Jem Finer wins British Composer Awards

The PRS Foundation for New Music is delighted that Jem Finer’s Score for a Hole in the Ground, the inaugural winner of the New Music Award 2005, has also been announced as winner of a British Composer Award in the New Media category.

The panel of judges for the British Composer Awards cited “The winning work is beautiful, both to look at and to hear. It towers over its listeners like a giant speaking trumpet, amplifying sounds produced as drips of water fall on percussion instruments. Harnessing that oldest of new media, the British weather, Jem Finer's Score for a Hole in the Ground combines the fundamental principles of acoustics with sculptural design. It is a concept of classical simplicity, realized with great technical ingenuity.”

About his second triumph for Score for A Hole In The Ground, Jem Finer stated “I’m thrilled to win this award. It’s a wonderful surprise to see gravity and water accepted as essential elements in a composition.”

Jem is also delighted to be joining the panel of judges for the New Music Award 2008. The PRS Foundation has received over 130 applications for the current New Music Award, with a diverse range of innovative proposals from across contemporary music and beyond. The short list will be announced on 28 January, with the winner revealed at an event in the week commencing 7 April. The recipient of the New Music Award 2008 will have until September 2009 to create their pioneering new work with the £50,000 Award.

Also amongst the winners of the British Composer Awards, Stephen McNeff's PRSF-funded Tarka the Otter won the Award for Stage Works whilst Julian Anderson won the Choral category with Heaven is Shy of Earth. As winner of the Choral Award, he will receive £5,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a new commission, or towards a project which contributes to the furtherance of the composer’s career.