Eight exciting new music projects supported to tour across the UK and Republic of Ireland through PRS Foundation’s Beyond Borders

Huge congratulations to the UK and Ireland-based organisations, music groups and composers receiving funding through our co-commissioning and touring programme Beyond Borders. The eight exciting cross-border projects are:

• AC Projects – Their flagship Counterflows event in partnership with Oto Projects and Chapter will commission arts collective Katz Mulk to create a new multi-disciplinary music work
• Berkeley Ensemble – World premiere tour of ‘The Mare’s Tale’, A music theatre piece by Mark Bowden & Damian Walford Davies inspired by a ghostly Welsh folk tradition
• East Neuk Festival – Composer Huw Watkins will create a duo for piano and his longtime musical collaborator, percussionist Colin Currie
• Kings Place – A collaboration with RCS, RWCMD, RNCM alongside additional presentation partners to produce a multidisciplinary tour of Rakhi Singh & Vessel’s ‘Written in Fire’
• Knockengorroch – A tour of original work created during a multi-lingual residency in Scotland, featuring Irish, Scottish and Welsh traditional and digital artists, exploring commonalities and differences
• North West Cultural Partnership – New music devised and commissioned for Sid Peacock and The Surge Orchestra with three guest musicians, performing in England, Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Sound Festival – A collaboration between Christopher Fox, Angharad Davies, Tom Jackson, and the composer/sound designer Georgia Rodgers, creating an installation that explores the great stone circles of Brodgar (Orkney), Drombeg (Ireland), Stonehenge (England)
• Theatr na nÓg – A new country musical for young people following a young carer’s dream of becoming a storm chaser in America

Beyond Borders was established in 2010 to support high quality co-commissions and tours, stimulating collaboration between composers, performance groups and music organisations across the four different UK countries and, since 2014, the Republic of Ireland.

Previous Beyond Borders successes have included Songs of Separation, a collective of 10 female English and Scottish folk musicians whose album won ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017, and David Fennessy’s ‘Panopticon’, commissioned by Hebrides Ensemble and Psappha, which won the Scottish Award for New Music for Small Scale work. Martin Green’s ‘Flit’, combining live music and animation which reflects on first hand stories of migration, also won over audiences and critics nationwide in 2016, and was funded through Beyond Borders.

Beyond Borders is a co-commissioning and touring programme run in partnership with Creative Scotland, supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

PRS Foundation’s CEO, Vanessa Reed says, “Congratulations to all the organisations and music creators who are being supported by Beyond Borders which has encouraged many award-winning collaborations across UK and Ireland since it was established in 2010. At this moment of uncertainty about future movement across national and European borders, this programme is a timely reminder of how art and artists thrive through cross border collaboration and touring.”

Clare Hewitt, Music Officer, Creative Scotland, commented: “These projects reflect the vitality and diversity of music being created in the UK and Ireland today.  We’re really pleased that four exciting projects led by companies in Scotland – AC Projects, East Neuk Festival, Knockengorroch and Sound – have been supported through this round, and that a number of the other projects will involve Scotland-based partners. Beyond Borders continues to highlight how necessary cross-border collaboration and partnerships are for transporting new work from Scotland to a wider audience, and for bringing new work to audiences in Scotland.”

Arts Council of Ireland’s Head of Music and Opera, Niall Doyle said, “This is an important initiative supporting cross national collaboration within these islands. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these diverse and exciting projects.”

Arts Council of Wales’ Development Officer, Suzanne Griffiths-Rees said, “Beyond Borders continues to take music imaginatively across our countries and promotes works that explore forms, talents and rich collaborations.  We are delighted to play our part in making these artistic journeys possible and enable them to reach and engage with new audiences.”

Arts Council Northern Ireland’s Head of Music, Ciaran Scullion, added; “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support this important artist development programme. Beyond Borders offers a tremendous opportunity for talented musicians from Northern Ireland to collaborate with other artists and organisations across the UK in new projects, gaining a platform for their music to tour and to be heard by new and wide-ranging audiences.”

Find out more about Beyond Borders