PRS Foundation’s UK and Republic of Ireland co-commissioning and touring initiative, Beyond Borders, opens for applications

12 June 2024 - Press release

 

• Deadline to submit applications is 29th July 2024 at 6pm
• Grant support of up to £15,000 is available for projects

PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development announces today that its UK and Republic of Ireland initiative, Beyond Borders, is open today for applications from organisations, music groups and composers.

This co-commissioning and touring programme is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Creative Scotland (supported by the National Lottery), Arts Council of Wales (supported by the National Lottery), Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

Beyond Borders was established in 2010 to support high quality co-commissions and tours, stimulating collaboration between composers, performance groups and music organisations across the four UK countries and, since 2014, the Republic of Ireland.

In 2023, seven exciting projects were selected for Beyond Borders including Brian Irvine (Northern Ireland) commissioned by Contemporary Music Centre (Republic of Ireland) with New Music Dublin (Republic of Ireland), Moving On Music (Northern Ireland), Café OTO (England) and Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth Arts Centre, (Wales) presenting the ‘Stone Drawn Circles’; Ela Orleans (England) commissioned by Cryptic (Scotland) with King’s Place (England), Perth Theatre and Concert Hall (Scotland) and Moving On Music (Northern Ireland) presenting ‘Night Voyager’; and Fergus McCreadie(Scotland) commissioned by Manchester Collective (England) with Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (Wales) and Southbank Centre (England) presenting ‘The Unfurrowed Field.’

Previous Beyond Borders successes have included Songs of Separation, a collective of 10 female English and Scottish folk musicians whose album won ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017, and David Fennessy's ‘Panopticon’, commissioned by Hebrides Ensemble and Psappha, which won the Scottish Award for New Music for Small Scale work. Martin Green’s ‘Flit’, combining live music and animation which reflects on first hand stories of migration, also won over audiences and critics nationwide in 2016, and was funded through Beyond Borders. Stuart Macrae’s stage work ‘Ghost Patrol’, co-commissioned by Music Theatre Wales and Scottish Opera won the Opera category at the Southbank Sky Arts Awards in March 2013. You can read the full list of Beyond Borders grantees since 2010 on PRS Foundation’s website.

Full details about the programme and how to apply is on the Beyond Borders page of the PRS Foundation website. Grants of up to £15,000 are available for projects and applications for support can be submitted from today until the deadline of 6pm on 29th July 2024