The Ivors Classical Awards 2025 by The Ivors Academy

Congratulations to the lovely Anne Dudley on her Academy Fellowship

We have had the privilege to work with Anne for the past 20 years with ABC and Tony Hadley. A genius at what she does, Anne is an outstanding musician, writer, conductor and a true professional. Her unflappable calmness whether in the recording studio, sound checks or on stage with an orchestra has helped make our orchestral shows the success they have and continue to be.

Thank you Anne for being you.

Best wishes from Matt Glover & the team at Blueprint

Ivor Novello Awards celebrate the craft and achievements of composers and songwriters

Presented by The Ivors Academy for creative excellence.

Judged by composers from The Ivors Academy to honour their peers.

Proudly Congratulates

Anoushka Shankar

On behalf of The Ivors Academy, we are delighted to welcome you to The Ivors Classical Awards 2025 as we celebrate exceptional craft in composition. Organised by The Ivors Academy, these awards honour the most innovative, original and accomplished composers working in contemporary classical music today.

This evening we are privileged to induct Anne Dudley into Fellowship of The Ivors Academy. A musical pioneer whose work spans classical, film and pop music, she joins a roll call of 33 esteemed composers and songwriters that includes John Adams, Kate Bush, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, John Rutter, James MacMillan and Judith Weir.

Tonight is an important moment in our mission to champion composers and songwriters globally. We are committed to advocating for their rights while providing the support, knowledge and connections they need to thrive.

(L-R) Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy with Roberto Neri, Chief Executive Officer of The Ivors Academy

Become

Over the past year we have focused relentlessly on protecting composers’ rights and earnings, to ensure they receive the respect and remuneration they are due so classical and longform music is appropriately considered in streaming. We have led the debate on AI and music creation, pushing the government and industry to guarantee that the use of their work is based on control, consent and compensation.

We are creating a Living Composer Trust with the Hinrichsen Foundation, which will fund the creation of new classical music using posthumous royalties. And we have published new commissioning agreement templates to give composers stronger protection, greater transparency and a fairer starting point when negotiating contracts.

With our community, we are taking action to end the practice of ghostwriting in media composing and have secured per diems for songwriters from UK record labels, a world-first and long-overdue step to recognise their creative labour.

We are securing music’s future by protecting, empowering and celebrating its creators.

We extend our sincere thanks to our judges for their expertise and dedication. Their peer recognition makes every Ivor Novello Award especially meaningful. And we are deeply grateful to PRS for Music and BBC Radio 3 for their longstanding support. And we are delighted that Presto Music are our exclusive streaming partner for the awards, alongside Dorico as sponsor of Best Orchestral Composition, the Musicians’ Union as sponsor of the Innovation Award, and ABRSM as sponsor of Best Community and Participation Composition.

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the extraordinary craft of composition at The Ivors Classical Awards 2025.

Tom Gray Chair of

The Ivors Academy

Roberto Neri Chief Executive Officer of The Ivors Academy

CREATED BY MEMBERS. DRIVEN BY MUSIC.

We’re proud to champion the composers whose works enrich our world and ensure their creativity is rewarded.

It gives us great pleasure to welcome you to The Ivors Classical Awards.

Tonight, we honour contemporary classical composers and their groundbreaking works. Everyone nominated has been instrumental in reimagining and reshaping classical music over the last year.

Throughout our long history PRS has been privileged to represent some of the world’s greatest composers and librettists, protecting their rights and ensuring they are paid when their works are used. We were delighted to deliver to members 15% more royalties from live classical concerts in 2024, and we anticipate more growth in 2025.

This year our charity partner PRS Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary. The Composers’ Fund and New Music Biennial, amongst other initiatives, provide invaluable support and funding for composers– including many of tonight’s nominees. We thank PRS Foundation for their outstanding contribution to the success of the UK’s music industry over the last quarter of a century.

While it is essential we celebrate excellence, it is equally important we create the conditions for all composers to succeed. Advances in generative AI and the scraping of members’ works to train AI models, without permission, represents significant and urgent challenges. Which is why we are working closely with others in the Creative Rights in AI Coalition to fight for a fairer regime that safeguards copyright, consent and remuneration.

Congratulations to tonight’s nominees and winners, and to The Ivors Academy for being a steadfast advocate for our community year-round.

Andrea Czapary Martin CEO, PRS for Music

Julian Nott Chair, PRS Members’ Council

On behalf of the BBC, it’s a pleasure to welcome you once more to The Ivors Classical Awards.

