Merry Xmas & Happy New Year – We’re closed from 5pm today (23.12.21) and open on Wednesday 5th January. We hope that you all have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year wherever you are. Stay safe and we look forward to working with you in 2022.
Very best wishes
The Birnam Team
Nominations are open for MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards 2021. The Trad Music Awards provide an opportunity to highlight and promote Scotland’s rich traditional music scene. The Nominations and Voting processes are in two stages: This nomination stage will close on Sunday 17th October with the voting period opening online on Monday 1st November through to Sunday 14th November.
The Awards ceremony is due to be held in Glasgow on 4th December 2021.
To vote for your favourite band, album, musician, organisation please visit: ScotsTradMusicAwards
The Youth Music NextGen Fund offers young creatives grant funding of up to £2,500 to make their ideas happen. The fund is open to 18-25yr olds (and under 30s who identify as Disabled) and aims to help emerging musicians/people working towards a career in the music industries, but who lack key contacts, resources, funding, for example: Musicians, Producers, Engineers, DJs, MCs, Rappers, Songwriters, Managers, Promoters, A&Rs, Agents, Activists and campaigners who are transforming the music industries.
NextGen Fund aims to support people to take their first steps into the music industries. Successful applicants will use the money to launch a creative project, idea or business, for example: A creative music project: a Single, EP or contribution towards an album campaign. A music-based business: starting a record label or music platform. A platform that supports underrepresented voices and perspectives.
For more information please visit: https://youthmusic.org.uk/nextgen/nextgen-fund
The deadline for Round 1 is 17:00 on Friday 9 July 2021.
Scottish Awards for New Music 2021 – Nominations now open. New Music Scotland is a network of artists, ensembles, orchestras, composers, creators, music educators, sound artists, musicians, producers, promoters and anyone who believes in the importance and value of creating new music in Scotland. The New Music Awards provide an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the wide range of innovative, experimental, creative work taking place across Scotland.
New Music is broadly defined as including (but is not limited to): Acoustic Ecology / Avant-garde music / Co-improvisation / Contemporary chamber music / Contemporary opera / Contemporary orchestral music / Contemporary vocal and choral music / Computer music / Electroacoustic music / Electronica Experimental music / Experimental world music / Experimental folk music / Free improvisation.
Nominations can be submitted by anyone from Wednesday 14th April until 11pm on Wednesday 12th May 2021.
For more information please visit: Scottish Awards For New Music 2021
Global Music Match is now open for applications. Global Music Match (GMM) launched in 2020 as a pilot initiative. Recognising the many COVID-19 challenges, GMM aims to raise the profile of artists across international markets using social media and peer-to-peer collaboration. It supports opportunities and networks for export-ready artists internationally and encourages cross border artist collaboration by connecting musicians from around the world, creating new audiences for artists in a range of international locations and providing a groundwork for future international touring development.
The initiative is a collaboration between founding partners Sounds Australia, Showcase Scotland Expo and East Coast Music Association (ECMA), along with export organisations and showcase events from around the world. The 16- week programme is designed to establish real life connections between export-ready artists. Artists will be selected from around 18 countries and placed into groups or “Teams” made up of teams from different countries or regions from around the world. Each team will be led by a team “Coach” who will guide the artists in weekly group meetings and provide support to ensure project activities and timelines are met.
For more information including specific application criteria please visit: Showcase Scotland Expo
The deadline for applications is Friday 16th April.
The Gordon Duncan Experience is looking for talented young musicians and budding composers from all over Scotland to take part in a brand new composition project. Young Musicians are invited to audition for the Gordon Duncan Experience Composition Project by Sunday 14th March.
Scotland’s Celtic Big Band is inviting musicians aged 14-21 of intermediate level and above, on any instrument and from any musical background who want to develop their composition skills, to audition to join its free Online Composition Masterclasses.
Led by Musical Director Patsy Reid, the 20 successful applicants will work alongside some of Scotland’s top musicians and composers, attending five masterclasses and five one-to-one mentoring sessions online, with the aim of creating a finished piece of music.
Launched by Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre in 2010 in honour of late, great Pitlochry piper Gordon Duncan, The Gordon Duncan Experience plays and creates music rooted in Scottish traditions with influences from jazz, rock, pop, blues and classical. The young musicians who have come through its ranks have performed at high-profile events and shared the stage with some of Scotland’s top artists, with many of them going on to study and make a career in music and performance.
For more information please visit: https://www.horsecross.co.uk/news/young-musicians-invited-to-audition-for-the-gordon-duncan-experience-composition-course
To find out more about the project and how to audition contact Emma Neck, Creative Learning Co-ordinator (Music) eneck@horsecross.co.uk before the closing date of Sunday 14 March 2021.
The Feis Rois Youth Small Grants Scheme: Folk and Traditional Music fund opens for applications on Friday 29th January. The Youth Small Grants Scheme is part of a Scottish Government Covid-19 Funding Package aimed at supporting the arts. Feis Rois, one of several organisations awarded funding through the Small Grants Scheme, has a fund budget of £40,000 and is inviting applications from freelance musicians living anywhere in Scotland and working in folk and traditional music.
Applicants can apply for between £500 – £5,000. The grants aim to create work opportunities for freelance musicians and at the same time provide arts activities for children and young people, especially those most affected by Covid-19.
The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 14th March.
For more information please visit: https://www.feisrois.org/what-we-offer/funding-opportunities/
Christmas and New Year – Our office is open until Wednesday the 23rd but we won’t be processing any new work from Friday 18th through to Monday January 4th.
A big thank you to all the artists we have worked with throughout the year – we look forward to working with you all in 2021.
A wee update on our previous post about the Hardship Fund – the online application portal will close to applicants at midday on 18th December and will reopen at midday on 5th January 2021.
The Hardship Funds for Creative Freelancers aims to support creative freelancers working in Scotland who are experiencing immediate financial hardship due to the loss of income as a result of the COVID – 19 pandemic.
For more information please visit: Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers
We hope everyone stays safe and well in these difficult times.
Very best Christmas wishes to you all
from the Birnam Team.
The Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers reopened on Tuesday 10 November. The fund aims to support freelance creative professionals working in the arts and creative sector in Scotland who are experiencing immediate financial difficulty due to the loss of income as a result of COVID-19.
It offers a one-off monetary contribution to those who are most deeply impacted and disadvantaged by the cancellation of work as a result of the emergency situation.
All applicants must be based in Scotland and must be able to demonstrate they were working and making income as a freelance creative professional before lockdown began (in March 2020).
The Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers is open to:
Freelance professionals whose work has direct creative outcomes. This can include (but is not limited to) a visual artist, a writer or maker of poetry, prose or fiction, a playwright, actor or theatre- maker, a comedian, dancer, musician, craft maker or designer.
Freelance professionals whose work directly supports the making and presentation of creative work including events. This can include (but is not limited to) a theatre producer, a lighting designer, a gig promoter, an independent curator or creative producer.
For more information please visit: Creative Scotland: hardship-fund-for-creative-freelancers
Public Nominations open for MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2020. Nominations are invited for the following awards:
The nomination stage closes on Sunday 18th October.
For more information and to nominate please visit: MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2020