The Ivors Academy revealed the winners of nine Ivor Novello Awards at The Ivors Classical Awards on 11th November, celebrating outstanding new compositions by British, Irish and UK resident composers.
Three special Gift of the Academy Awards were presented to Anne Dudley, Anoushka Shankar and Debbie Wiseman. Anne Dudley – who has written multiple iconic scores for film and TV, composed a wide range of orchestral works, chamber music, opera and multimedia pieces and is a pioneering figure in popular music – was inducted into the Academy Fellowship, becoming the 33rd Fellow of The Ivors Academy.
Composer and sitarist Anoushka Shankar was presented with the Innovation Award, recognising her boundary-pushing works, and Debbie Wiseman, who has composed music for some of the UK’s best-loved films and TV programmes, became the inaugural recipient of the new award for Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition, recognising her extraordinary body of work across film and television.
A further eight composers and librettists were recognised across six categories, with Ivor Novello Awards going to composers Anibal Vidal, Anna Clyne, Helen Grime, Jonathan Dove, Luke Mombrea and Nneka Cummins, with librettists April De Angelis and Zoe Gilbert also cited.
The six categories are judged anonymously, with all identifying information removed from materials seen by the judges. A jury of 30 composer judges from The Ivors Academy considered over 220 works entered for this year’s Awards, resulting in 29 nominated works in the shortlist.
BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony on 15th November in a special edition of the New Music Show. The episode will also be available on BBC Sounds.
The Ivors Classical Awards 2025
Academy Fellowship
Anne Dudley
Best Chamber Ensemble Composition
Anibal Vidal: Invocación n.2: A Kintsugi Resurrection
Best Choral Composition
Anna Clyne: Orbits
Best Community and Participation Composition
Jonathan Dove and April De Angelis: Uprising
Best Large Ensemble Composition
Nneka Cummins: finding gills [when they try to drown you]
Best Orchestral Composition
Helen Grime and Zoe Gilbert: Folk
Best Small Chamber Composition
Luke Mombrea: Black Gold
Innovation Award
Anoushka Shankar
Outstanding Contribution to Screen Composition
Debbie Wiseman
