RCM composers nominated for The Ivors Composer Awards 2020

Tuesday 3 November 2020

Five Royal College of Music alumni have been nominated for this year’s Ivors Composer Awards, alongside RCM Junior Department teacher Bushra El-Turk and Honorary Fellow, Rachel Portman. Nominated across four of the prestigious award’s categories, the alumni are Richard Blackford, Michael Finnissy, Oliver Vibrans, Elena Langer and Josephine Stephenson.

Richard Blackford and Michael Finnissy are nominated in the Choral category, along with Rachel Portman, who was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by RCM President, HRH The Prince of Wales, in March 2020. Richard Blackford studied composition at the RCM with John Lambert. He is nominated for his piece Pietà for mezzo soprano, baritone, SATB chorus, optional children’s chorus and string orchestra. Michael Finnissy studied with Bernard Stevens and Humphrey Searle and is nominated for Pious Anthems and Voluntaries, written for soloists, organ, flute, violin and choir.

RCM Junior Department composition teacher Bushra El-Turk is nominated in the Community and Participation category for her piece Tuqus, written for multi-ability symphony orchestra. Alongside her in the same category is RCM alumnus Oliver Vibrans with his piece More Up for chamber orchestra and electronics.

Elena Langer studied composition at the RCM with Julian Anderson. She is nominated in the Small Chamber category for her piece It’s Not You, It’s Me for soprano, baritone and piano, with libretto by Glyn Maxwell. Fellow alumna Josephine Stephenson studied with Kenneth Hesketh and appears in the Chamber Orchestral category with her piece Une Saison en Enfer, written for tenor and string orchestra.

Now in their 18th year, The Ivors Composer Awards 2020 celebrate the best new works by composers writing for classical, jazz and sound art. This year’s winners will be revealed on 1 December as part of a two-hour ceremony broadcast exclusively on BBC Radio 3.

More information is available on The Ivors Academy website. Find out about the Composition Faculty at the RCM here.