The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is currently seeking applications for the 2023 Young Musicians’ Platform Award. The award, which is in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland, aims to support young musicians in Northern Ireland with an award of £5,000 in addition to mentoring and broadcast opportunities on the BBC. The deadline for applications is 15 November.  

Six artists will be selected to take part in the programme: three classical musicians, one jazz musician, one traditional musician, and one contemporary singer-songwriter. The funding will allow the musicians to develop their practice by spending time learning from a master musician, mentor, teacher or composer either in Northern Ireland or abroad. Each recipient will also receive two broadcast engagements with BBC Northern Ireland, including one with the Ulster Orchestra. 

In addition, the recipients will be paired up with BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle presenters who will mentor the awardees, guide them throughout the programme and help them prepare for the performances with the Ulster Orchestra for live broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster. Classical pianist and presenter of Classical Connections John Toal will mentor the three classical awardees; Folk Club presenter Lynette Fay will mentor the traditional awardee; jazz musician and presenter of Jazz World Linley Hamilton will mentor the jazz awardee; and Stephen McCauley, presenter of The Stephen McCauley Show, will mentor the singer-songwriter awardee.

Commenting on the award, Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music at the Arts Council, said: 

The Young Musicians’ Platform Award offers a tremendous opportunity for outstanding young musicians to develop their musical skills, learn from the best in their genre and receive experience of playing with the Ulster Orchestra. All of the previous recipients have gone on to have successful, musical careers and I’ve every confidence that their experience received through this award acted as a powerful catalyst in shaping their professional development.

Previous recipients of the award include opera singer Andrew Irwin, cellist Angus McCall, pianist Justine Gormley, traditional musician and multi-instrumentalist Jack Warnock, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rose Connolly, and singer-songwriter Roisin Donald (ROE).

For further information, visit: https://bit.ly/3gKTYEm

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