Emily Howard receives grant from PRSF Composers’ Fund

Congratulations to Dr Emily Howard, one of 10 composers to receive a grant from the PRS Foundation Composers’ Fund.

The RNCM alumna and Senior Lecturer in Composition has received the funding for a new chamber opera, To See The Invisible, she is writing in collaboration with writer Selma Dimitrijevic and director Dan Ayling.

She said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this award from the prestigious PRSF Composers’ Fund, as I develop my first full-length chamber opera To See The Invisible in collaboration with writer Selma Dimitrijevic and director Dan Ayling. The award could not have arrived at a more appropriate time, and will enable a further development period for the opera with an extended creative team. I believe that collaboration is fundamental in the creation of opera and I have no doubt that these workshops will crucially enhance the project artistically.’

With additional support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Composers’ Fund offers £150,000 annually to enable young composers to realise projects and ambitions that may not be possible through traditional commissioning models.

Established last year, the initiative supports the creative and professional development of composers with a clear track record of success; to contribute to their long term recognition, in the UK and overseas; and to establish an effective funding model shaped by contact with composers who are empowered to take more control of their career development in the short and long term.

To See The Invisible is based on a short sci-fi story by Robert Silverberg and will première at the Aldeburgh Festival next year. Click on the video below to see a short trailer of the work:

20 July 2017