UK Jazz News

20 composers share £½ million Paul Hamlyn awards

Cassie Kinoshi of SEED Ensemble. Publicity photo

Jazz musicians Cassie Kinoshi, Soweto Kinch, Yazz Ahmed and Tim Garland are among composers each receiving Paul Hamlyn awards of £25,000 with no strings attached.

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has announced it is making 20 awards of £25,000 to a range of composers through its Awards for Artists scheme. It is one of the most significant philanthropic awards for composers and visual artists in the UK, and the awards are given with no restrictions or provisos.

The recipients of this year’s awards work in many different music genres, ranging from classical and experimental to jazz and folk:

Yazz Ahmed
Auclair
Shirley Collins
Tom Coult
Jayne Dent
Tim Garland
Simon Holt
Soweto Kinch
Cassie Kinoshi
Ryan Latimer
Cassandra Miller
Aidan O’Rourke
Sophya Polevaya
Rowan Rheingans
Abel Selaocoe
Joe Snape
James B Wilson

(three recipients wished to remain anonymous)

They join a list of 20 visual artists receiving awards, totalling £1 million together.

The press release from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation continues:

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists were launched in 1994, to give significant financial support to visual artists and composers at a pivotal moment in their careers. Since then, 347 artists have received a total of £9.3 million.

The pandemic has substantially impacted how artists are able to produce, present and perform their work, threatening many artists’ livelihoods and their ability to continue with their creative practice. Visual artists and composers have been particularly hard hit by the lack of income, with a third of musicians considering leaving the industry (UK Music).

Jane Hamlyn, Chair, Paul Hamlyn Foundation said: “In the face of this ongoing crisis, we decided to remove the competitive element of the awards and support a larger number of artists. The result is an incredibly diverse group which we are delighted to be supporting, helping to provide some financial stability and allowing them to thrive during one of the toughest years for the arts.”

Joanna MacGregor CBE, Chair of the composers judging panel said: “This was a wonderful opportunity to support creative musicians through a desperate and difficult time, when venues have been shut, and commissions lost. Our composers are drawn from the worlds of jazz, classical, folk and experimental music; all of them are influential, and inspirational.”

Composers who have previously received Paul Hamlyn Awards include Sally Beamish (1994), Janek Schaefer (2008), Eliza Carthy (2012), Shabaka Hutchings (2014), Daniel Kidane (2016), Serafina Steer (2017) and Laura Jurd (2019).

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