It has been a momentous year for BBC Radio 3: in May, we were crowned ‘Station of the Year’ at the 2025 Audio and Radio Industry Awards and our coverage of the 2024 Proms earned us a Gold Award for ‘Best Event Coverage’. It already feels like a long time since this year’s BBC Proms but we had a record-breaking season, our largest digital audience, and hundreds of thousands of people flocking to the Royal Albert Hall and to our Proms across the UK.

New music is vital to the Proms, Radio 3 and the BBC’s brilliant ensembles, and we remain the UK’s largest commissioner of new work: something we’re extremely proud of. This year, Radio 3 commissioned 25 composers to write a work based on 25 significant events that defined the first quarter of the 2000s, and I’m delighted Jasper Dommett’s work for the series has been nominated this evening.

In September, we launched BBC Radio 3 Unwind on digital radio, where showcasing the work of living composers is fundamental to our day-to-day playlists. The station is also home to our dedicated weekly new music programme, Soundwaves, presented by Afrodeutsche.

We’re grateful to The Ivors Academy for our partnership and looking forward to celebrating the extraordinary breadth of creativity in classical music with you all. Congratulations to all tonight’s nominees; to relive the buzz of this evening, listen to Radio 3’s New Music Show at 10pm on Saturday 18 November, or enjoy the broadcast on demand via

Controller, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Proms

Congratulations to all our composers on their nominations and awards at The Ivors Classical Awards 2025

Anoushka Shankar INNOVATION

AWARD

Chester Music is proud to publish the music of Anoushka Shankar

Chester Music | Novello | G Schirmer/AMP | Choudens

Edition Peters | Edition Wilhelm Hansen | Le Chant du Monde

Alphonse Leduc | Editions Transatlantiques | Unión Musical Ediciones

© Laura Lewis

Best Community and Participation Composition

Jonathan Dove UPRISING!

A community opera (120’)

Commissioned by Saffron Hall Trust and Glyndebourne

Libretto by April De Angelis

Edition Peters

Best Large Ensemble Composition

Judith Weir PLANET

For chamber orchestra (14’)

Commissioned by Britten Pears Arts

Chester Music

Best Orchestral Composition

Sally Beamish DISTANS

concerto for clarinet, violin and orchestra (25’)

Commissioned by Concertgebouworkest, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Edition Peters

Best Orchestral Composition

Helen Grime FOLK for soprano and orchestra (25’)

Commissioned by BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Britten Pears Arts

Libretto by Zoe Gilbert

Chester Music

CONGRATULATIONS, ANNE!

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP AWARD

Anne

Dudley Academy Fellowship

Photo: Pete Millson

Fellowship is the highest honour The Ivors Academy bestows, recognising exceptional achievement in the art and craft of composition. In awarding Fellowship to Anne Dudley, the Academy celebrates a composer, musician and producer whose artistry and groundbreaking vision has continually expanded the language of British music.

From her early studies at the Royal College of Music to her pioneering role with the Art of Noise, Anne’s career has been defined by technical brilliance, inventive spirit and an enduring musical curiosity. With Art of Noise, she helped forge the language of electronic music, blending cutting-edge technology with creative experimentation, while her arrangements and collaborations with artists such as ABC, Seal, Jeff Beck, Will Young and the Pet Shop Boys have enriched British pop with sophistication and flair. Her orchestral work, from the Last Night of the Proms to scores for film and television, demonstrates a composer equally at home in the concert hall, as the studio.

Anne’s scores for film and television including The Full Monty, The Crying Game, Poldark, Elle and Jeeves and Wooster showcase a storyteller’s sensitivity, musical invention and emotional insight. Her achievements have been recognised with an Academy Award, a Grammy, Brit Awards, BAFTA and an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, reflecting both popular acclaim and critical respect.

Beyond her many awards, Anne’s work has influenced generations of composers, arrangers and producers. Her artistry, versatility and generosity have defined excellence in composition, creating music that resonates across genres and decades. We are proud to welcome Anne Dudley as a Fellow of The Ivors Academy.

PROTECT EMPOWER CELEBRATE COMPOSERS

Become a friend or supporter Champion our mission

Mammoth Screen extends their congratulations to Anne Dudley, recipient of The Ivors Academy Fellowship 2025.

Anoushka Shankar

Innovation Award in association with the Musicians’ Union

Photo: Laura Lewis

Photo: Carly Hildebrandt

The Ivor Novello Award for Innovation celebrates composers whose creativity expands the boundaries of music and inspires their peers. This year, the award is presented to Anoushka Shankar, composer, sitarist and visionary whose work has continually redefined the possibilities of musical expression.

