Technophonia by Oliver Searle shortlisted for Royal Philharmonic Society Award
The City of Edinburgh Music School in conjunction with Drake Music Scotland has been shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for their performance at the Cultural Olympics in London, in the Learning and Participation category.
The Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards are the highest recognition for live classical music-making in the United Kingdom. These independent awards were set up in 1989 to celebrate the outstanding musical achievements of both young and established, British and international, musicians. In 2003, BBC Radio 3 became the RPS media partners, devoting a full- length programme to the RPS Music Awards.
The RPS Music Awards are governed by the Society’s guiding principles of Excellence, Creativity and Understanding. Nominations are invited annually from leading members of the profession and organisations throughout the country. Each Award is decided by an eminent, independent jury. The list of winners since 1989 reads as a roll call of the finest living musicians.
Oliver Searle, one of Scotland’s most exciting composing talents, and currently Lecturer in Creative and Contextual Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, was commissioned by Drake Music Scotland to write Technophonia to explore the creative potential of the innovative technology they use to make music accessible to participants with severely restricted movement. These specialised instruments enabled the disabled musicians to perform alongside The City of Edinburgh Music School students on more conventional strings, piano and rock instruments.
The three official shortlisted nominations in each award category were announced on 11 April 2013 and the final deliberations of the juries are revealed in May at a dinner at the Dorchester Hotel, London.
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