Ivors Classical Awards nominations revealed

The Ivors Academy has today revealed the 36 composers who have been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award at The Ivors Classical Awards 2024. Winners in eight categories, plus three Gift of the Academy award winners, will be revealed at a ceremony on 12 November at London’s BFI Southbank.

A jury of 42 composer judges from The Ivors Academy considered over 360 works entered for this year’s awards, producing a shortlist of 39 nominated works. The eight categories are judged anonymously, with identifying information removed from all entries. BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony on 16 November in a special edition of the New Music Show.

Ivors Academy chair Tom Gray said: ‘The Ivors Classical Awards 2024 nominees showcase the extraordinary diversity and vibrancy of contemporary classical music and sound art. The nominated works not only exemplify artistic excellence, they also address a broad range of themes, from exploring our relationship with nature and addressing social issues to celebrating identity and resilience. Congratulations to all the nominees for their incredible contributions to our culture.’

The nominations are as follows:

• Best chamber ensemble composition, celebrating classical works composed for four to 18 instruments, and for one instrument or voice per part.
  • Mitternachtslied composed by Julian Anderson for soprano and ensemble
  • Songs of Nadia Anjuman composed by Richard Blackford for soprano and string orchestra
  • The Hearing Trumpet composed by Hilda Paredes for flute, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion and strings
  • Tomb! composed by Laurence Osborn for strings, percussion and piano
  • Undone composed by Soosan Lolavar for solo de-tuned violin and string ensemble
• Best choral composition, celebrating classical works specifically composed for voices; either a capella or accompanied.
  • Batter My Heart composed by Joanna Marsh for SSAATTBB choir
  • Hallelujah Amen composed by Oliver Leith for mixed voices
  • May Song composed by Lawrence Dunn for six voices and fixed media
  • The City, Full Of People composed by Cassandra Miller for mixed choir of 16 singers
• Best community and participation composition (in association with ABRSM), celebrating works composed for voluntary, amateur or youth performers and/or community engagement.
  • 14 Weeks composed by Jane Stanley for SATB chorus
  • A Children's Guide To Anarchy (An Easterhouse Children's Manifesto) composed by Brian Irvine for ensemble and singers
  • Fly/Work/Grow composed by Hannah Conway for amateur child and adult vocal soloists, operatic soprano, pro-vocalist, recorded speech, violin, cello and piano
  • In Your Hands composed by Amy Bryce for youth voices: two SATB choirs with additional upper voices, piano and percussion
  • Tuxedo: Dust Bowl #3 composed by Hannah Kendall for massed ensemble of harmonicas and optional SATB voices
• Best large ensemble composition, celebrating classical works composed for up to thirty-six players.
  • Pound Of Cure composed by Ryan Latimer for string orchestra
  • The Horse composed by Matthew Herbert for orchestra, horse skeleton and electronics
  • The Singing Tree composed by Christian Mason for five solo voices, children’s choir and ensemble
  • The Stones In The River By Our Camp In The Forest / The Space On The Ground Where We Lay composed by Rufus Isabel Elliot for string ensemble
  • Viola Concerto ‘Three Goddesses’ composed by Edward Gregson for viola and string orchestra
• Best orchestral composition (in association with Dorico), celebrating large symphonic works, including works for choir and orchestra.
  • Echoes composed by Julian Anderson for solo baritone, chorus and orchestra
  • Horn Concerto composed by Gavin Higgins for horn and orchestra
  • I Cannot Love Without Trembling composed by Cassandra Miller for viola and orchestra
  • In Spe Contra Spem composed by Brett Dean for two sopranos and orchestra
  • Mosaics composed by Colin Matthews for orchestra
• Best small chamber composition, celebrating classical works composed for one to three instruments, and for one instrument or voice per part.
  • Byoyomi composed by Rūta Vitkauskaitė for clarinet and string quartet
  • English Dancing Master composed by Leo Chadburn for pre-recorded voices and string quartet
  • Lakes, Mists, Bats, Daggers, And Fountains composed by Laurence Osborn for string quartet
  • The Mouth composed by Rebecca Saunders for soprano and tape
  • Tiding Ii (Silentium) composed by Lisa Illean for soprano saxophone, percussion, piano and electronics
• Best sound art, celebrating distinctive sound compositions that exist in hybrid relation to other artforms, environments or situations.
  • A Ladder Is Not The Only Kind Of Time by Benjamin Tassie for three water-powered musical instruments installed in Sheffield’s Rivelin Valley accompanied by film, field-recording and live performance
  • Each Tiny Drop by Dan Jones, a sonic accompaniment to Risham Syed’s interactive water ritual on the banks of the River Medlock commissioned by Factory International to open the Manchester International Festival
  • Orasaigh by Duncan MacLeod, an acousmatic binaural soundwalk composition inspired by the landscape around the tidal island of Orasaigh, located on the coast of South Uist at Boisdale
  • Po(e)sies by Una Lee, a live performance work for close-harmony quartet and spoken voice, reincarnating the Korean ancient poetry form 'Hyangga'
  • The Bird That Never Flew by Hanna Tuulikki, a place-responsive performance exploring Glasgow Cathedral's roots in ornithological entanglements
• Best stage work composition, celebrating works composed for the stage, including opera, dance and musical theatre.
  • Calls To This Number Are Being Diverted by Matthew Grouse, a music theatre for two soloists and an ensemble of three
  • Itch by Jonathan Dove, an opera for a cast of eight singers and twelve players
  • Picture A Day Like This by George Benjamin, an opera for a cast of five singers and twenty one players
  • The Faggots And Their Friends Between Revolutions by Philip Venables, by music theatre for 15 mixed performers
  • Woman At Point Zero by Bushra El-Turk, an opera for two voices, ancient folk instruments and pre-recorded audio samples

The 2024 shortlist features 10 first-time nominees; Amy Bryce, Benjamin Tassie, Cassandra Miller, Jane Stanley, Lawrence Dunn, Lisa Illean, Rufus Isabel Elliot, Rūta Vitkauskaitė, Ryan Latimer and Soosan Lolavar. The nominated works reflect topical themes including sexuality and queer communities, religion and spirituality, nature and climate change and the impact of homelessness on children.

This year’s nominated works have been commissioned by organisations and ensembles across the globe, including Britten Sinfonia, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Parabola Foundation, BBC Radio 3, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Holland Park and Factory International.