Together with The New BBC Radiophonic Workshop, we have announced the second annual Oram Awards celebrating innovation in music, sound and related technologies by the next generation of forward thinking women.

The awards ceremony will take place on Friday 20th July at the Jodrell Bank Telescope as part of Bluedot Festival and will be presented by BBC Radio 3 and 6Music’s Elizabeth Alker.

The Oram Awards will see 2 winners receiving special commendations and PRS Foundation talent development bursaries of £1,500 each, and 4 winners each receiving talent development bursaries of £500 from PRS Foundation.

Named after Daphne Oram, one of the founding members of the original BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the awards hope to build on her legacy. Daphne worked at the workshop with others including Delia Derbyshire, Glynis Jones, Jenyth Worsley, Maddalena Fagandini and Elizabeth Parker, creating music for the distant future, the distant past and inside the mind.  She played a vital role in establishing women at the forefront of innovation, in newly emerging audio technologies, in the UK and around the world. Fast forward to 2018 and whilst there are many women innovating in music and sound, their work and their voices often struggle to be heard and we’re missing the opportunity to celebrate role models for the next generation.

The Oram Awards are targeted at the next generation of innovative women and girls in music and sound rather than established names. The recipients of the award in 2017 were Ewa Justka, Klein, Claire M Singer, Elvin Brandhi, Kathy Hinde, Mary Stark, Sally Golding and Shelly Knots. The presentation ceremony took place at the Turner Contemporary, Margate. Klein has gone on to critical acclaim in the likes of Pitchfork, The Fader and The Wire, and Ewa’s talent creating innovative electronic instruments has been featured in Resident Advisor and Electronic Beats amongst others. More info on last years winners can be found on the site here: www.oramawards.com

Matthew Herbert, Director of The New Radiophonic Workshop, says “As expected, we were thrilled last year with the inaugural awards. It introduced us to a wide variety of brilliant work from women around the country whose work many of us hadn’t been exposed to. One of last years winners had the opportunity to contribute to work I did on the Doctor Who global animated ident. Our challenge now is to help support the wider community of women in this field throughout the rest of the year and not just at awards time.’’

Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive of PRS Foundation says, “We’re delighted to be celebrating the second Oram Awards at Bluedot Festival this year with Matthew Herbert and the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There are many talented and exciting female music and sound innovators in the UK and the Oram Awards is a brilliant way of recognising and supporting their work and promoting role models for the next generation. I’m looking forward to seeing who will be shortlisted and the impact our talent development bursaries will have on their next steps.”