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 through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund, Arts Council of Wales, 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.
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.
Full details about the programme and how to apply is on the Beyond Borders page of the PRS Foundation website. Applications can be submitted from today until the deadline of 6pm on Monday 19th September 2022.
Elizabeth Sills, Grants & Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation said, “We are delighted to be opening up our co-commissioning and touring initiative Beyond Borders for applications this year. This collaborative opportunity, with our friends at Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council Ireland, has enabled exciting, award winning and critically acclaimed new music to be created and performed in front of audiences across the UK and Ireland. We're excited to see who applies and the collaborations, for this unique touring opportunity."
Clare Hewitt, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “Collaboration and exchange are vital for new ideas and connections between nations to flourish. The Beyond Borders programme is designed to do exactly that, enabling musicians from across the nations to collaborate and tour, reaching new audiences across the UK, and we’re so pleased to be partnering with the PRS Foundation to help make this happen.”
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music and Opera, Arts Council of Northern Ireland comments, “Beyond Borders is an outstanding opportunity for musicians to collaborate with other artists across the UK and Ireland in new projects, gaining a platform for their music to tour and to be heard by new audiences. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support this important artist development programme and look forward welcoming new proposals.”
Suzanne Griffiths-Rees from Arts Council of Wales said, “The Arts Council of Wales is delighted to be able to support Beyond Borders once again, this time through our Lottery Funding. It is exciting to enable Welsh artists to tour to other countries in the UK and Ireland, and bring our culture and heritage to those who haven’t experienced it before and it is also a pleasure to welcome artists from across those countries into Wales. Funding Beyond Borders through PRS Foundation ensure that this happens and enhances the arts infrastructure for all of us.”
Background
About PRS Foundation
Since 2000 PRS Foundation has given more than £41 million to over 8,100 new music initiatives. 8 out of 12 Mercury Prize 2021 nominees had received PRS Foundation support and the charity has supported BRITS, RPS, AIM and Ivors Award-winners.
PRS Foundation supports outstanding talent from all backgrounds, covering the whole of the UK and all genres, with grantee success stories including Little Simz, Wolf Alice, Dave, Sam Fender, Years & Years, AJ Tracey, Anna Meredith, Yola, Glass Animals, Ezra Collective, Jade Bird, Ghetts, Shiva Feshareki, Sarathy Korwar, Floating Points, Nadine Shah, The Fanatix, Imogen Heap, IDLES, Kae Tempest, Kojey Radical and Emily Burns.
Widely respected as an inclusive, collaborative and proactive funding body, PRS Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity through direct grants to music creators and through support for pioneering organisations, including venues, festivals, promoters and other talent development organisations. PRS Foundation founded the Women Make Music fund, co-founded global gender equality initiative, Keychange and most recently launched the POWER UP initiative to tackle anti-Black racism in music. www.prsfoundation.com
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
About Arts Council of Wales
Arts Council of Wales is responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. We believe the arts are central to the life and wellbeing of the nation. We invest public funding, using these funds to create opportunities for people to enjoy and take part in the arts.
Our principal sponsor is the Welsh Government. We also distribute funding from the National Lottery and raise additional money where we can from a variety of public and private sector sources. Working together with the Welsh Government, we are able to show how the arts are helping to meet the Government’s policy ambitions.
About Arts Council Ireland
The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon is the Irish government agency for developing the arts. We work in partnership with artists, arts organisations, public policy makers and others to build a central place for the arts in Irish life. The Council recognises that the arts have a central and distinctive contribution to make to our evolving society. Established in 1951, to stimulate public interest in and promote the knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts, the Council is an autonomous body, which is under the aegis of the Department of Arts, Heritage & Gaeltacht.For further information on the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon please visit www.artscouncil.ie . Follow us @artscouncil_ie and www.facebook.com/artscouncilireland
About the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead funding and development agency for the Arts. Our funding enables artists and arts organisations to increase access to the arts across society and deliver great art that is within everyone’s reach. National Lottery-funded arts programmes are bringing communities closer together, tackling prejudice, racism, isolation and mental health and improving emotional wellbeing. www.artscouncil-ni.org (twitter) @ArtsCouncilNI (facebook) \ArtsCouncilNI
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Fund distributes a share of the money raised by The National Lottery for good causes.
- Over £30m is raised for good causes every week
- More than 500,000 projects have been funded
- Over £36bn has been raised since the Lottery started