New Music Theatre Award
BRITISH YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE SUPPORTING EMERGING WRITERS AND COMPOSERS IN MEMORY OF THEATRE DIRECTOR VERNON MOUND
The New Music Theatre Award offers the rare opportunity of awarding a music theatre commission to a young writer or team of writer/creators, mentoring from established music theatre makers, development support from BYMT, dramaturgical support from a director and a staged production at a UK regional venue with a large company of young people from across the UK, in August 2025.
The previous winners, 2023 production of Harry and Greta by Lewis Cornay and 2024 Welcome to Serene by Bethany Tennick and Iona Ramsay, were staged at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich with 40 young performers and musicians, and seen by 1000 people through in-person and livestream performances.
Following the Welcome to Serene production, Composer Bethany said: “I'd like to say how immensely thankful I am that BYMT took a chance on Iona and I. We learned an insane amount about ourselves and our creative process on this job, and it is an experience that was incredibly useful for two early-career artists. As a new writing team to have us and our work taken so seriously meant to the world Iona and I, so thank you so so much.”
BYMT is committed to creating an inclusive culture in all its activities, ensuring equality of opportunity for all our creative practitioners and encouraging applications from individuals regardless of disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. We are particularly keen to hear from writers from global majority backgrounds and those who self-identify as disabled, as they are under-represented in the new music theatre sector.
Applications will be assessed on music, concept, writing quality, lyric content and appropriateness by a panel of working professional practitioners and BYMT alumni and young people.
Information about the process of application and production can be found HERE.
Applications for the NMTA 2025 are now closed.
Deadlines
- The deadline for submissions is 12pm on Monday 14th October 2024
- Interview teams will be selected and informed by 1st November 2024
- Interview/pitches will take place the week of 11th November 2024
- The Award winners will be announced at BYMT’s Let It Snow concert 1st December 2024