Mark Mansfield
Welsh composer Siôn Trefor has received his first Ivor Novello Award nominations, with two scores in contention at this year’s Ivors Composer Awards.
Born and based in Cardiff, Trefor is up for Best Original Film Score alongside collaborator Ioana Șelaru for the Welsh drama Effi O Blaenau. His music for the Netflix thriller Legends is also competing for Best Original Television Score.
The winners will be announced at Grosvenor House in London on November 17.
Adapted from Gary Owen’s play Iphigenia in Splott, Effi O Blaenau follows a young woman whose experience of a miscarriage exposes a wider social crisis.
Trefor and Șelaru’s soundtrack combines acoustic instruments, synthesisers and vocals. They face competition from former Ivor Novello winners Daniel Pemberton, for Project Hail Mary, and Oliver Coates, for The History of Sound.
For Legends, Trefor combined orchestral melodies with electronic music to accompany the story of customs employees sent to infiltrate Britain’s drug gangs in the 1990s.
The television shortlist also includes Carly Paradis for the ITVX series Believe Me and Patrick Jonsson for BBC comedy-drama Mint.
A composer and instrumentalist, Trefor has written scores for Netflix, the BBC and Hulu. He is currently working on Lemonade, a feature film starring Lewis Brophy and Barry Keoghan.
He joins Jonsson and Hania Rani in receiving two nominations apiece. The three are among 15 newcomers on this year’s shortlist, which features 36 composers and librettists across nine categories.
The film and television awards have moved from The Ivors to join the other composition categories at the November ceremony. A separate award for documentary scores has also been introduced.
Its inaugural shortlist includes Benjamin Kwasi Burrell’s music for Grenfell: Uncovered, Jessica Dannheisser’s score for The Last Musician of Auschwitz and Hannah Peel’s work on Underland.
Richard Collins and Patrick Jonsson are recognised for A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough, while Thomas Farnon completes the category with David Frost Vs….
Music made with amateur and youth performers is recognised through the community and participation award.
Samuel D Loveless’s Benches is a project focused on neurodivergence, written for an ensemble with optional electronics. Ailís Ní Ríain’s Holocene brings together a brass quintet, community brass musicians and percussion players.
Brian Irvine’s How We Stand, How We Breathe comprises seven musical interventions involving an orchestra, individuals and groups across Northern Ireland.
Opera
Elsewhere, composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Lee Hall are in contention for their three-act opera Festen, while the video game shortlist includes music for 007 First Light, Saros and Spirit of the North 2.
The awards are judged by composers from The Ivors Academy’s membership. Four special awards will also be presented, including an innovation award for Max Richter, and a composer will receive Fellowship, the Academy’s highest honour.
Broadcaster Petroc Trelawny will host the ceremony, with highlights airing on BBC Radio 3’s The New Music Show and Sound of Cinema on November 21.
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