From her prodigious debut at the age of 13, Anoushka has cultivated a career defined by technical mastery, artistic courage and a fearless spirit of exploration. Trained under the tutelage of her father, Pandit Ravi Shankar, she absorbed the rich traditions of Indian classical music while embracing improvisatory freedom, developing a unique voice that bridges classical and contemporary, tradition and innovation. Across three decades of global touring, she has performed in iconic concert halls, legendary jazz clubs and major festivals, reaching audiences of all ages and cultures while expanding the expressive potential of her instrument.

Anoushka’s collaborations are extraordinary in their diversity, including Herbie Hancock, Patti Smith, Sting, Zubin Mehta, Joshua Bell, Arooj Aftab, Jacob Collier, M.I.A. and Norah Jones, demonstrating her commitment to musical dialogue and her openness to new ideas. Her compositions for film, her acclaimed trilogy of mini-albums culminating in Chapter III: We Return to Light and her work as Guest Director of the Brighton Festival 2025 illustrate her innovative approach to form, sound and collaboration.

Her accomplishments speak to her artistry, with eleven Grammy nominations, an Ivor Novello nomination for A Suitable Boy and, most recently, an Honorary Degree in Music from Oxford University.

Anoushka Shankar has transformed the sitar’s place in contemporary music, inspired fellow composers worldwide and demonstrated the innovative power of music to connect, uplift and inspire.

Congratulations to DEBBIE WISEMAN on being honoured with the Ivor Novello Award for… Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition

From all your friends at Silva Screen Records Limited

CONGRATULATIONS

DEBBIE WISEMAN OBE

A standing ovation from all of us at School Farm Studios to Debbie Wiseman on receiving the Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition Award. A well earned and much deserved accolade.

Thank you for all the fun and inspiration over the years.

With love from Andrew, Stefano, Hester and John-The-Steinway

SCHOOL FARM STUDIOS

CONGRATULATIONS

DEBBIE WISEMAN OBE

On receiving the prestigious award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to S creen Compositi o n ’ at T he Ivors Classical Awards 2025

From all of your friends at Audio Network

Debbie Wiseman

Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition

Photo: Michael Leckie

Photo: Martyn Goddard

The Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition celebrates a composer whose music has profoundly shaped the landscape of film and television. Presented for the first time this year, the award recognises Debbie Wiseman, a composer and conductor whose extraordinary body of work has become woven into Britain’s cultural life.

With over 200 scores for both film and television, Debbie has created music of remarkable emotional clarity, narrative depth and expressive richness. From the elegance of Wilde and the haunting subtleties of Wolf Hall to the warmth of Father Brown and Shakespeare & Hathaway, her themes have captured the imagination of millions. Her work combines lyricism, intelligence and humanity, producing scores that are at once compelling, memorable and intimately connected to the stories they accompany.

Debbie’s influence extends beyond composition. As a conductor, broadcaster and educator, she has inspired new generations through masterclasses, live performances, and her modern orchestral guide Different Voices, now performed by schools and youth orchestras across the UK. Her albums The Mythos Suite, The Glorious Garden, The Music of Kings & Queens, Signature and Jack Frost reached number one in the UK Classical Charts reflecting her broad public appeal and artistic impact.

Honoured with an MBE and subsequently an OBE for services to music, as well as RTS and TRIC Awards, and this year celebrating 10 years as Classic FM’s Composer in Residence, Debbie has also been commissioned for national celebrations including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Through her artistry, leadership and dedication, Debbie Wiseman has defined excellence in screen composition, inspiring fellow composers, performers and audiences alike, leaving a lasting legacy on British music.

CONGRATULATIONS

DEBBIE WISEMAN

OBE

Dear Debbie, please accept our heartfelt congratulations on winning the prestigious ‘Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition’ award at The Ivors Classical Awards. We are immensely proud of our partnership over the years, and in awe of the wonderful work you have created, including our signature score ‘The Traveller’.

Thank you for everything from all your friends at Viking.

Call 020 8780 7900 or visit Viking.com

Best Chamber Ensemble Composition

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates compositions for chamber scale ensemble. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

Lisa Illean’s arcing, stilling, bending, gathering is built from diffractions of a single musical fragment. The piece evokes kinship, tenderness and the vastness of nature. Glacial chords and shifting sonic layers create intimate, ever-changing textures, exploring the interplay between personal memory, environmental space and musical reflection.

Cassandra Miller’s Chanter is a string concerto inspired by Scottish small pipes, recorded and layered voice and folk ornamentation. Sleep-chanting, warbling textures create a dreamlike landscape, with guitar and strings weaving together folk fragments and improvisatory gestures, transforming tradition into an ethereal, contemporary meditation on memory and musical lineage.

For amplified chamber orchestra, Robin Haigh’s FILTH brings EDM-inspired energy to live performance. Designed for audiences to dance, the work fuses high-octane rhythms and orchestral timbres, creating a visceral, immersive experience that bridges contemporary electronic culture and classical chamber performance.

For trumpet and ensemble, Anibal Vidal’s Invocación n.2 explores resurrection through fragmentation and reconstruction. Drawing on Haydn and Mahler, the music deconstructs familiar motifs, reassembling them like Kintsugi pottery to reveal beauty in transformation, blending humour, drama and unusual textures with thematic depth.

Inspired by nurturing, creativity and the Lady’s Mantle plant, John Casken’s Mantle evokes care, magic and protection. Musical textures shimmer with warmth, delicacy and vitality, celebrating mentorship and collaboration while inviting performers and listeners into a richly symbolic sonic garden.

Best Chamber Ensemble Composition The Nominations

ARCING, STILLING, BENDING, GATHERING

composed by Lisa Illean for piano, string ensemble of 12 players and prerecorded sounds, 19 minutes commissioned by UKARIA, Finding Our Voice and Britten Sinfonia. Performed by Britten Sinfonia and Huw Watkins on 11 May 2024 at Milton Court, London. published in the UK by Faber Music

CHANTER

composed by Cassandra Miller for guitar and string orchestra, 20 minutes commissioned by Dunedin Consort (supported by John Ellerman Foundation), Barbican Centre, Saffron Hall, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Cheltenham Music Festival. Performed by Dunedin Consort and Sean Shibe, conducted by John Butt, on 11 April 2024 at Milton Court, London. published in the UK by Faber Music

Photo: Edmund Finnis

Photo: Benjamin Ealovega

FILTH

composed by Robin Haigh for large ensemble, 5 minutes commissioned by Orchester im Treppenhaus. Performed by Triorca International Youth Orchestra on 1 September 2024 at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge.

INVOCACIÓN N.2: A KINTSUGI RESURRECTION

composed by Anibal Vidal for trumpet and ensemble, 18 minutes commissioned by Britten Sinfonia. Performed by Britten Sinfonia and Imogen Whitehead on 2 November 2024 at St Giles Cripplegate, London.

MANTLE

composed by John Casken for piano and wind quintet, 8 minutes commissioned by Nash Ensemble with funds provided by Dr Shirley Ellis. Performed by Nash Ensemble on 18 March 2025 at Wigmore Hall, London. published in the UK by Schott Music Ltd

Photo: Sarah Jamieson

Photo: Anjulie Chen

Debbie on your

Contribution to Screen Composition Ivor Novello Award

Love from all at AIR Studios

Best Choral Composition

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding compositions for voices. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

interaction, it explores communication, identity and the nuanced spectrum of human expression.

Bernard Hughes’ Hear My Heart Sing sets words by Helen Eastman. It is a joyful, rhythmic celebration of singing itself. Pulse-driven motifs, lyrical middle sections and cascading refrains intertwine to convey the physical, emotional and communal joys of making music together.

Developed with her non-speaking brother, Paul, Ruby Colley’s Hello Halo maps the expressive possibilities of the human voice. Through intimate duets, vocal gestures and MIDI-enhanced

Julian Anderson’s Nothing At All is a dramatic madrigal for eight voices, retelling the Noh play Hagoromo retold by Paul Griffiths. It follows a fisherman encountering a celestial spirit, blending narrative and ritualistic textures to explore reciprocity, wonder and the liminal space between earthly and supernatural realms.

Setting Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem of the same name, Anna Clyne’s ORBITS captures the metaphorical and literal circling of life and the divine. Expansive, soaring vocal lines intertwine with rich textures to evoke introspection, cosmic connection and the relentless pursuit of understanding.

Best Choral Composition The Nominations

HEAR MY HEART SING

composed by Bernard Hughes with words by Helen Eastman for SATB choir with divisi, 5 minutes commissioned by Lucis Choir, with the support of the Francis Routh Trust. Performed by Lucis Choir, conducted by Francis Faux, on 20 July 2024 at Holy Trinity Church, Bradford-on-Avon. published in the UK by Wild Woods Music

HELLO HALO

composed by Ruby Colley for six voices, violin & fixed media, 26 minutes performed by Exaudi Vocal Ensemble and Ruby Colley on 1 February 2025 at Kings Place, London.

