About the New Music Award
“Forget the Mercury – now music’s got a Turner Prize”
Neil Spencer, The Observer
Already a major supporter of contemporary British music, the PRS Foundation for New Music is again providing £50,000 to inspire and stimulate the creation of an imaginative and original piece of new British music.
The New Music Award is the most financially significant award for music in the UK. It champions pioneering new music and provides a significant level of money towards one adventurous and challenging new musical work. Allowing total creative freedom, the Award was open to absolutely anyone – individuals, groups, organisations, consortia - working in any genre and artistic context.
The New Music Award recognises those who are pushing the boundaries of new music, who are taking artistic risks and producing exceptional work. It seeks inspiring, challenging, pioneering and creatively-adventurous music.
Rather than being retrospective, the New Music Award has challenged the UK's creative music community to extend the boundaries of its work. The award is not a cash reward for the winner’s existing work but will, in effect, provide £50,000 towards the creation and performance of a piece of new British music.
With this award the PRS Foundation seeks to ignite the imagination of the creative community and also dramatically raise the profile and level of debate around contemporary British music (much in the same way that the Turner Prize does for contemporary British art).
An esteemed panel of judges (Marcus Davey, Jenny Abramsky, Jem Finer, Eric Nicoli, Nitin Sawhney and Errollyn Wallen) made the award of £50,000 to fund the realisation of The Fragmented Orchestra.
The New Music Award not only provides an opportunity for a new work to leave a lasting impact on the country's cultural landscape, it will also provide a rare insight into the levels of musical creativity and ingenuity that exist across the entire nation.
Do you think the New Music Award is the right vehicle for the creation of new music? Should the Award by offering £50,000 for something that has yet to be created? Tell us your thoughts by clicking here