News

Alumni and staff nominated for prestigious composition awards

The Ivors Academy has revealed the 53 works nominated across 11 categories for The Ivors Composer Awards 2020.

Now in their 18^th year, the annual Awards (previously the British Composer Awards) honour the best new works by UK contemporary composers in classical, jazz and sound art. This year Trinity Laban’s Calum Gourlay, Mark Lockheart and Amir Konjani have made the shortlist.

Composer, band leader and double bass virtuoso Calum Gourlay’s New Ears Suite for tenor saxophone, tenor trombone, double bass and drums is nominated for Jazz Composition for Small Ensemble. Calum joined Trinity Laban’s Jazz Department in September 2018 as a bass teacher.

Also nominated in the category of Jazz Composition for Small Ensemble is saxophonist Mark Lockheart. His work Weird Weather is for saxophones, keyboards, bass violin and drums. Having studied at Trinity Laban, Mark is now professor of jazz saxophone and improvisation.

Composition alum Amir Konjani’s Kraken Cello Concertante is nominated in the category of Small Chamber Ensemble. The work explores ‘performing sculpture’ and is scored for Kraken cello, trumpet, violin and Kraken piano. The adapted instruments incorporate installations to ‘entertain and distract’ the soloists. Amir completed his Masters in Composition in 2012 at Trinity Laban, under the tutelage of Stephen Montague, Edward Jessen and Head of Composition, Dominic Murcott, and now teaches at the conservatoire in the Composition Department.

Peer recognition is at the heart of the Awards, making them a uniquely authentic and respected recognition of craft. The Academy holds a public call for entries and all eligible submissions are reviewed anonymously by judging panels of composers and music practitioners appointed by the Academy.

Gary Carpenter, Chair of The Ivors Academy’s Awards Committee, said –

“The works nominated for this year’s Composer Awards perfectly illustrate how contemporary classical, jazz and sound arts respond to the world around us and shape our understanding of the contradictions, uncertainties and hopes that create the fabric of our lives. On behalf of music creators and The Ivors Academy I would like to congratulate all nominees on their achievement. As our world feels increasingly uncertain, we must treasure what makes life so wonderful – music, inspiration and escape.”

Winners will be revealed in an exclusive live ceremony broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1 December.

To find out more about our jazz and composition departments, visit our study pages.