Alumni Receive Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards

RNCM alumni Daniel Kidane and Aílís Ní Riain are the only UK composers to receive a prestigious 2016 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award.

Established in 1994, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards encourage composers and visual artists to continue to practice despite outside pressures, financial or otherwise. Each award consists of £50,000 paid over three years, and are presented at a timely moment in an artist’s career – regardless of age – giving them the freedom to develop their creative idea and contributing to their personal and professional growth.

Daniel, who graduated in 2012, said: ‘I am eternally grateful to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for this life changing award, which will allow me to focus on my creative practice as a composer. This award has cleared out a corner of my mind, where creativity can now flourish.’

Aílís, a 2004 alumna, added: ‘I am very grateful indeed to have been selected for this award. It comes at an important crossroads for me as a creative artist and is something I feel honoured and proud to accept. It will enable me to push my practice higher without limitation.’

Daniel and Aílís now join a list of RNCM alumni to receive a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award, including Sally Beamish, Simon Holt, Emily Howard and Larry Goves.

Professor Adam Gorb, Head of School of Composition, said: ‘The fact that RNCM alumni Daniel Kidane and Aílís Ní Riain were the only two composers to win 2016 Paul Hamlyn Awards, the largest and most prestigious composition prize in the UK is of tremendous credit to them and the RNCM. I give my heartfelt congratulations to them both.’

11 November 2016