The awards were established by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 2003 to highlight the talents of UK composers as well as provide a platform for the classical and jazz genres.
Joseph Phibbs, Peter McGarr, Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver were among the 13 winners at this year’s event, which was held on 3 December at Goldsmith’s Hall.
Rivers to the Sea by Joseph Phibbs was chosen as the best orchestral work while Peter McGarr’s Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire triumphed in the Making Music category. Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver’s collaboration No Such Object (Speed of Light) was named best work of sonic art.
Other categories included instrumental solo or duo, wind band or brass band and contemporary jazz education.
This year more than 300 works were submitted by over 200 composers. Each category was judged by a different BASCA-appointed jury, with more than 70 music professionals involved.
Visit www.britishcomposerawards.com for more information.
Read interviews with some of the winners below...
Joseph Phibbs, Peter McGarr, Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver were among the 13 winners at this year’s event, which was held on 3 December at Goldsmith’s Hall.
Rivers to the Sea by Joseph Phibbs was chosen as the best orchestral work while Peter McGarr’s Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire triumphed in the Making Music category. Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver’s collaboration No Such Object (Speed of Light) was named best work of sonic art.
Other categories included instrumental solo or duo, wind band or brass band and contemporary jazz education.
This year more than 300 works were submitted by over 200 composers. Each category was judged by a different BASCA-appointed jury, with more than 70 music professionals involved.
Visit www.britishcomposerawards.com for more information.
Read interviews with some of the winners below...
Peter McGarr- Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire
Peter studied music and dance at Mather College and is self-taught in composition. For several years he taught steel pan, achieving the Outstanding Performance Award from Music for Youth, for his steel band Orchestral Steel.
How did you first start making music?
I was very small, playing at a friend’s house in what we used to call the front room or parlour where the piano was kept. I remember touching the keyboard and being stunned by the notes resounding through the instrument. This fascination with sound never left me; sometimes I feel everything I write is an attempt to re-discover the emotion of that first moment.
Could you explain the inspiration behind your nominated work?
Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire was commissioned by Howard Jones, the artistic director of Contemporary Music-Making for All’s (CoMa) 2012 Open Score event.
He’d heard an earlier piece of mine, Imaginary Orchestras, and wanted a new piece from me. Where I live, on the very edge of the Yorkshire/Lancashire Pennines, the hills are covered with dry stone walls.
They appear like veins of history running through the landscape. I’ve tried to evoke the atmosphere, sounds and memories associated with this place in the work. Part of the soundtrack (the piece is for orchestra and pre-recorded soundtrack) was recorded on the sadly notorious Saddleworth Moor.
What has the highlight of your career been to date?
I’m still waiting … and waiting.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
Never read reviews and definitely don’t take the advice of older composers.
Peter studied music and dance at Mather College and is self-taught in composition. For several years he taught steel pan, achieving the Outstanding Performance Award from Music for Youth, for his steel band Orchestral Steel.
How did you first start making music?
I was very small, playing at a friend’s house in what we used to call the front room or parlour where the piano was kept. I remember touching the keyboard and being stunned by the notes resounding through the instrument. This fascination with sound never left me; sometimes I feel everything I write is an attempt to re-discover the emotion of that first moment.
Could you explain the inspiration behind your nominated work?
Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire was commissioned by Howard Jones, the artistic director of Contemporary Music-Making for All’s (CoMa) 2012 Open Score event.
He’d heard an earlier piece of mine, Imaginary Orchestras, and wanted a new piece from me. Where I live, on the very edge of the Yorkshire/Lancashire Pennines, the hills are covered with dry stone walls.
They appear like veins of history running through the landscape. I’ve tried to evoke the atmosphere, sounds and memories associated with this place in the work. Part of the soundtrack (the piece is for orchestra and pre-recorded soundtrack) was recorded on the sadly notorious Saddleworth Moor.
What has the highlight of your career been to date?
I’m still waiting … and waiting.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
Never read reviews and definitely don’t take the advice of older composers.
Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver - No Such Object (Speed of Light)
Ed and Chris are both directors and performers with the Resonance Radio Orchestra as well as working and lecturing at Resonance 104.4 fm.
How did you first start making music?
We first collaborated in 2004. Ed organised an experimental music festival for London Musicians' Collective that brought together over fifty performers ranging from school pupils to established artists like Jem Finer and Lol Coxhill. Soon after, we established a ‘house band’ at Resonance FM out of the pool of players and the Resonance Radio Orchestra was born.
