Trio claims PRS Foundation's New Music Award

Sally Taylor, Chairman of PRS with John Matthias, Nick Ryan and Jane Grant (L to R)
Picture by Will Strange

The winners will receive £50,000 to fund their proposed commission, The Fragmented Orchestra, a musical representation of the working human brain and the sound of the UK.

For the work, 24 'neuron units' will be placed at various locations across the UK, chosen for their inherent sonic rhythms. These solar-powered boxes will capture an array of sounds at a football stadium, cathedral, school playground, motorway crash barrier and other locations.

'We are incredibly excited about winning this prestigious award and turning our living instrument into a reality,' the trio said in a joint statement.

The work is expected be publicly exhibited at Liverpool's Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (Fact) in late 2009.

A panel of judges - including director of BBC Audio and Music Jenny Abramsky, composer Jem Finer and Roadhouse chief executive Marcus Davey - presided over six shortlisted ideas before selecting the winner.

Finer, who won the last New Music Award in 2005 for his Score for a Hole in the Ground, presented the award to the trio at Shoreditch Town Hall last week.

http://www.prsfoundation.co.uk/newmusicaward/

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