Photo: Georgina Piper

NOTHING

AT ALL

composed by Julian Anderson with words by Paul Griffths

a dramatic madrigal for eight unaccompanied voices, 11 minutes

commissioned by Wigmore Hall and Tanglewood Music Centre. Performed by The Cardinall’s Musick, conducted by Andrew Carwood, on 10 July 2024 at Wigmore Hall, London.

published in the UK by Schott Music Ltd

ORBITS

composed by Anna Clyne for chorus and solo violin, 7 minutes

commissioned and performed by The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, on 17 March 2025 at Croydon Minster, London.

published in the UK by Boosey & Hawkes

Photo: Victoria Stevens

Photo: John Batten

Best Community and Participation Composition in association with ABRSM

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates musical works for voluntary, amateur, youth or community performers, or projects engaging communities directly. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

Honouring the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Colliery disaster, Jon Guy and Grahame Davies’ Gresford: Up from Underground is a community opera that explores loss, resilience and cultural identity. Through collaborative performance, it bridges generations and brings historical tragedy into contemporary communal reflection.

Performed by 1,200 children, Lucie Treacher’s Rocks and Stars celebrates women in science through six musical movements, combining orchestra, ensemble and rock instrumentation. Animation and puppetry highlight exploration, wonder and ambition, creating a joyful educational spectacle.

Nathan Williamson and Megg Nicol’s The Quest sees a young ensemble confront choices between fame, power and integrity. Against a backdrop of environmental crises and social influence, the opera explores friendship, ethical responsibility and the impact of collective action.

In Jonathan Dove and April de Angelis’ Uprising a teenager’s climate activism sparks community reflection. Blending professional and youth performers, the opera dramatizes courage, empowerment and collaboration, inviting participants and audiences alike to engage in meaningful storytelling and communal music-making.

Exploring protest and freedom of speech, Benjamin Oliver and Rachel Warr’s VENT uses ventriloquism-inspired vocal techniques. Challenging performers with phonetic complexity, the theatrical work transforms the voice into a tool of expression, highlighting the power of collective and individual articulation in musical activism.

Best Community and Participation Composition in association with ABRSM

The Nominations

GRESFORD: UP FROM UNDERGROUND / GRESFFORDD: I’R GOLEUNI ‘NAWR composed by Jon Guy with libretto by Grahame Davies a Community Opera in one act, 60 minutes commissioned by NEW Sinfonia (in partnership with North Wales International Music Festival). Performed by NEW Sinfonia, six opera singers, NEW Voices, NEW Academi, conducted by Rob Guy, on 12 Sept 2024 at St Asaph Cathedral for the North Wales International Music Festival.

ROCKS AND STARS composed by Lucie Treacher for Children’s Symphony Orchestra, Massed Choir, Acoustic Guitar Ensemble, Steel Band, Organ, Rock Band and Djembe Percussion group, 16 minutes commissioned by Haringey Music Service. Performed by Haringey Schools’ Orchestra and Massed Choir on 18 March 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Photo: Simon Bray

Photo: Jorge Stride

THE QUEST

composed by Nathan Williamson with libretto by Megg Nicol for soloists and chorus aged 8-18 and professional instrumental ensemble, 75 minutes

commissioned and performed by the London Youth Opera on 14 December 2024 at The Shaw Theatre, London.

UPRISING

composed by Jonathan Dove with libretto by April De Angelis a Community Opera, 120 minutes

commissioned by Saffron Hall Trust, Glyndebourne. Performed by 51 adult and 50 youth chorus members from the local community, 6 top-level principal singers, 17 youth instrumentalists, 38 members of Glyndebourne Sinfonia and 8 on-stage percussionists on 28 February 2025 at Glyndebourne Opera House.

published in the UK by Edition Peters, part of Wise Music Group

VENT

composed by Benjamin Oliver with libretto by Rachel Warr for choir & electronics, 24 minutes

commissioned and performed by MUSARC on 14 December 2024 at The Wash Houses, London.

Photo: Marshall Light Studio / Andy Woods

Best Large Ensemble Composition

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates compositions for large ensemble including brass bands, concert bands and chamber orchestras. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

Nneka Cummins’ finding gills [when they try to drown you] is a journey of resilience and vulnerability, oscillating between the known and unknown. Fragmentation and disintegration unfold with infinite possibilities, exploring survival, risk and the beauty found in human perseverance, ultimately offering a sonic meditation on strength amid uncertainty.

