34 Composers and Librettists Revealed as Ivor Novello Award Nominees

The Ivors Academy has announced the 34 composers and librettists who have been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. The winners will be announced at The Ivors Classical Awards in November, celebrating the best of contemporary classical music.  

Presented by The Ivors Academy, the ceremony will take place on Tuesday 11 November at BFI Southbank in London, where nine Ivor Novello Awards will be presented to six category winners and three Gift of the Academy award recipients. BBC Radio 3 presenters Kate Molleson and Tom McKinney will present the ceremony, and BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony on Saturday 15 November in a special edition of the New Music Show. The episode will also be available on BBC Sounds. The Ivors Classical Awards are supported by PRS for Music.  

The Ivors Classical Awards celebrate music by British, Irish or UK resident composers. The six categories are judged anonymously, with all identifying information removed from all entered materials seen by the judges. A jury of 30 composer judges from The Ivors Academy considered over 220 works entered for this year's Awards, resulting in 29 nominated works in the shortlist.  

The 2025 shortlist features seven composers nominated for the first time - Ruby Colley, Nneka Cummins, Jon Guy, Luke Mombrea, Lucie Treacher, Anibal Vidal and Nathan Williamson - as well as composers who have previously been nominated or won an Ivor Novello Award or British Composer Award. Previous winners nominated again this year include Julian Anderson, Helen Grime, Gareth Moorcraft and Judith Weir, in addition to two-time winner Robin Haigh and 2024 Academy Fellowship recipient James MacMillan who have both been nominated twice.  

This year, the Academy is also crediting librettists with a nomination where they have written new words for a work, as opposed to setting an existing text or poem. Seven librettists are nominated – Grahame Davies, April De Angelis, Helen Eastman, Zoe Gilbert, Paul Griffiths, Megg Nicol and Rachel Warr. 

Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy said: “Congratulations to all our nominees, who reflect the outstanding creativity shaping contemporary composition. Their works explore powerful themes of technology, nature, history, our relationships and identity. An Ivor Novello Award is one of the highest honours in music, made unique by recognition from fellow composers.” 

Andrea Czapary Martin, CEO of PRS for Music said: “As The Ivors Classical Awards celebrates over two decades of impact, our commitment to supporting this celebration of musical excellence remains unwavering, especially this year, as PRS Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary. Over the years, opportunities like the Composers Fund and New Music Biennial have supported countless composers reach new heights in their careers – including many of tonight's nominees.  

Huge congratulations to the 28 PRS members on their nominations and the seven composers receiving their first-ever nomination. We look forward to celebrating with you next month.” 
 
BBC Radio 3 Controller Sam Jackson said: “We are thrilled once again to be the broadcast partner for The Ivors Classical Awards, demonstrating BBC Radio 3's continued commitment to new music. Supporting the creative achievements of UK composers is not only a privilege for us but also, key to the future of the art form. The BBC remains the biggest commissioner of new works and we will celebrate The Ivors Classical Awards on a special edition of The New Music Show on 15th November. Congratulations to all the nominees!” 
 

The nominated works reflect a variety of topical and powerful themes, drawing inspiration from the impact of the smartphone and AI, folklore, historical events and more. 

Many of the works celebrate different music traditions and cultural legends. Cassandra Miller's Chanter represents the Isle of Skye through folk melodies and the use of Scottish smallpipes, and Helen Grime's Folk is inspired by folklore from the Isle of Man. Julian Anderson's Nothing at All draws on the text of the Japanese Noh play Hagomoro, Sally Beamish's DISTANS explores Scandinavian folk song and dance, and Bushra El-Turk's Three Tributes is dedicated to three Levantine female singers who lived during the Nahda period. James MacMillan's Concerto for Orchestra – Ghosts is inspired by Beethoven's Ghost Trio, highlighting its influences from classical, folk and traditional music, whilst Robin Haigh's FILTH pays homage to club music.  

Three of the works commemorate tragic historical events – Jon Guy's Gresford: Up from Underground / Gresffordd: i'r Goleuni 'Nawr marks the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Colliery Disaster, Luke Mombrea's Black Gold commemorates the 1928 Santa Fe Springs oil well fires, and Laurence Osborn's Schiller's Piano remembers prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp who were forced to make replicas of Schiller's furniture in 1942.  

The relationship between music and science is also a prominent theme. Lucie Treacher's Rocks and Stars celebrates the achievements of women scientists, and Judith Weir's Planet explores astronomy and space. Bernard Hughes' Hear My Heart Sing celebrates the joy of singing together by representing the biological rhythms of the heart. Jasper Dommett's King Torques Hollow Acetate looks at the societal impact of smartphones and AI. 

Many of the nominated composers employ technology as instrumentation. Benjamin Oliver's VENT, Nneka Cummins' finding gills [when they try to drown you] and Mark Simpson's Darkness Moves II all involve the use of electronics. Gareth Moorcraft's Unrealities features a synthesiser, and Will Gregory's Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project includes a moog ensemble. Annibal Vidal's Invocación n.2: A Kintsugi Resurrection also employs unusual instrumentation through the inclusion of toy instruments. 

Nature and the environment is another recurring concept. John Casken's Mantle references a specific plant, Lady's Mantle, and Lucie Treacher's Rock and Stars and Nathan Williamson's The Quest are both community operas that explore the actions of young people in the face of climate emergency. 

Other works draw directly on poetry – James MacMillan's Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia is set to three sections of John Dryden's ‘Alexander's Feast: Or The Power of Music' (1697), and Anna Clyne's ORBITS is a setting of the poem ‘I Live My Life In Growing Orbits' by Rainer Maria Rilke. 

Robin Haigh's LUCK, Lisa Illean's arcing, stilling, bending, gathering, Ruby Colley's Hello Halo and Richard Causton's If I Could Tell You all celebrate family and connection, with each composer representing their personal memories and relationships through their respective pieces. 

The breadth of music celebrated at The Ivors Classical Awards also reiterates the importance of commissioning new works. This year's nominated works have been commissioned by a range of organisations and ensembles across the UK and internationally, including Britten Pears Arts, Britten Sinfonia, London Symphony Orchestra, nonclassical, The Sixteen and others.  

Presto Music will be the exclusive streaming partner for the Ivors Classical Awards for the second year in a row. The Best Orchestral Composition Award is sponsored by Dorico and the Best Community and Participation Composition Award is sponsored by ABRSM. In addition to the six category awards, three Gift of the Academy awards will be given out at the ceremony on 11 November – Academy Fellowship, Innovation Award in association with the Musicians' Union and Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition.  

The Ivors Classical Awards celebrates the best new classical music by British, Irish or UK resident composers.