Enter

The Ivors Academy bestows three types of awards and honour:

• An Ivor Novello Award is bestowed to recognise the music an individual has created;
• An Ivors Academy Honour is bestowed to recognise the actions of an individual in professionally championing music creators, commonly given to non-music creators;
• An Academy Fellowship is the highest honour The Ivors Academy bestows. It recognises excellence and impact in the art and craft of music creation.

In addition, there are two types of Ivor Novello Award category; categories that recognise specific musical works and categories that recognise specific individuals for their musical output to date.

An Ivor Novello is unique as it recognises outstanding writing and represents peer recognition with categories judged by award-winning songwriters and composers from across the Academy’s membership.

The following awards are presented at The Ivors Classical Awards:

Awards which recognise specific individuals

GIFT OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS
Categories for the Gift of the Academy Awards recognise specific individuals for their musical output to date:

1. Innovation Award in association with Musicians’ Union
   This Ivor Novello Award honours a British or Irish composer who has been particularly innovative in their chosen field of composition.
2. Outstanding Works Collection
   This Ivor Novello Award honours a British or Irish composer who has written a consistently exception body of classical compositions.

Anyone can enter a composer or sound artist for consideration and the form is open all year round to accept nominations. There isn’t an administration fee to submit.

Gift of the Academy Ivor Novello recognition has already been reviewed for 2023. To be considered for 2024, nominations must be submitted by Monday 3 June 2024.

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Academy Fellowship is the highest honour The Ivors Academy bestows and receiving one signifies the pinnacle of recognition. It recognises excellence and impact in the art and craft of music creation.

Whilst Fellowship is represented by the presentation of an Ivor Novello Award it is also a position within the Academy’s membership and Fellows support the Academy’s work in championing the rights and talent of the UK’s composers and songwriters. The Academy has welcomed into fellowship the most acclaimed composers and songwriters.

Anyone can enter a composer or sound artist for consideration and the form is open all year round to accept nominations. There isn’t an administration fee to submit.

Academy Fellowship recognition has already been reviewed for 2023. To be considered for The Ivors Classical 2024, nominations must be submitted by Monday 3 June 2024.

Awards which recognise specific musical works

Entries were accepted for the following categories recognising compositions and works which received their first public performance in the UK between 1^st April 2022 and 31^st March 2023.

1. BEST SMALL CHAMBER COMPOSITION
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works; contemporary classical compositions composed for one to five instruments, with or without electronics, and for one instrument or voice per part.
2. BEST CHAMBER ENSEMBLE COMPOSITION
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works; contemporary classical compositions composed for six to eighteen instruments, with or without electronics, and for one instrument or voice per part.
3. BEST LARGE ENSEMBLE COMPOSITION
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works; contemporary classical compositions, with or without electronics, composed for up to thirty-six players. Including concert band and chamber orchestra.
4. BEST ORCHESTRAL COMPOSITION
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works; large symphonic pieces with or without electronics. Including works for choir and orchestra.
5. BEST CHORAL COMPOSITION
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works; contemporary classical compositions specifically composed for voices; either a cappella or accompanied.
6. BEST COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION COMPOSITION IN ASSOCIATION WITH ABRSM
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed works specifically created for voluntary, amateur or youth performers and/or community engagement.
7. BEST STAGE WORK
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates outstanding British or Irish composed stage works. Including opera, dance and musical theatre.
8. BEST SOUND ART
   This Ivor Novello Award celebrates British or Irish composed sound art. Specifically non concert format works, which use sound as both their medium and their subject, including installations, sculptural, electroacoustic and audience-interactive pieces.

Anyone can enter a work for consideration.
There is an administrative fee of £24 per entry for these categories. Professional tier members could enter up to two works with no fee, and a third work with a 50% discount at £12. Standard members could enter one work for free and two further works with a 25% discount at £18 per work. To find out about joining The Ivors Academy, visit our Membership page. Membership bursaries are offered by The Ivors Academy Trust should there be a financial barrier to joining the Academy.

There are specific entry requirements for each category and a limit on the number of works any one composer or sound artist can enter. As such please read the Rules in full before preparing a submission.

Entries for these categories opened 9am Friday 2 June and closed 5pm Friday 14 July.

Questions and assistance

There are extensive FAQs to assist with any queries regarding entry.

The Academy has published Award Access Guidelines to improve access to its awards and remove barriers to entry.

Have a question about The Ivors Classical Awards? Get in touch and a member of our team will get back to you: awards@ivorsacademy.com