Will Gregory’s Heat Ray is a suite of eight movements inspired by Archimedes’ life and discoveries. Combining analogue synths and orchestra, it traverses buoyancy, geometry, warfare and invention, translating historical ingenuity into sonic architecture, with playful yet intellectually rigorous musical storytelling.

Robin Haigh’s LUCK is a trumpet concerto celebrating life’s cherished moments. Combining nostalgia, whimsy and orchestral mimicry of electronic sounds, it traverses jubilant dances, bittersweet melodies and serene passages, ultimately offering a reflection on fortune, joy and familial love.

Judith Weir’s Planet is three orchestral vignettes inspired by space photography that explore texture, harmony and cosmic scale. From the stately chords of “The Blue Marble” to the dense instrumental collisions of “Cluster NGC 6355,” Weir’s music captures the grandeur and fragility of the universe through intimate orchestral gestures.

A meditation on memory, loss and reconstruction, Laurence Osborn’s Schiller’s Piano combines piano and sampler to reveal the inner life of a piano recreated in a concentration camp. Textures shift between real and imagined states, exploring the resilience of music and memory against historical erasure.

Best Large Ensemble Composition The Nominations

FINDING GILLS [WHEN THEY TRY TO DROWN YOU]

composed by Nneka Cummins for chamber orchestra and electronics, 6 minutes commissioned by nonclassical. Performed by Sinfonia Smith Square Orchestra on 6 March 2025 at Sinfonia Smith Square, London.

HEAT RAY: THE ARCHIMEDES PROJECT

composed by Will Gregory for chamber orchestra and moog ensemble, 38 minutes

performed by the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble featuring members of Britten Sinfonia on 8 October 2024 at the Barbican Centre, London. published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing

Photo: Rebekah Merriman

Photo: Paul Heartfield

LUCK

composed by Robin Haigh concerto for trumpet and orchestra, 25 minutes commissioned by Britten Pears Arts and Ulster Orchestra. Performed by Britten Sinfonia and Matilda Lloyd, conducted by Jessica Cottis, on 15 June 2024 at Snape Maltings Concert Hall.

PLANET

composed by Judith Weir for chamber orchestra, 14 minutes commissioned by Britten Pears Arts. Performed by Knussen Chamber Orchestra on 11 June 2024 at Snape Maltings Concert Hall. published in the UK by Chester Music Ltd., part of Wise Music Group

SCHILLER’S PIANO

composed by Laurence Osborn concerto for keyboards and string orchestra, 30 minutes

commissioned and performed by Zubin Kanga and Manchester Collective, conducted by Aaron Holloway-Nahum, on 10 October 2024 at Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

Photo: Jack Lawson

Perfect scores, faster

Dorico 6 is the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg. It works like an intelligent assistant, freeing your creativity, helping you express ideas without limits, and producing beautiful performance materials with ease. Smarter than ever, Dorico 6 includes powerful tools to catch errors before they reach the stand. Available for macOS, Windows, and iPad, Dorico lets you compose, arrange, and engrave stunning sheet music—fast.

Best Orchestral Composition in association with Dorico

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding large symphonic works. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

James MacMillan’s Concerto for Orchestra is a 25-minute continuous movement “haunted by ghosts,” integrating folk dances, chamber groups and references to Beethoven and Debussy. Duos and trios emerge within complex orchestral textures, culminating in an Allegro finale that balances energy, rhythm and serenity.

Drawing on Scottish, Swedish and Dutch folk traditions, Sally Beamish’s DISTANS evokes distance, longing and reunion. Offstage calls, drones and rhythmic loops intertwine with soloists and orchestra, reflecting migration, connection and the resilience of familial and cultural bonds through centuries-old musical idioms.

Helen Grime’s Folk is a song cycle with libretto by Zoe Gilbert that blends vocal virtuosity and orchestral textures to depict dark, folkloric tales. From seductive water bulls to grieving young women, the work transforms narrative into immersive musical storytelling.

Evoking technological obsession and digital overload, Jasper Dommett ’s King Torques Hollow Acetate mirrors contemporary society’s entanglement with devices. Rhythmic urgency and evolving motifs convey progress, anxiety and burnout, blending mechanical precision with chaotic energy.

James MacMillan’s Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia is a setting of John Dryden’s 1697 poem, tracing Alexander the Great, Bacchus, and St. Cecilia. Themes of music’s transformative power, divine inspiration and human experience are explored with vivid orchestration and narrative depth, culminating in an uplifting meditation on creativity and its enduring resonance.

