PRS Foundation

New Music Award 2008

PRS FOUNDATION FOR NEW MUSIC LAUNCHES SECOND AWARD OF £50,000 FOR THE CREATION AND PRESENTATION OF NEW BRITISH MUSIC

“Forget the Mercury – now music’s got a Turner Prize” Neil Spencer, The Observer

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: FRIDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2007

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED: JANUARY 2008
WINNER ANNOUNCED: MARCH 2008

Already a major supporter of contemporary British music, the PRS Foundation for New Music is again providing a massive £50,000 to inspire and stimulate the creation of an imaginative and original piece of new British music.

The first of its kind, 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.

The New Music Award invites ideas for new work which:

is an original piece of new music, not yet created
is intriguing, inspiring, creative and of the highest possible quality
will challenge the boundaries of musical performance in the UK today
will have at least one guaranteed live public performance in the UK
will have the potential to create a lasting musical impact and reach a significant number of people
will be created by music creator/s living and working in the UK.

The inaugural winner, Jem Finer’s Score for A Hole In The Ground, attracted thousands of visitors to the beautiful surroundings of King’s Wood, Kent to experience his ground-breaking post-digital work that relies on gravity and water to generate music. The high level of public and critical acclaim generated for Score for A Hole In The Ground surpassed all expectations, as did its success in challenging people’s perceptions of music and its possibilities.

Allowing total creative freedom, the Award is open to absolutely anyone – individuals, groups, organisations, consortia - working in any genre and artistic context. This is a rare unrestricted creative opportunity, and submissions will be judged on artistic criteria.

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 challenges 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 provide £50,000 towards the creation and performance of a piece of new British music.

A huge success, the first New Music Award inspired a diverse range of innovative new ideas and work, a number of which have since been commissioned and performed including short-listed artists Terry Mann and Craig Vear to name just two.

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).

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 also provides a rare insight into the levels of musical creativity and ingenuity that exist across the entire nation.

Full details of the award and how to apply are available at www.prsfoundation.co.uk/newmusicaward

Deadline for applications 2 November 2007.

For further information please contact:

New Music Award:
Maija Handover / sound uk: 020 7375 0025 / maija@sounduk.net
www.sounduk.net

PRS Foundation for New Music:
Charlotte Ray / PRS Foundation: 020 7306 4233 / newmusicaward@prsfoundation.co.uk
www.prsfoundation.co.uk