Hugely proud to have been included as one of the PRS Foundation Beyond Borders projects for AC Projects / Counterflows (with our Partner Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) to commission new work from Evan Parker and Sten Sandell. London Jazz News report on it and we’ll be announcing more on this over the next few months. It’s a big project with a lot of planning.
The full PRS press release is below (& here) and congratulations as well to the other seven projects selected.
PRS Foundation Press release : 24th September 2013
Beyond Borders – From Shakespeare to stargazing, this year’s exciting set of projects encompasses a wide range of imaginative musical activity across the UK.
PRS for Music Foundation is proud to announce the eight successful projects selected for the new edition of Beyond Borders – a funding programme stimulating the creation and performance of new music across the UK nations.
In a change from the previous three highly acclaimed editions of Beyond Borders, this time organisations could apply for funding of up to £15,000 towards further performances and touring of music written in the past five years, as well as for jointly-commissioning new work.
The projects are:
SCOTLAND
Scottish Ensemble: tour of ‘Seavaigers’ by Sally Beamish
Championing British string music is one of the Ensemble’s key values. One of their recent commissions, ‘Seavaigers’ by Sally Beamish, inspired the Ensemble to devise a project exploring the dialogue between classical and traditional music.
Teaming up with folk super-duo Chris Stout (fiddle) and Catriona McKay (Scottish harp), the Ensemble will present a programme that looks at this intriguing relationship, with ‘Seavaigers’ showcasing the creative possibilities opened up by looking to both spheres for inspiration.
Evan Parker and Sten Sandell commissioned by AC Projects/Counterflows
Evan Parker has been a source of undiminished creativity in music for over 50 years. His music stretches the boundaries of any genre. A constant collaborator and generous advocate of new music, in 2014 he will be celebrating his 70th birthday and creating something new for a series of events in 2014/15.
ENGLAND
Coull Quartet: UK tour of table tennis and cycling clubs
SOUND OF SPORTS: 2014 – The Coull Quartet will be presenting a fun and fascinating cross-border collaboration between composers Joe Cutler, Nick Fells and Andy Ingamells that will celebrate sport in the lead up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games with events in Glasgow, Derry~Londonderry, Manchester and Warwick.
Judith Weir, commissioned by Royal Opera House
This new work will be based on a play by Max Frisch which is being adapted by Ben Power, Associate Director of the National Theatre. This commission will be creating an innovative and exciting new work and enabling two of the UK’s leading opera companies to build a stronger working relationship.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Robert Jarvis, commissioned by Armagh Observatory
If the stars were an instrument, how would they sound? ‘aroundNorth’ is a multispeaker sound installation by award-winning composer Robert Jarvis that combines art with science to connect listeners with the wider universe. It is a real-time sonification of the stars, triggered by the turning of the Earth, creating a 3D musical map of the night sky.
Brian Irvine, commissioned by Moving on Music
Belfast-born composer Brian Irvine’s ‘Thirteen Vices’ brings together Scotland’s contemporary music group Red Note Ensemble with three of Europe’s finest free improvising musicians for an explosive re-imagining of Russian artist Mihail Chemiakin’s famous Moscow public sculpture – ‘Children Are The Victims of Adult Vices’. Combining specially commissioned text and solo soprano, the exaggerated, comical and grotesque figures of Chemiakins sculpture will be reborn into a unique and uncompromising world of sound.
WALES
Roger Steptoe, commissioned by the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of the Swan
Both orchestras will be celebrating the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth in 2014 and Roger Steptoe’s new settings of Shakespeare sonnets will form the centrepiece of these celebrations, including a prestigious world premiere performance in Stratford itself, Shakespeare’s birth place. The new work will be presented twice in Wales and twice in England next year. It is further anticipated that the work will form part of the orchestras’ repertoire in 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
trac: Music Traditions with EFDSS
This joint commission between trac: Music Traditions Wales and the English Folk Dance and Song Society will bring six young traditional musicians together – Patrick Rimes, Lisa Jen Brown, Georgia Ruth Williams from Wales, and James Findlay, Lucy Ward, Archie Churchill-Moss from England – to explore the folk
archives of Wales and England.
Beyond Borders was devised by PRS for Music Foundation, and is run in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Wales, with additional support from Colwinston Charitable Trust.
James Hannam, Senior Grants Manager at PRS for Music Foundation, said: “We were very pleased to see a big rise in applications this year – the standard was fantastic. We look forward to hearing the results of these exciting new musical partnerships over the next few years.”
Nicolas Davies from Arts Council of Wales said: “The Arts Council of Wales is delighted to be a funding partner in PRS for Music Foundation’s Beyond Borders programme. It is hugely exciting to see creative collaborations between some of the best music creators from Wales alongside partners from elsewhere in the UK.”
Ian Smith from Creative Scotland said:
“Creative Scotland is delighted to partner PRS for Music Foundation in the fourth edition of Beyond Borders. We are confident that the projects chosen for 2013/14 exemplify the highest quality of creative energy from across the UK and in particular from Scotland.”
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland said:
“We are delighted by the continued success of Northern Ireland musicians in the Beyond Borders programme. This programme offers wonderful opportunities for collaboration between musicians and a variety of organisations, creating new music and expanding beyond traditional platforms. Music, like many art forms can engage and inspire.We look forward to experiencing this year’s projects.”
enquires – please contact Sarah Thirtle sarah@prsformusicfoundation.com
Notes to Editors:
About PRS for Music Foundation
PRS for Music Foundation is the UK’s leading funder of new music across all
genres. Since 2000 PRS for Music Foundation has given more than £16 million to
over 4500 new music initiatives by awarding grants and leading partnership
programmes that support music sector development. Widely respected as an
adventurous and proactive funding body, PRS for Music Foundation supports an
exceptional range of new music activity – including British Music Abroad, a music
export scheme run in partnership with UKTI, ACE, British Underground and
Musicians Union, for bands attending showcases overseas.
www.prsformusicfoundation.com
About the Beyond Borders projects’ partners
Scottish Ensemble, tour of ‘Seavaigers’ by Sally Beamish
– Partners: Spitalfields Music, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Evan Parker and Sten Sandell commissioned by AC Projects / Counterflows
– Partner: Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
Coull Quartet (Nick Fells, Joe Cutler & Andy Ingamells), UK tour of table tennis and cycling clubs
– Partners: The University of Glasgow, Fusion Table Tennis Club, University of Ulster, Foyle Cycling Club, Drumchapel Table Tennis Club, Glasgow Wheelers, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester Table Tennis Academy, Manchester Wheelers
Judith Weir, commissioned by Royal Opera House
– Co-commissioned: Frankfurt Opera, Scottish Opera
Robert Jarvis, commissioned by Armagh Observatory
– Partners: Outdoor Culture, The Beaney House of Art, Knowledge
Brian Irvine, commissioned by Moving on Music
– Partners: Red Note Ensemble, Sound Festival
Roger Steptoe, commissioned by the Welsh Chamber Orchestra
– Partners: Orchestra of the Swan
trac: Music Traditions with The English Folk Dance and Song Society
Partners: Wales Millennium Centre