Best Orchestral Composition in association with Dorico The Nominations

CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

composed by James MacMillan for orchestra, 25 minutes commissioned by London Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic and St Louis Symphony Orchestra. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pappano, on 11 September 2024 at the Barbican Centre, London.

Published in the UK by Boosey & Hawkes

DISTANS

composed by Sally Beamish concerto for clarinet, violin and orchestra, 25 minutes commissioned by Concertgebouworkest, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, on 20 June 2024 at the Barbican Centre, London.

Published in the UK by Edition Peters, part of Wise Music Group

Photo: James Bellorini

Photo: Ashley Coombes

FOLK

composed by Helen Grime with libretto by Zoe Gilbert for soprano and orchestra, 25 minutes

commissioned by BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Britten Pears Arts. Performed by Claire Booth and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth, on 26 September 2024 at Glasgow City Halls, Glasgow.

published in the UK by Chester Music Ltd., part of Wise Music Group

KING TORQUES HOLLOW ACETATE

composed by Jasper Dommett for orchestra, 7 minutes

commissioned by BBC Radio 3. Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Jac van Steen, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 15 March 2025.

published in the UK by Ricordi Berlin

TIMOTHEUS, BACCHUS AND CECILIA

composed by James MacMillan for mixed chorus, children’s chorus and orchestra, 17 minutes

commissioned by The Halle and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Performed by Halle Orchestra, Halle Choir, Halle Youth Choir and Halle Children’s Choir, conducted by Mark Elder, on 31 May 2024 at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. published in the UK by Boosey & Hawkes

Photo: Derri Joseph Lewis

Photos: Benjamin Ealovega / Sophie Davidson

Photo: James Bellorini

Sit Bach and relax

Best Small Chamber Composition

This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding compositions for one to five instruments. The nominations recognise music premiered to UK audiences between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, composed by British, Irish or UK resident composers.

Luke Mombrea’s Black Gold evokes the 1928 Santa Fe Springs oil well fires. In three movements, it traces desert landscapes, the machinery of extraction and the devastating blaze, blending immersive textures and historical imagery to explore humanity’s impact on the natural world.

Mark Simpson’s duet, Darkness Moves II, delves into inner visions and existential confrontation. Dark, ecstatic and unpredictable, the piece creates an aural journey through agitation and self-reflection, capturing a profound dialogue between human perception and sonic experimentation.

Richard Causton’s If I Could Tell You is a tribute to his mother. The two-movement

trio contrasts ethereal, angelic textures with grounded, processional ritual music. Blending weightless reflection with earthy dignity, it conveys longing, remembrance and reconciliation.

Bushra El-Turk’s Three Tributes is three interconnected miniatures honouring Levantine female singers. It combines archival inspiration with contemporary reinterpretation. The works explore cultural identity, resilience and imagination, weaving fragments of a dawr, Syrian folk song, and muwashshah melodies intoevocative, historically aware musical portraits.

Gareth Moorcraft’s Unrealities, explores timbre, spatial perception and instrument interplay. From uncanny piano doubles to ambient microtonal textures, each movement experiments with sound-worlds and physicality, creating a kaleidoscopic journey that challenges performer and listener alike with inventive electronicacoustic fusion.

Best Small Chamber Composition The Nominations

BLACK GOLD

composed by Luke Mombrea for chamber ensemble and electronics, 23 minutes commissioned by London Symphony Orchestra. Performed by Clare Findlater, Colin Alexander, Josie Ellis, Matt Farthing and Luke Mombrea on 4 May 2024 at LSO St Luke’s, London.

DARKNESS MOVES II

composed by Mark Simpson for horn and electronics, 8 minutes commissioned by Ben Goldscheider. Performed by Ben Goldscheider and Phil Dawson on 27 June 2024 at Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London. published in the UK by Boosey & Hawkes

Photo: Gray Zeldes

Photography

Photo: Matthew Johnson

IF I COULD TELL YOU

composed by Richard Causton for piano trio, 14 minutes commissioned and performed by Fidelio Trio on 25 January 2025 at St Francis Church, Welwyn Garden City.

THREE TRIBUTES

composed by Bushra El-Turk for string quartet, 15 minutes commissioned by Dudok Quartet Amsterdam by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust (UK), String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam and West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Performed by Dudok Quartet Amsterdam on 17 October 2024 at the Barbican Centre, London.

UNREALITIES

composed by Gareth Moorcraft for solo piano and synthesiser, 22 minutes performed by Joseph Havlat on 19 April 2024 at Royal Academy of Music, London.

