Music & Drama Education Awards 2024 shortlist announced

The shortlists for 15 categories in the Music & Drama Education Awards 2025 have been announced, revealing those in the running to take home an award at the ceremony in January next year.

Run annually by Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre magazines, the Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in Music and Drama education, recognising the work and initiatives of schools, organisations, charities and individuals which shape young talent.

The Awards also includes a new category this year. The MTI Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Provision is sponsored by Music Theatre International.

The judging panel was made up of prominent figures in music and drama education, including winners of previous year’s awards, all chosen to represent a number of areas across the music and drama education sector, including SEND, Primary, Secondary, extra-curricular, EDI and higher education. The judging day was co-chaired by Music Teacher Editor Phil Croydon and Music & Drama Education Expo Head of Drama Content Wendy Frost.

The full panel was made up of:

• British Youth Music Theatre Casting and Young Company Manager Cerys Jones
• Chichester Festival Theatre Director of Learning, Education and Participation Dale Rooks
• Educator, Performer and Musical Director Edwin Pitt Mansfield
• School21 Head of 4–18 Performing Arts Emily Crowhurst
• Vamos Theatre Creative Producer Honor Hoskins
• Head of Creative Arts Faculty at Southwark College Jon Fell
• Head of Tameside Council’s Music Service Kate Campbell-Green
• Music Education Consultant and Composer Kay Charlton
• Polka Theatre Executive Director & Joint CEO Lynette Shanbury
• Senior Leader at Kent & Medway Music Hub Olivia Edwards
• Drama Education Specialist and Chair with the Council For Subject Associations Patrice Baldwin
• Assistant Head of Advice, Curriculum and Pedagogy with Leicestershire Music Sarah Share
• Birmingham Arts School Director Steve Ball
• Educator, Writer and Public Speaker Tolu McCarthy

And for specific awards:

Music Theatre International Director of Operations, Education & Development Ryan Macaulay (The MTI Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Provision, only)

Rocksteady Music School  Director of Education Rachel Hawker (The Rocksteady Award for Progressive and Inclusive Music Education, only)

To learn more about our judges, please click here.

As well as a drinks reception and a three-course dinner, the ceremony will feature live performances from young artists from across the country.

The shortlisted entries in music and the cross-over categories are as follows:

Drama Inspiration Award

Beau-Jessica Roberts
Jackie Cobham
Nick O'Brien
Tracy Dorrington
Zelia Attzs

Excellence in Musical Theatre (Music & Drama)

BB Broadway @ The Turbine Theatre, BB Broadway
Ludwig Theatre Arts, for Les Misérables Teen Edition
St Mary's College, Hull, for Hull Performance Academy
The Beaconsfield School, for Beaconsfield Performing Arts
Theatre Peckham, for Academy training programme
Trafalgar Entertainment Trust for Summer Youth Projects

Excellence In Primary/Early Years (Music & Drama)

Barnet Education Arts Trust, for Infant Music Festival
Buxton Opera House, for Satellite Project
MishMash Productions and Nottingham City Libraries, for Ruby's Worry
Performatots Pre-School
Speech Bubbles: - Drama for Communication
The Birmingham Rep and Birmingham Early Years Network, for Early Years Project
The Grange Festival, for Learning at The Grange

Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama)

Born2Sing Academy
Create Music, for Orchestra 360
Drake Music Scotland, for Digital Orchestra: Youth
HMDT Music, for Music Treehouse
Lancashire Music Service
The Big Reveal East Kent Orchestra, for Voices in the Wilderness
The OHMI Trust, for OHMI Connect
Welsh National Opera, for Opera Tutti

Instrumental or Vocal Teacher of the Year

Colin Bellworthy
Alberto Christodoulou
Lucica Trita
Scott Whitefield
Catherine Williams

Music Inspiration Award

Alphonso Archer
Vicki Cooper
Hannah Kaye-Shepheard
Sam Massey
Carly Palmer
Karen Tweddle
Ollie Tumner

