Winners of British Composer Awards 2012 announced

Thomas Adès, Jocelyn Pook and Sir Harrison Birtwistle take home awards

Published: December 3, 2012 at 7:30 pm

The winners of the 2012 British Composer Awards have been announced. They include Sir Harrison Birtwistle (right), Gabriel Jackson and four composers who were completely new to the awards.

Sir Harrison Birtwistle wins the Orchestral category – his fourth British Composer Award ­– for his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jackson wins his third British Composer Award for his Airplane Cantata. Thomas Adès and Jocelyn Pook each win their second awards for The Four Quartets and DESH respectively.

Nine of the 13 awards, presented by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), go to new winners including Ray Lee for his The Ethometric Museum in the Sonic Art category, Christine Tobin for her Sailing to Byzantium in the Contemporary Jazz category and Emily Howard for her Mesmerism for Piano and Chamber Orchestra in the Making Music award – the category dedicated to works for amateur or youth ensembles.

The awards ceremony took place today, 3 December, at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London. Radio 3 will be providing broadcast coverage of the event on Sunday 9 December.

‘It’s encouraging to think that for ten years now, Radio 3 and BASCA have collaborated on these awards, presenting a snapshot of musical creativity in the UK,’ said controller of Radio 3, Roger Wright. ‘However, behind every award is a string of other deserving nominations and runners-up, proving that composers here are busy as ever across a whole range of genres.’

See below for the full list of winners:

  • Instrumental Solo or Duo: Learning Self-Modulation by Christian Mason
  • Chamber: The Four Quartets by Thomas Adès
  • Vocal: No Man's Land by Colin Matthews
  • Choral: Airplane Cantata by Gabriel Jackson
  • Wind Band or Brass Band: A Symphony of Colours by Simon Dobson
  • Orchestral: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Sir Harrison Birtwistle
  • Stage Works: DESH by Jocelyn Pook
  • Liturgical: Missa Brevis by Francis Grier
  • Sonic Art: The Ethometric Museum by Ray Lee
  • Contemporary Jazz Composition: Sailing to Byzantium by Christine Tobin
  • Community or Educational Project: The Chimpanzees of Happytown by Paul Rissmann
  • Making Music Award: Mesmerism for Piano and Chamber Orchestra by Emily Howard
  • International Award: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra by Thomas Larcher
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