Photo: Mat Smith

Photo: Ben McDonnell

The judges

An Ivor Novello Award represents peer recognition. The Ivors Academy would like to thank all who sat on this year’s award panels:

Robert Ames • Sally Beamish • Richard Blackford

Richard Bullen • Gary Carpenter • Richard Causton

Hannah Conway • Cheryl Frances-Hoad • Eddie Gregson

Charlotte Harding • Hollie Harding • Clifton Harrison

Nigel Hess • Carmen Ho • Emily Howard • Brian Irvine

Ryan Latimer • Loré Lixenberg • Lin Marsh • Becky McGlade

Paul Mealor • Ben Nobuto • Guto Puw • Emma-Ruth Richards

Sorana Santos • Robert Saxton • Oliver Searle • Rakhi Singh

Martin Suckling • James B Wilson

Friday 21 – Sunday 30 November 2025 Info: hcmf.co.uk Box Office: 01484 430528

Sarah Hennies // Heiner Goebbels // Brìghde Chaimbeul // Milkweed // Arvo Pärt @ 90 // Mivos Quartet // Saxtronauts

Fred Frith // ONCEIM // Explore Ensemble // Jessie Marino // RÓIS // Mingo Rajandi // Edgy Palates // Christian Marclay

The

Ivors Academy wishes to thank

The Ivors Academy wishes to thank

PRS for Music

Pete Compton

our headline sponsor

BBC Radio 3 our broadcast partner

ABRSM

Dorico Musicians’ Union for their category sponsorship

Presto Music our streaming partner

Tom McKinney and Kate Molleson our hosts

This year’s award presenters

Martin James Bartlett for his performance

Gene O’Connell for the stage production

Steam Motion and Sound for the video production

PPL and VPL for the kind permission to use sound and video recordings

Everyone who granted permission and contributed visual material to the award films

Mike Wilson and Meltcharm Products for our exquisite statuettes

our Independent Adjudicator

Pete Compton our Independent Adjudicator

BFI Southbank

Benugo

Pace Prestige Services

Rebecca Johns and Charlotte Conal and team at Premier PR

Dave Hogan and team for our official photography

Emanuel Kucbel for filming our official interviews

Joanne Viner for the programme production

Judith Rivers for our advertising sales

Adapt or Die for our design

Fran Matthews,Tilly Flynn and Kate Spiers for awards management and show production

All the teams working on the day

RECYCLABLE

Officers of The Ivors Academy

BOARD

Iain Archer • David Arnold • Fiona Bevan • Ines Dunn • Lizzie Esau

Paloma Faith • Tom Gray (Chair) • Eve Horne • Emily Howard

Dru Masters • Orphy Robinson (Deputy Chair) • Mika Sellens

Renell Shaw • Tinie Tempah • Ayanna Witter-Johnson

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Roberto Neri

SENATE

Rob Aitken • Iain Archer • David Arnold • Keith Ayling • Fiona Bevan

Xantoné Blacq • Esmeralda Conde Ruiz • Gary Crosby • Tansy Davies

Catherine Anne Davies • Nainita Desai • Ines Dunn • Louise Dodds

Lizzie Esau • Paloma Faith • Joe Galuszka • Tom Gray (Chair)

Gavin Higgins • Eve Horne • Crispin Hunt (observer) • Ilà Kamalagharan

Kamille • Melpomeni Kermanidou • Jonny Lattimer • Kal Lavelle

Duncan MacLeod • Shelly McErlaine • Dru Masters • Anna Phoebe

Katie Richardson • Orphy Robinson • Cassell The Beatmaker

Emily Saunders • Mika Sellens • Andy Skinner • Jill Thomas

Tinie Tempah • Jonathan Vincent • Olli Wells • Ayanna Witter-Johnson

AWARDS COMMITTEE

Iain Archer • David Arnold • Lizzie Esau • Jonny Lattimer

Shelly McErlaine • Anna Phoebe • Orphy Robinson (Chair)

Imogen Williams • Ayanna Witter-Johnson

Event details

DRINKS RECEPTION 6.00pm

BFI Riverfront

AWARDS CEREMONY 8.00pm

NFT 1

WELCOME

Best Community and Participation Composition in association with ABRSM

Best Small Chamber Composition

Best Choral Composition

Best Chamber Ensemble Composition

Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition

PERFORMANCE

Best Large Ensemble Composition

Innovation Award in association with the Musicians’ Union

Best Orchestral Composition in association with Dorico Academy Fellowship

DRINKS RECEPTION 9.30pm

BFI Riverfront

DEPARTURES 10.30pm