Latest Keychange Inspiration Award goes to Emiliana Torrini

At Iceland Airwaves festival, PRS Foundation‘s international Keychange programme, awarded the latest ‘Inspiration Award‘ to Icelandic singer and songwriter Emiliana Torrini

The Keychange Inspiration Award honours and celebrates female pioneers who have made an extraordinary contribution to music and are role models for the next generation and for the Keychange network of 60 talented female artists and industry professionals. Keychange partners select an Inspiration Award winner in each of their countries.

Upon receiving the Inspiration Award, Emiliana Torrini said,

“I didn’t know how to take getting an inspiration award, to be picked from an ocean of inspiring women is humbling. I’m doing what I do today because of the people who have inspired me. To be giving that back somehow means so much. Now is a very exciting time for women, a time to move forward through the old tar. Our journey has created many inspiring voices that empower us to put ourselves out there, to do the things we thought we couldn’t do. These voices bring changes and create spaces where once we were not welcome. We’re taking the credits we deserve, challenging the doubts within and supporting each other.

Something like Keychange helps empower women within our industry and like with the beginning of change in so many things in life the arts have to take the lead… so lets.”

Vanessa Reed, CEO of PRS Foundation and founder of Keychange said:

“Congratulations to Emiliana on being presented with this Inspiration Award today. Emiliana is a fantastic artist and songwriter whose impressive career has spanned more than two decades, nine albums, numerous collaborations and featured performances.  She is a brilliant role model for female music creators demonstrating that it is possible to sustain a successful 20-year career in this industry.”

Keychange is a pioneering international initiative which is empowering women to transform the future of the music industry and encouraging festivals to achieve a 50:50 balance by 2022. Keychange aims to accelerate change and create a better, more inclusive music industry for present and future generations.

As well as being an artist in her own right, Emiliana has written for artists including Kylie Minogue and has been nominated for a Grammy Award.

Previous winners of the Keychange Inspiration Award include Popkollo! the music camp that takes place all around Sweden and is aimed at all girls and gender non-conforming people who love music, the Director of the Barcelona branch of shesaid.so and Communications & Digital Director, Head of International Media at Sonar music festival, Georgia Taglietti, Jayne Casey, the music and arts pioneer, best known for the Liverpool punk and new wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s with Big in Japan, Pink Military and Pink Industry, German musician and activist Bernadette La Hengst, Anne Erm for her role as Founder and Director of Tallinn International festival JazzKaar and the BRIT Award winning singer-songwriter Dua Lipa who was presented the inaugural Keychange Inspiration Award at the Canadian High Commission in London for her influence on young women and for being the most nominated female artist in the history of the BRIT Awards.