Presented by The Ivors Academy, The Ivors Composer Awards celebrate creative excellence in British and Irish composing across live performances, commercial recordings, community engagement, film, television and video games.
The new awards ceremony champions composers and contemporary composition across all genres and disciplines, celebrating music that demonstrates exceptional craft, originality and impact with audiences.
Each winner receives a prestigious Ivor Novello Award - one of the most respected honours in music creation and a globally recognised benchmark for creative excellence.
For 2026, categories have various eligibility periods with each one celebrating music first heard by UK audiences. Eligible works span a broad range of contemporary composition, from orchestral and chamber works to electronically produced music, jazz, and commercially released recordings, original scores for film, television, documentaries and video games, as well as interdisciplinary performance such as dance, theatre and opera.
Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy, said: “The Ivors Composer Awards 2026 is a new moment to celebrate the astonishing craft, creativity and impact of composing across all genres. By entering, composers have the opportunity to be recognised by their peers and join a roll call of composing greats.”
Previous winners represent some of the most influential voices in composition, including George Benjamin, Judith Weir, James MacMillan, Errollyn Wallen, Stephen Sondheim, Anne Dudley, John Barry, Debbie Wiseman, Julian Joseph, John Dankworth, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anoushka Shankar, Brian Eno, Gavin Bryars and many more.
The Ivors Composer Awards are a new, unified moment to celebrate the unique role and value of composers and composition.
For composers, commissioners and publishers, entering work offers the opportunity for peer-recognised distinction from fellow music creators and industry leaders.
Key dates
- Entries close: 5pm, 10 July 2026
- Nominations announced: October 2026
- Awards ceremony: 17 November 2026, JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London
Categories accepting entries:
- Best Small-Scale Composition
Recognises original music for small-scale musical performance that was heard by UK audiences for the first time between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Large-Scale Composition
Recognises original music for larger-scale performance forces and ensembles that was heard by UK audiences for the first time between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Vocal and Choral Composition
Recognises original music for voices and vocal ensembles, including solo vocal, ensemble and choral works that were heard by UK audiences for the first time between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Community and Participation Composition
Recognises original music for voluntary, amateur or youth performers, or for projects designed to support community participation and engagement through music-making that was presented to UK audiences for the first time between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Original Score for Performance
Recognises original music written for live performance contexts including theatre, dance, opera and immersive or interdisciplinary productions that was presented to UK audiences for the first time between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Original Documentary Score
Recognises original music written to support the narrative and impact of documentaries that received a general release in the UK between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Original Video Game Score
Recognises original music written to support the visual content and interactive experience of video games that were commercially released in the UK between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2026. - Best Original Film Score
Recognises original music written to support the narrative and impact of a fictional feature film that received a general release in the UK between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2026. - Best Original Television Score
Recognises original music written to support the narrative and impact of fictional television programmes that were broadcast in the UK between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2026.
