PRS for Music Foundation announces today that the £10,000 Arts Foundation award in partnership with PRS for Music Foundation will recognise talented composers of jazz. The award joins five other £10,000 Arts Foundation fellowships for Creative Non-Fiction, Live Art, Essay Filmmaking, Materials Innovation and Furniture Design.
The nominees for the 2017 Jazz Composer Award, which is open to UK based composers, will be made by musicians, producers, broadcasters and other experts who together represent the range of jazz styles prevalent in the UK currently.
Composers nominated can be writing works of any style and instrumentation and it is hoped that the list of nominees will reflect the diversity of music now associated with the ever-evolving world of jazz in the UK.
The £10,000 award can be used to help the successful composer to realise their projects and plans while taking a wage, allowing them time to create new work. Awards of £1,000 will also be provided to those who are shortlisted but not chosen overall. The Judges who will preside over the applications will be announced later in the year.
PRS for Music Foundation, Executive Director, Vanessa Reed said, “This award enables us to give one Jazz Composer the chance to take control of their next steps at a critical stage in their development. We look forward to learning about the nominees’ needs and aspirations.”
Director of the Arts Foundation Shelley Warren added, ‘We are delighted PRS for Music Foundation is supporting Jazz this year. There’s some great work happening at the moment with both young and mid-term artists and it’s great to capitalize on that and bring some of it to the fore with the award.’
The alliance with the Arts Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation began last year with a £10,000 fellowship for creative producers working in live music which was awarded to producer Laura Ducceschi. With this partnership, PRS for Music Foundation is striving to raise the profile of important individuals from the music sector in an awards programme which celebrates the achievements of individuals working in a range of other art forms.