Could you explain the inspiration behind your nominated work?
No Such Object was commissioned by NVA, a public art producer in Glasgow. It was the audio component of a really vast performance piece, Speed of Light, as part of Edinburgh International Festival. It comprised hundreds of choreographed runners in remotely controlled light-suits enacting complex geometric patterns at ground level to an audience at the top of the cliff face of Arthur's Seat.
How has 2013 been for you?
2013 has been relatively quiet as our works take a while to develop. The main thing has been the premiere of a new piece at Whitechapel Gallery featuring Mercury Music Prize nominee Sam Lee.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
You need some sort of support structure. Many young composers and performers are simply not offered any encouragement and are intimidated by the established structures they see. It is also important to develop and refine your own idiosyncratic aesthetic sensibility – concentrate on the music you alone want and can do.
Ed and Chris are both directors and performers with the Resonance Radio Orchestra as well as working and lecturing at Resonance 104.4 fm.
How did you first start making music?
We first collaborated in 2004. Ed organised an experimental music festival for London Musicians' Collective that brought together over fifty performers ranging from school pupils to established artists like Jem Finer and Lol Coxhill. Soon after, we established a ‘house band’ at Resonance FM out of the pool of players and the Resonance Radio Orchestra was born.
Could you explain the inspiration behind your nominated work?
No Such Object was commissioned by NVA, a public art producer in Glasgow. It was the audio component of a really vast performance piece, Speed of Light, as part of Edinburgh International Festival. It comprised hundreds of choreographed runners in remotely controlled light-suits enacting complex geometric patterns at ground level to an audience at the top of the cliff face of Arthur's Seat.
How has 2013 been for you?
2013 has been relatively quiet as our works take a while to develop. The main thing has been the premiere of a new piece at Whitechapel Gallery featuring Mercury Music Prize nominee Sam Lee.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
You need some sort of support structure. Many young composers and performers are simply not offered any encouragement and are intimidated by the established structures they see. It is also important to develop and refine your own idiosyncratic aesthetic sensibility – concentrate on the music you alone want and can do.
Joseph Phibbs - Rivers to the Sea
Joseph is a director of the Britten Estate and a visiting lecturer in composition at both the Purcell School and King’s College London.
How did you first start making music?
I started writing pieces for piano and cello when I was ten. At 14 I went to study at Purcell School and had my first proper lessons with Param Vir.
What has 2013 been like for you so far?
It's been an unexpectedly eventful year. I signed an exclusive contract with Ricordi London. A chamber music CD was released by NMC and I've been asked to write an orchestral piece for BBC Symphony Orchestra's 2015-16 season.
Could you explain the inspiration behind Rivers to the Sea?
My former teacher Steven Stucky passed my music on to his close friend Esa-Pekka Salonen. This set in motion a commission for the Philharmonia Orchestra, jointly by Philharmonia and Anvil Arts. I was thrilled to write for a world class orchestra and conductor as well as return to composing for orchestra.
Rivers to the Sea takes its title from a poetry anthology by the American poet Sara Teasdale. Much of her work was inspired by New York, a city I grew especially fond of when I was in the US.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
I tell my students they should write music that has emotional meaning to them and not be distracted by fads or fashions.
Joseph is a director of the Britten Estate and a visiting lecturer in composition at both the Purcell School and King’s College London.
How did you first start making music?
I started writing pieces for piano and cello when I was ten. At 14 I went to study at Purcell School and had my first proper lessons with Param Vir.
What has 2013 been like for you so far?
It's been an unexpectedly eventful year. I signed an exclusive contract with Ricordi London. A chamber music CD was released by NMC and I've been asked to write an orchestral piece for BBC Symphony Orchestra's 2015-16 season.
Could you explain the inspiration behind Rivers to the Sea?
My former teacher Steven Stucky passed my music on to his close friend Esa-Pekka Salonen. This set in motion a commission for the Philharmonia Orchestra, jointly by Philharmonia and Anvil Arts. I was thrilled to write for a world class orchestra and conductor as well as return to composing for orchestra.
Rivers to the Sea takes its title from a poetry anthology by the American poet Sara Teasdale. Much of her work was inspired by New York, a city I grew especially fond of when I was in the US.
Have you any advice for aspiring composers?
I tell my students they should write music that has emotional meaning to them and not be distracted by fads or fashions.