New! The MTI Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Provision

Ballard School, Hampshire
Caister Academy, Caister-On-Sea
CAPA Juniors, Trinity Academy Cathedral, Wakefield
CTA Productions, Fareham
Droylsden Academy, Manchester
Farlingaye High School, Woodbridge
Westcliff High School for Girls, Essex
Windsor Learning Partnership Senior Schools Music Department

Outstanding Drama Education Resource

Get Into Theatre and ATG Entertainment Creative Learning, for Work in Theatre Teacher Toolkit
Linden Walcott-Burton and Nick Hern Books, for The Drama Workshop Leader
Methuen Drama, for 200 Themes for Devising Theatre with 11–18 Year Olds
MN Awards, for Graded Examinations in Screen Acting Specification & Teacher Resource
Royal Shakespeare Company, for RSC Shakespeare Learning Zone
Stagecoach Performing Arts
SubjectResources.com, for Devising 101

Outstanding Drama Initiative

Buxton Opera House, for Work Experience – Theatre in Education Tour
Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, for Shakespeare Schools Festival
Don't Write Me Off (DWMO), for Actively SeeK.I.N.G.
Nick Hern Books, for Multiplay Drama: Season 2
Performing International Plays, for School Workshops
Polka Theatre, for The Freefalling Project
Royal Shakespeare Company, for RSC Associate Schools Programme
The Birmingham Rep Theatre, for Fridge City

Outstanding Music Education Print Resource

Edward Caswell and Peter Hunt, for SingCircle: 111 rounds for singing by heart
Chris Haigh, for Beginning Folk Fiddle
Paul Harris, for How to sight-read
Nathan Holder, for The World of Music: and How it Moves Us
Nathan Holder and Rachel Shapey, for Listen & Celebrate Key Stage 3: Activities to enrich and diversify Key Stage 3 music
Kit Massey, for Music Theory for Kids
Mark Wilson and Paul Wood, for Stringtastic

Outstanding Music Education Resource

BBC Philharmonic, for Musical Storyland
DaCapo Primary Music, for DaCapo Online
ISM Trust, for Breaking the Singing Barrier
Leicestershire Music, for Primary Beatbox Unit of Work
MusicFirst, for OGenPlus
Opera North, Orchestras Live, AMP Music and Skipton Town Hall, for ON Tour
Presto Music Production and Emofront in association with Sparky Animation, for Rhythm Warriors Piano Zone
The Music Teachers' Association and Patrick Johns, for Teaching Notes podcast

Outstanding Musical Initiative

City of London Schools and Wren 300, for Raising the Roof
Come and Sing Company
Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company
MuseCool, for MusicOnWheels
Music Masters, for Flagship Schools Programme
National Orchestra for All, Modulo Programme and Music Leadership Training – Orchestras for All
Warwick - A Singing Town

Outstanding School Drama Department

Aldwickbury School, Harpenden
Inverurie Academy, Inverurie
Salterford House School, Nottingham
Shenley Brook End School, Milton Keynes
The Beaconsfield School, Beaconsfield
Treviglas Academy, Newquay

Outstanding School Music Department

Bristol Cathedral Choir School
Lancing College
Leighton Park School, Reading
Nottingham Girls' High School GDST, Nottingham
Sandbach School
The Winston Churchill School, Woking
Thetford Academy, Norfolk

The Rocksteady Award for Progressive and Inclusive Music Education

AmaSing
London Sinfonietta, for Composition Challenges
Hertfordshire Music Service, for Elective Home Education Music Programme
Songs Signs & Sounds, for Music & Wellbeing
Powerjam Band Project

The winners of four other categories will also be announced on 30 January: the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Music and Drama, the Music Teacher Magazine Editor’s Award, and the Drama & Theatre Magazine Editor’s Award.

Sponsors of the 2025 awards include AVID, the Music Teachers Association, Music Theatre International, Rocksteady Music School and the Royal Marines Band Service.

Information about how to purchase tickets for the ceremony can be found here, and the shortlists for all categories can be found here.

www.musicdramaedawards.com