British composer Erika Fox has been presented with an Ivor Novello Award for lifetime achievement.
The 83-year-old – whose music was a familiar presence on concert stages in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s – was honoured for her long career.
Anna Meredith was also a winner at The Ivors Composer Awards 2019, held at the British Museum in London.
She was given the Ivor Novello for innovation in recognition of her approach to composition.
Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees👏👏 Winners will be announced at the ceremony at @britishmuseum on Wednesday 4 Dec. Discover more about the #TheIvorsComposerAwards here >> https://t.co/pMFMr4TeEf pic.twitter.com/Hvv0AVG5UV
— The Ivors Academy (@IvorsAcademy) October 28, 2019
Meredith’s recent projects span commissions for the Aurora Orchestra and Scottish Ensemble, to scoring feature film Eighth Grade and designing sound installations for sleep pods in Singapore and park benches in Hong Kong.
The Ivors Composer Awards, now in their 17th year and previously known as the British Composer Awards, celebrate the best new works by UK contemporary composers in classical, jazz and sound art and are held in association with BBC Radio 3.
This year’s winners included The Salamander And The Moonraker composed by Edward Gregson, which won the amateur or young performers award.
Dai Fujikura’s Flute Concerto won the Chamber Ensemble award, while Geoff Hannan won the choral category for Pocket Universe, which sets words of Sir Isaac Newton’s philosophies and Galileo Galiliei’s dialogue to music.
Charlotte Harding won the Ivor Novello Award for community or educational project for Convo, which highlighted the importance of music education for children.
Laura Jurd, 29, was the youngest winner, picking up the jazz composition for large ensemble prize for Jumping In. The jazz composition for small ensemble was won by Alison Rayner’s There Is A Crack In Everything.
Influenced by a recently discovered illuminated manuscript, The Book Of Miracles (Trombone Concerto) by Gavin Higgins won the orchestral category, while James Weeks won the small chamber prize for Leafleoht.
Charlotte Bray won the solo or duo category for Invisible Cities, and in the sound art category, Martin Green won with Aeons: A Sound Walk For Newcastle. Hilda Paredes won the stage works award for Harriet, a chamber opera telling the story of African freedom fighter Harriet Tubman.
Ivors Academy chair Crispin Hunt said: “It is a privilege for The Ivors Academy to honour these exceptional composers, and we’re especially delighted to have so many first-time winners this year.
“The works recognised today, and the creators behind them, adventure far into the evolving musical landscape.”
BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a programme dedicated to The Ivors Composer Awards between 9pm to 11pm on Sunday December 8.