A music festival which was co-founded by a University of Aberdeen Professor has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.
It was announced yesterday (Thursday, April 10) that the sound festival, which was founded by Professor Pete Stollery, Chair in Music at the University and Mark Hope, of Woodend Barn, has been shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Award.
sound brings together a large range of different genres of new music to appeal to a wide variety of tastes and encourages people to discover new sounds and widen their musical horizons.
The RPS Awards, which are presented in association with BBC Radio 3, are the highest recognition for live classical music-making in the UK.
One of only three events shortlisted for the Concert Series and Festivals Award, sound’s nomination underscores the impact that the north east Scotland-based festival has made in the 8 years since it was founded by Professor Stollery and Mr Hope. The other nominees in the category are BBC Proms and New Music 20x12.
The RPS Music Award nomination is for the 2012 sound Festival, a highlight of which was the Out of the Box opera weekend featuring new commissions from Pippa Murphy and Ben Harrison; John and Zinnie Harris; Gareth Williams and Johnny McKnight; Stephen Deazley and Matthew Sharp, among others, which were staged in unusual places and spaces such as a stables, a lighthouse, a flat, a pub and even on a bus.
The Winners of the RPS Music Awards will be announced on 14 May.
Professor Stollery commented: “I am delighted that sound has been recognised by the RPS Awards, which are so highly respected throughout the music industry.
“When we founded the festival eight years ago, I couldn’t imagine just how successful the event would become, and being shortlisted for this award is a fantastic recognition of all the work and effort the team put in to staging such a wonderful music festival.”
For further information on sound visit www.sound-scotland.co.uk
For further information about the RPS Music Awards, including full lists of previous winners, visit: