Making Music is proud to announce announce the winners of the 2024 Making Music Awards.The Making Music annual awards ceremony celebrates the...
Annual celebration recognises music creators and arrangers, projects, music directors and group heroes
The winners of the 2022 Making Music Awards were announced by Debbie Wiseman OBE, Making Music President, at a special online awards ceremony on Thursday 22 September. Making Music is the UK’s association for leisure-time music groups.
The annual awards celebrate the creativity of Making Music’s 3,900 member groups and spotlights the individuals who help the UK leisure-time music sector to flourish. Prizes range from promotion across Making Music’s networks to financial support towards commissions and projects.
The awards were judged by panels of experts drawn from across the music sector, with the exception of the group hero award, which was decided by online public vote.
Barbara Eifler, Making Music Chief Executive, said:
“The quality and creativity of groups and artists are evident in the shortlists and winners of these awards. We are delighted to be shining a much-deserved light on these talented groups and the dedicated individuals who work with them, and who help the UK leisure-time music sector to remain so vibrant.”
Debbie Wiseman OBE, Making Music President, said:
“I am deeply impressed by the talent, musicianship and boundless enthusiasm of not just the winners but all nominees for this year’s Making Music Awards. It was a pleasure to listen to such a diverse selection of music, and it was a tremendously difficult decision to name a winner in each category, because the quality of the music making, as in previous years, continues to be of the highest standard.”
The winners of the 2022 Making Music Awards are as follows:
Best music creator for leisure-time music group
Winner:
- Nathan James Dearden – i breathe, for National Youth Choirs of Great Britain
Shortlisted:
- Finn Anderson – Distant Dream, for The Sunday Boys
- Joanna Forbes L’Estrange and Alexander L’Estrange – Sing, Sing, Sing!, for Scunthorpe and District Choral Society
Best arranger for leisure-time music group
Winner:
- Michael Betteridge – Urge for Going, for The Sunday Boys
Shortlisted:
- George Morton – five pieces including The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Scheherazade, William Tell Overture, for Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra
- Peter Davis – two extracts from William Hamilton Bird’s Oriental Miscellany, for Street Orchestra Live
Panel for best music creator and best arranger: Debbie Wiseman OBE (Making Music President); Dorothy Wilson MBE (Making Music Chair); Russell Keable (Music Director, Kensington Symphony Orchestra); Sally Groves MBE (former Creative Director of Schott Music).
Best project with a focus on new music
Winner:
- The Sunday Boys – commissioned and performed three works by LGBTQ+ composers as part of the inaugural Corridor of Light Festival in Manchester.
Shortlisted:
- Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra
- Haddo Arts
Panel for best project with a focus on new music: Dorothy Wilson MBE (Making Music Chair); Clare Edwards (Director of Learning & Events, Young Voices); Emma Campbell (Music Officer, Creative Scotland); Graeme Wilson (Music Director, Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society).
Best music director
Winner:
- Chris Parsons, Bury St Edmunds Friendly Orchestra
Shortlisted:
- Stephen Marshall, Crickhowell Choral Society
- Thomas Leech, Bradford Festival Choral Society
Panel for best music director: Martyn Brabbins (Music Director, English National Opera); Dorothy Wilson MBE (Making Music Chair); Derek Harrison (Music Director, Knebworth Community Chorus).
Group hero
Winner:
- Bradford Festival Choral Society team (Alice Phelps, Fran Wyburn, Thomas Leech, Christopher Pulleyn, Pariss Joseph, James Hamilton), Bradford Festival Choral Society
Shortlisted:
- Ben Baughan, The Sunday Boys
- Musicians in Exile, The Glasgow Barons
- Nigel Britten and Sally Moran, Beckenham Chorale
The group hero award was decided by online public vote. Find out more and read nominations
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Notes to editors
Making Music has championed leisure-time music groups since 1935 across the UK with practical services, artistic development opportunities and by providing a collective voice for its members. We represent over 3,900 groups made up of around 220,000 musicians of all types, genres and abilities. We help them run their groups so they can get on with making music! www.makingmusic.org.uk
