The Orams have announced the names of this year’s six winners.
Magz Hall and Vivienne Griffin both received special commendations and talent development bursaries of £1,500 each with Lia Mice, Lou Barnell, Maria Sappho, Venus Ex Machina receiving talent development bursaries of £500 from PRS Foundation.
Alongside the bursaries, the winners will receive continuing support from The Oram Awards Mentoring Programme, the mentoring programme will last for six months and give artists access to experts in the field of sound and music as well as a space to support each other’s work and practises that push the boundaries of innovation.
The 2021 judging panel was comprised of:
• Dr Iris Garrelfs, composer, robotic and sound artist, Daphne Oram trustee, senior lecturer at Goldsmiths University
• Sarah Angliss, improviser, sound artist, BBC radiophonic workshop member
• Lauren Sarah Hayes, sound artist, and musician
• Shiva Feshareki, experimental composer, and turntablist
• Representatives from the PRS Foundation; Grants Coordinator (meeting Chair), Westley Holdsworth, Grants and Programmes Manager, Elizabeth Sills
• Karen Sutton, The Oram Awards creative producer
Scottish musician and sound artist Lauren Sarah Hayes said: ‘While we have a long way to go before the arts in the UK are rid of their various exclusions and supported in such a way that we eventually won't have a need for programs like the Oram Awards, I'm nevertheless delighted to see much work in the final selection this year that is thinking about building networks and community, and expanding the idea of what musical and sonic artistry can be. I think I can speak on behalf of all the judges in saying how difficult it was to reach a final consensus, which only speaks to the plurality, quality, and diversity of music that is being made right now. That's what's really thrilling.’
BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified will be introducing The Oram Award winners. Hosted by Elizabeth Alker, one winner will be profiled each week over the course of six weeks
About the winners:
Magz Hall is a Dr of Radio Art and Senior Radio Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University whose work has a focus on expanding radio art in all its forms. She has worked internationally having exhibited at Jerwood Arts, Barbican, Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery, The V&A London, MACBA Barcelona, Place Des Artes Montreal and more.
Vivienne Griffin is an anti-disciplinary artist using sculpture, sound, drawing and writing in various forms including sound poetry, spoken word, extended vocals, videos and augmented reality
In audio works they engage with the primal act of vocalising sound, fragmented language, spoken word and synthesised vocals.
Lou Barnell is a self-trained neurodivergent artist, influenced by material, colour and the strangeness of the everyday. Her body is a disorientated instrument and navigational tool that composes, scores, and communicates her synaesthetic experiences.
Lia Rice was dubbed a ‘pioneer of experimental pop’ by Berlin's KALTBLUT Magazine, Lia Mice is expanding the boundaries of electronic music production and digital musical instrument design.
A member of the Augmented Instruments Lab, Lia Mice has a futuristic-industrial aesthetic. She recently completed her fourth studio album to be released in 2022.
Maria Sappho is an improviser, pianist, and researcher who works with verbatim collaborative theatrical storytelling with strong perspectives on nature, mythology, feminism, and community. She is a current PhD Candidate at Huddersfield University, on the European Research Council project IRiMaS (Interactive Research in Music as Sound).
Venus Ex Machina is the alias of Nontokozo F. Sihwa, an electronic composer, producer and educator with a background in mathematics. In January 2021, she released her debut LP Lux on AD93 Records. It was selected as Bleep’s Album of the Week, featured in The Wire Magazine, and earned a guest spot on Tom Ravenscroft’s The Raver’s Hour on BBC 6Music. Album tracks Mysteriumand and Nachtspiel were featured in campaigns for Burberry.
This year's ceremony will be streamed online at 7pm, Thursday 9 December with performances from all six winners and a Q&A panel discussion in partnership with Birmingham based experimental music festival Supersonic.
Magz Hall and Vivienne Griffin both received special commendations and talent development bursaries of £1,500 each with Lia Mice, Lou Barnell, Maria Sappho, Venus Ex Machina receiving talent development bursaries of £500 from PRS Foundation.
Alongside the bursaries, the winners will receive continuing support from The Oram Awards Mentoring Programme, the mentoring programme will last for six months and give artists access to experts in the field of sound and music as well as a space to support each other’s work and practises that push the boundaries of innovation.
The 2021 judging panel was comprised of:
• Dr Iris Garrelfs, composer, robotic and sound artist, Daphne Oram trustee, senior lecturer at Goldsmiths University
• Sarah Angliss, improviser, sound artist, BBC radiophonic workshop member
• Lauren Sarah Hayes, sound artist, and musician
• Shiva Feshareki, experimental composer, and turntablist
• Representatives from the PRS Foundation; Grants Coordinator (meeting Chair), Westley Holdsworth, Grants and Programmes Manager, Elizabeth Sills
• Karen Sutton, The Oram Awards creative producer
Scottish musician and sound artist Lauren Sarah Hayes said: ‘While we have a long way to go before the arts in the UK are rid of their various exclusions and supported in such a way that we eventually won't have a need for programs like the Oram Awards, I'm nevertheless delighted to see much work in the final selection this year that is thinking about building networks and community, and expanding the idea of what musical and sonic artistry can be. I think I can speak on behalf of all the judges in saying how difficult it was to reach a final consensus, which only speaks to the plurality, quality, and diversity of music that is being made right now. That's what's really thrilling.’
BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified will be introducing The Oram Award winners. Hosted by Elizabeth Alker, one winner will be profiled each week over the course of six weeks
About the winners:
Magz Hall is a Dr of Radio Art and Senior Radio Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University whose work has a focus on expanding radio art in all its forms. She has worked internationally having exhibited at Jerwood Arts, Barbican, Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery, The V&A London, MACBA Barcelona, Place Des Artes Montreal and more.
Vivienne Griffin is an anti-disciplinary artist using sculpture, sound, drawing and writing in various forms including sound poetry, spoken word, extended vocals, videos and augmented reality
In audio works they engage with the primal act of vocalising sound, fragmented language, spoken word and synthesised vocals.
Lou Barnell is a self-trained neurodivergent artist, influenced by material, colour and the strangeness of the everyday. Her body is a disorientated instrument and navigational tool that composes, scores, and communicates her synaesthetic experiences.
Lia Rice was dubbed a ‘pioneer of experimental pop’ by Berlin's KALTBLUT Magazine, Lia Mice is expanding the boundaries of electronic music production and digital musical instrument design.
A member of the Augmented Instruments Lab, Lia Mice has a futuristic-industrial aesthetic. She recently completed her fourth studio album to be released in 2022.
Maria Sappho is an improviser, pianist, and researcher who works with verbatim collaborative theatrical storytelling with strong perspectives on nature, mythology, feminism, and community. She is a current PhD Candidate at Huddersfield University, on the European Research Council project IRiMaS (Interactive Research in Music as Sound).
Venus Ex Machina is the alias of Nontokozo F. Sihwa, an electronic composer, producer and educator with a background in mathematics. In January 2021, she released her debut LP Lux on AD93 Records. It was selected as Bleep’s Album of the Week, featured in The Wire Magazine, and earned a guest spot on Tom Ravenscroft’s The Raver’s Hour on BBC 6Music. Album tracks Mysteriumand and Nachtspiel were featured in campaigns for Burberry.
This year's ceremony will be streamed online at 7pm, Thursday 9 December with performances from all six winners and a Q&A panel discussion in partnership with Birmingham based experimental music festival Supersonic.
