PRS Foundation Staff Highlights in 2019
There were so many fantastic moments in 2019, and the PRS Foundation team have picked out a few of their favourites….
Joe Frankland, CEO
- Listening in the office to 6Music’s Mercury Music Prize nominee announcements, with a massive 7 out of 12 nominees having received PRS Foundation support, including winner, Dave.
- Talent Development Partners also received much deserved awards recognition, including Tomorrow’s Warriors’ Gary Crosby, Jazz re:freshed’s Yvette Griffith, Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh, FOCUS Wales and Drake Music Scotland.
- Sam Fender’s debut album reaching Number 1 on the UK Album Chart. The Brit Critics’ Choice Award winner received Momentum funding in 2017 as well as support to play his first US shows at SXSW 2018. I also remember some promising shows in the early days of his career in the North East when I worked for Talent Development Partners, Generator.
Becci Scotcher, Senior Grants & Programmes Manager
- Seeing some of the artists perform at Roundhouse Rising was ace, some really exceptional and diverse talent!
Liam McMahon, Senior Communications Manager
- This year’s Talent Development Conference was my highlight… the discussions on inclusivity and collaborations were particularly inspiring.
- Hannah Peel and Will Burns’ performance at Cecil Sharp House was simply fantastic
Fiona Harvey, Senior Manager, Operations
- Aidan O’Rourke, Kit Downes and James Robertson – ‘365: Stories and Music’, commissioned by Edinburgh International Book Festival for New Music Biennial 2019 in Hull at the Southbank Centre – the essence of New Music Biennial.
Ben Wynter, Grants & Programmes Manager (Industry Funds)
- The launch of the Hitmaker fund. As well as refreshing and relaunching this fund for those working behind the scenes, we launched an online portal to allow for direct interaction between writers, producers, management, A&R’s, etc. I am really looking forward to the portal delivering us our first hit record!
- Another highlight for me was funding Drill act Skengdo and AM through the Momentum Music Fund. I felt it was a massive step in showing that the Foundation is for everyone. Whilst Drill has had its detractors it showed that we recognise hard-working talent, understand genre nuances and are an inclusive supporter of new music.
Elizabeth Sills, Grants & Programmes Manager
- Claire M Singer’s piece performed by her and LCO at the University Chapel in Hull as part of New Music Biennial was a highlight for me!
Maxie Gedge, Keychange Project Manager & Communications Coordinator
- We found out at Glastonbury Festival that we got Creative Europe funding for Keychange 2.0, so from then on, the year was transformed! The launch at Reeperbahn Festival was amazing, including inspirational talks with Puja Patel, Peaches and Kate Nash. The quality of applicants in the open call was exceptional, and from over 650 applicants we’re super excited to announce the 74 selected participants very soon. I’m honoured to have had the opportunity to spread the word on Woman’s Hour and in Tokyo already.
- Gazelle Twin’s New Music Biennial performance was powerful, astonishing, brilliant.
Ali Williams, Communications Coordinator:
- The story that stood out for me is International Showcase Fund grantee Yola who has been nominated for FOUR Grammy Awards. It’s cool to have an international breakthrough for a Black British country star!
Westley Holdsworth, Grants Coordinator:
- New Music Biennial was a standout event for me, seeing Dan Jones minor keyed and detuned Ice Cream vans driving though Hull was brilliant along with other highlights from Gazelle Twin and Claire Singer.
- Being able to celebrate some of the UK’s most forward-thinking electronic music at the Oram Awards where Ain Bailey, Andie Brown, CHAINES, Lone Taxidermist, Lady Vendredi and Steph Horak were all awarded for their innovative approaches to music was also particularly inspiring. Klein’s performance on the night encapsulated the event perfectly and I’ve been looking forward to this year’s awards ever since.