The Scottish Awards for New Music have just announced the shortlist of nominees for 2020 in twelve different categories. The winners will be announced at an event on 14 April at V&A Dundee. 

The shortlist was selected from over three hundred nominations by a panel of key figures in the music industry, including conductor Jon Hargreaves, Michael Duffy of the British Council, composer Nicola Le Fanu, and clarinettist Joanna Nicholson.

Composer Matthew Whiteside’s contemporary music concert series The Night With… has been nominated in two categories, the RCS Award for Making it Happen and the SMIA Award for Creative Programming.

Also nominated for the RCS Award for Making it Happen is viola player Katherine Wren’s woodwind and string ensemble Nordic Viola, and Diversions, a project which saw disabled musicians from Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra join the Hebrides Ensemble to present the world premiere of a new work by composer Ben Lunn, Symphonies of Instruments. 

Ben Lunn and Diversions have also been nominated for the ISM prize for Collaboration, and the SMIA Award for Creative Programming category, as well as contemporary music event Sound Festival and its director, Fiona Robertson. 

Irish composer David Fennessy has been nominated in the Large Scale New Work category for his work Conquest of the Useless, and also in the Recorded New Work category for his work Panopticon which was part of PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial 2019. Scottish composers Stuart MacRae and Thea Musgrave are also shortlisted in the Large Scale New Work category.

Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes were nominated for the Good Spirits Co Award for Innovation in New Traditional Music for their album 365, Vol. 2, along with piper Brìghde Chaimbeul and her album The Reeling, and alt-folk duo Twelfth Day’s Face to Face. 

The Contribution to New Music in Scotland category sees the nomination of artistic director Cathie Boyd, Chamber Music Scotland, and Drake Music Scotland, while clarinettist Sarah Watts, flute player Richard Craig, and the Scottish Ensemble have been shortlisted for Scottish New Performer of the Year. 

See the full shortlist below. For more, visit www.newmusicscotland.co.uk

Large Scale New Work (11+ performers) sponsored by PRS for Music
David Fenessy: Conquest of the Useless
Stuart MacRae: Anthropocene
Thea Musgrave: Trumpet Concerto

The RCS Award for Contribution to New Music in Scotland
Cathie Boyd
Chamber Music Scotland
Drake Music Scotland

The RCS Award for Making it Happen
The Night With…: Matthew Whiteside
Nordic Viola: Katherine Wren
Ben Lunn: Diversions

The ISM prize for Collaboration
Physical Education: Robert Reid Allan
Diversions: Ben Lunn
Rough Breathing: Nichola Scrutton

Scottish New Music Performer(s) of the Year
Sarah Watts
Richard Craig
Scottish Ensemble

Environment Sustainability
Below the Blanket: Cryptic
Chamber Music Scotland
Nevis Ensemble

The Dorico Award for Small / Medium Scale New Work (1 - 10 performers) sponsored by Steinberg
Two Panels for String Quartet: Alistair White
The Wet Desert - A Collection of Highland Perspectives: Lisa Robertson
The Tuning: Martin Suckling

Electroacoustic / Sound Artwork 
Dhātu: Edwin Hillier
Listening Cave: Calum Scott
…shadows that in darkness dwell…: Timothy Cooper

Community/Education project
Tinderbox Collective
SCO Soundmoves
Sound Symphony: Ellie Griffiths with Sonia Allori, Shioi Usui and Greg Sinclair, Katy Wilson (designer) and Colin Grenfell (lighting)

The Good Spirits Co Award for Innovation in New Traditional Music
365: Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes
The Reeling: Brighde Chaimbeul
Face to Face: Twelfth Day

Recorded New Work
Airs from Another Planet: Chamber Music and Songs by Judith Weir. Hebrides Ensemble/Delphian Records
Sensations of Travel: Chamber Music by Nigel Osborne. Hebrides Ensemble/Delphian Records
Panopticon: David Fennessy / Psappha / Hebrides Ensemble / NMC

The SMIA Award for Creative Programming
The Night With…: Matthew Whiteside
Diversions: Ben Lunn / Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra and Hebrides Ensemble
Sound Festival: Fiona Robertson