New Music Biennial provides funding to create & perform new music
News: 8th February 2013 by Louise Dodgson under Finance, Law & Music Business, Music Training & Careers
PRS for Music Foundation has announced the launch of the first ever UK-wide New Music Biennial, presenting a series of brand new music commissions to audiences across the UK in 2014. Organisations from all over the country are invited to submit ideas for commissions that they would like to realise with a UK based composer.
Beginning in January 2014, the first edition of the New Music Biennial has been developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and British Council. It will support and promote up to 20 new commissions which will be performed across
Beginning in January 2014, the first edition of the New Music Biennial has been developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and British Council. It will support and promote up to 20 new commissions which will be performed across
the length and breadth of the UK as Scotland prepares to celebrate the Commonwealth Games. These commissions will be brought together across two weekend events hosted by London’s Southbank Centre (4-6 July) and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music (2–4 August) in the summer of 2014, coinciding with the city’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games.
The call for proposals opens today. Cultural and creative organisations, festivals, ensembles, promoters and venues from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are invited to present ideas for new work. As this first edition of the New Music Biennial coincides with Scotland’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it will have an international focus, connecting with the Commonwealth and beyond.
Applicants to the New Music Biennial are invited to present their own, unique interpretation of this international dimension – whether a conceptual realisation or collaboration with partners overseas. Any musical genre will be considered.
Applicants to the New Music Biennial are invited to present their own, unique interpretation of this international dimension – whether a conceptual realisation or collaboration with partners overseas. Any musical genre will be considered.
A panel of experts, chaired by Roger Wright, Controller BBC Radio 3 and Director, BBC Proms, will select the 20 works following the deadline for applications on March 4. All selected works will premiere in 2014 and be featured on BBC Radio 3.
The New Music Biennial builds on the success of New Music 20x12, a music commissioning programme that saw more than 250,000 people experience new work from leading figures in the fields of contemporary classical, jazz and folk music. Composers including Mark-Anthony Turnage, Sally Beamish, Jason Yarde, Emily Howard, Julian Joseph, Sheema Mukherjee, Howard
Skempton, Anna Meredith and Graham Fitkin were commissioned for the exciting programme and were brought together with a wide array of organisations and performers in a weekend celebration at Southbank Centre which was a highlight of the Cultural Olympiad. Rambert Dance Company, actress Juliet Stephenson, the OAE, Music in Prisons and performance poet Ian McMillan are just a few of the many artists who were involved in New Music 20x12. The New Music 20x12 works were made available to people through a variety of ways - over 120 concerts, downloads from NMC Recordings (www.nmcrec.co.uk), BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and films on The Space (www.thespace.org), the new digital arts service developed by Arts Council England in partnership with the BBC.
Vanessa Reed, Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to launch the first ever New Music Biennial which will present high-quality new music to more people than ever before. Its combination of a UK-wide commissioning programme, open call for submissions and presentation of new music across a broad range of genres, means that there’s no other initiative of this kind in the UK. We’re grateful to Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and the British Council for enabling
us to present the New Music Biennial 2014 as Glasgow welcomes visitors from across the world.”
For more information about New Music Biennial contact Sarah Thirtle [email protected]
About PRS for Music Foundation
PRS for Music Foundation is the UK's leading funder of new music across all genres. Since 2000 PRS for Music Foundation has given more than £14 million to over 4,250 new music initiatives by awarding grants and leading partnership programmes that support music sector development. Widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, PRS for Music Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity – from composer residencies and commissions to festivals and showcases in the UK and overseas.
Related Links
http://www.prsformusicfoundation.com/Partnerships/Flagship-Programmes/New-Music-Biennial
Tags
prs for music foundation, arts council england, new music biennial, composers, songwriters, music funding
