A Royal Conservatoire of Scotland lecturer and two graduates are nominated in this year’s Ivors Classical Awards, celebrating the best new classical music and sound art.

Composition lecturer Rūta Vitkauskaitė and alumni Rufus Isabel Elliot and Matthew Grouseare in the running for the awards, which take place on Tuesday 12 November at BFI Southbank in London.

BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony on Saturday 16 November in a special edition of the New Music Show and the episode will also be available on BBC Sounds.

A jury of 42 composer judges considered over 360 works for this year’s awards, resulting in 39 nominated works in the shortlist.

Dr Oliver Searle, Head of Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “We are so pleased that staff composer Rūta Vitkauskaitė and graduates Rufus Isabel Elliot and Matthew Grouse have been nominated for the Ivor’s Classical Awards this year.

“It is fantastic to once again receive national recognition for our Composition department, demonstrating the outstanding level of new work created by our students, graduates and staff.”

“I am so excited for BYOYOMI to be nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Best Small Chamber Composition category, among other fantastic names and faces,” said Rūta Vitkauskaitė.

“BYOYOMI translates as ‘counting seconds’ from Japanese, and it was dedicated in commemoration of the Hiroshima tragedy. In the context of current political landscape, the piece calls to once again reflect on the consequences of our actions.”

The piece was originally commissioned by the Danish guitar ensemble CRAS as part of their Doomsday Clock project. The second arrangement of the piece was for contrabass clarinet and string quartet.

Rufus Isabel Elliot © Jordan Young

Composition graduate Rufus Isabel Elliot is nominated in the Best Large Ensemble Composition category, for works for up to thirty-six players, for the stones in the river by our camp in the forest / the space on the ground where we lay.

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3, it was first performed at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maayan Franco, as part of Tectonics 2023.

​Matthew Grouse’s work, Calls to this number are being diverted is nominated for the Best Stage Work Composition category, for pieces composed for the stage, including opera, dance and musical theatre.

The piece, for two soloists and a chamber of three, was commissioned and produced by Aarhus Unge Tonekunstnere in Denmark, a non-profit organisation and production platform for sound art and new music. It had a premiere run at Denmark’s Teater Refleksion in February this year.

Matthew Grouse © Jade Frances

Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy said “The Ivors Classical Awards 2024 nominees showcase the extraordinary diversity and vibrancy of contemporary classical music and sound art.

“The nominated works not only exemplify artistic excellence, they also address a broad range of themes, from exploring our relationship with nature and addressing social issues to celebrating identity and resilience. Congratulations to all the nominees for their incredible contributions to our culture.”

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