Posted on 21 October 2011
The closing date for applications to our Awards for Ensembles and Groups and Professional Development Awards is Monday 31 October. Innovative emerging bands or ensembles and established professionals are encouraged to apply for funding towards creative, developmental projects.
The Awards for Ensembles and Groups are for emerging performing groups who are generating a significant impact within their field of music and have a genuine commitment to building a career as a professional group. Recent recipients include jazz ensemble Beats & Pieces, who used their funding to compete for the European Young Jazz Artists Award at the Burghausen International Jazz Festival in Germany. Winning the competition ahead of four other finalists from across Europe led to a gala concert alongside Chick Corea and Gary Burton, which was recorded for broadcast on German national TV and radio.
Also successful were Brixton-based ‘cosmodelic Afro-punk’ band United Vibrations (pictured above), whose award enabled them to invest in a high quality marketing campaign to promote their new album ‘Galaxies Not Ghettos’.
The Professional Development Awards are open to musicians of all ages and musical styles who have been in the profession for at least 5 years. They were created to help established musicians explore new directions in their work.
This year, the awards have supported folk artist Sarah Jane Summers to study the Hardanger fiddle and Norwegian folk music at the Norwegian State Academy as well as enabling a number of other musicians and composers to undertake courses or initiate new projects.
A Professional Development Award also gave BBC Music Magazine Rising Star Ivana Gavrik the opportunity to spend a three-week artistic residency at the Banff Centre, Canada, spending time exploring the music of Janáček. Speaking about her award, Ivana says: "I feel that the time I spent in Banff has been a crucial period of reflection and planning, as well as of learning new repertoire which will now form the core of my programme for the coming year. I am indebted to the Musicians Benevolent Fund for the grant towards the costs of taking part in this residency, as I would not have been able to attend without your support."
After the current round, both award schemes will undergo a review to ensure our funding continues to meet the development needs of both emerging and established artists.