Composers Gavin Higgins and Edward Gregson have been nominated for a prestigious 2019 Ivors Composer Award.

The awards, now in their 17th year, honour the best new works by UK contemporary composers in classical, jazz and sound art and take the place of the British Composer Awards.

Concerto

Gavin Higgins' Trombone Concerto, 'The Book of Miracles' is nominated in the Orchestral Category alongside works from Kenneth Hesketh ('Uncoiling the River') and Helen Grime ('Woven Space').

The work was written for Helen Vollam and was premiered by her and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Vedernikov in February this year. It is inspired by the pages of an illuminated 16th century manuscript packed full of incredible mythical monsters, comets, eclipses and mock suns called parhelia.

The critics were certainly impressed, with Roy Westbrook writing for the influential Backtrack.com saying; "For all the portentousness that (the title) suggests, Higgins never forgets that the concerto form has a playful element, at least some of the time in a fascinating work which has plenty of variety within its sense of unity."

Salamander

Meanwhile, Edward Gregson's 'The Salamander and the Moonraker' is nominated in the Amateur or Young Performers category alongside 'Agreed' by Howard Moody and 'Ghost Songs' by Gary Carpenter'.

The work was premiered by the Hallé Orchestra and Children's Choir at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester in July 2018, with the text written by his wife, Susan.

Other nominees in other categories with a brass band link, include Sir James MacMillan and John Pickard in the Choral category.

In total, 33 individual works have been nominated across 11 categories; including Orchestral, Solo or Duo, Sound Art, Chamber Ensemble and Amateur or Young Performers. The nominated categories are judged anonymously, and are voted for and presented by music creators, representing true peer recognition for their craft.

The awards, now in their 17th year, honour the best new works by UK contemporary composers in classical, jazz and sound art and take the place of the British Composer Awards4BR

No brass bands

4BR understands that there is no Wind Band/Brass Band category this year due to a lack of nominees. In 2018 it was won by Simon Dobson's 'The Turing Test' — his third success.

In announcing the news, the Ivors Academy Chair, Crispin Hunt, said: "We're incredibly excited to honour a wide range of phenomenal talent, all of whom have demonstrated the highest quality of composition craft in their fields, engaging with and challenging the world around them."

The winners in each category will be announced at a ceremony at the British Museum in London on Wednesday 4th December 2019.