Composer Jasper Dommett nominated for Ivor Novello Award

An Ivor Novello Award, named after the legendary Welsh composer, is recognized as the pinnacle of achievement, celebrating exceptional craft in music creation and judged by fellow music creators.

Jasper, nominated in the Large Orchestral category of The Ivors Composer Awards 2020 for a composition he wrote for BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ Composition Wales, is one of the youngest ever nominees.

‘I’m incredibly honoured to receive this nomination. The Ivors Composer Awards are such an important part of contemporary music in Britain. Each year a group of composers is nominated as recognition of their achievement, with reference to a work which has been premiered in the last twelve months.

Having this nomination, I can’t help but have severe impostor syndrome because artists who have been previously been nominated, in particular the orchestral category, have been towering figures who I truly look up to.’

‘To have this nomination for a piece which I wrote for BBC NOW is also very special to me. This orchestra has been integral to my development as a composer, not only by enabling me to have my music realised over the last two years, but also through their expansive programming.

Experiencing a diverse range of live music on a regular basis is a composer’s best education; over my last four years at RWCMD I have been fortunate enough to experience these amazing concerts.’

‘I had no intention of writing this piece specifically for BBC NOW’s Composition Wales 2020 and actually it almost wasn’t performed. Because I’d worked with BBC NOW in 2019 I wasn’t going to submit it for the call of scores but both my 1:1 Tutor Joseph Davies, and the Head of Composition John Hardy, convinced me to enter it and I am so glad they did!

Night Music has a very special place in my heart. Dedicated to my late grandmother, Mary Dommett, I feel it’s not only a celebration of her life, but also a goodbye letter after a long illness. She is quite literally embedded in the piece with the main melody, which underpins the whole work, outlining a whistle call which we would do to each other to find one another when we were exploring.

If anything, I see this nomination as an appraisal to her, without whom I wouldn’t be where I am today.’

‘Jasper is a perfect combination of passionate, creative, technically assured, well organised and brilliant at making connections with people. He is a performing musician as well as composer, so he is fully aware of the needs of performing musicians – singers and instrumentalists; he’s at home in the recording studio, and comfortable with all forms of technology, too.

But above all he knows himself well enough to be confident to hold back, to use only the material that is needed to make the point. So many young composers fill the page with notes and noise.’