climate change and the natural world are also prominent in the nominated works. Pieces that address the environment include Daylighting by Louise Drewett, Scenes from the Wild by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (pictured top), Houses Slide by Laura Bowler, CORALe by Benjamin Graves, This Unquiet Autumn by Lara Agar, Beacons by Emily Peasgood, Natural World by Laurence Crane, Acts of Waves by Edmund Finnis and Birds of Paradise by Tori Freestone.
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Tom Gray, chair of The Ivors Academy, said: ‘For twenty years The Ivors Composer Awards have recognised and celebrated the talent and artistry of composers in this country. An Ivor Novello Award is judged by fellow composers and recognition from our peers makes these awards so meaningful. We are determined to increase the voice and influence of composers over the next two decades so that we strengthen and grow as a community.’
Alan Davey, Controller BBC Radio 3 and classical music, added: ‘It is with great joy and pride that we renew our partnership with The Ivors Composer Awards this year, in their 20th edition – 20 years of putting a spotlight on some of the UK’s most imaginative composers. Giving our listeners across the country and around the world the opportunity to discover and appreciate new and experimental music is one of Radio 3’s core missions – as we present new work alongside familiar repertoire.
‘That is why all of us who love classical and jazz music should get behind The Ivors Composer Awards as they give their precious support to this country’s brightest composing minds for many more years ahead, so that creative exploration and innovation can keep the repertoire fresh for decades to come.’
Cheryl Frances-Hoad picture by Brant Tilds