Composers Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Judith Weir each won an Ivors Composer Award at a ceremony held at the British Museum, London on November 16. Frances-Hoad in the Large Ensemble category for her song cycle Scenes from the Wild and Weir for the Ivors highest honour – The Academy Fellowship.
Cheryl Frances-Hoad wins her third award from The Ivors Academy for Scenes from the Wild, a song cycle for tenor and chamber orchestra. The work was commissioned and performed by the City of London Sinfonia at Southwark Cathedral to mark their 50th anniversary year.
Frances-Hoad based the work on the book Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty with the libretto by Amanda Holden
The jury said, “this is a work of considerable scale, depth and thought […] at times joyous and at others moving and serene, it is surprising and exceptionally well crafted.”
The Ivors Academy awarded Judith Weir with Academy Fellowship to recognise her excellence and impact in the art and craft of music creation. Weir’s unparalleled musical output saw her become the first female Master of the Queen’s Music in 2014. The Academy stated that “her music reaches out to the listener with a distinctive and persuasive voice” and highlighted her “ability to tell compelling, impactful stories and distil musical and dramatic ideas to their essences”.
Judith Weir won a British Composer Award in 2003 – the first year of the awards – and has since won a further British Composer Award and an Ivor Novello Award.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast on Saturday 19 November on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show.
The Ivors Composer Awards is the UK's foremost celebration of creative excellence in contemporary classical and jazz composition and sound arts. Recognised as a pinnacle of achievement since they were first presented in 1956, an Ivor represents peer recognition as they are judged by fellow composers and music creators.
