Sound of the UK wins PRS New Music Award

14:26 | Tuesday April 22, 2008

The £50,000 prize was handed to sound artist Jane Grant, musician and physicist John Matthias and Bafta winning composer Nick Ryan. The trio have until September 2009 to create their composition.

The Fragmented Orchestra will mirror the function of the human brain and the way it processes sound. Twenty four 'neuron units' will placed across the UK including a football stadium, cathedral, dairy farm, school playground, motorway crash barrier and a field.

Each solar powered Soundbox contains an artificial neuron modeled on those which fire within the brain's cortex and will be attached to a resonant surface. Inside these devices, the size of a video cassette, is a minute microphone, computer, Feonic FI drive and amplifier, which will capture the huge array of sounds made at each location.

The sounds will be transmitted to Fact museum in Liverpool where visitors will be able to listen via 24 speakers to the collective sounds from each site and their interaction with each other, together with a map detailing all of their locations. The collective audio generated in Liverpool will be simultaneously streamed back to each of the remote units and will also be available to listen to online.

Judges including Roundhouse chief executive Marcus Davey, BBC director of audio and music Jenny Abramsky, former EMI CEO Eric Nicoli and composer Nitin Sawhney chose the winning entrant.

"This is a truly intriguing musical adventure. These are outstanding creative musicians using technology to its fullest and exploring the sound of our own consciousness. It's an exciting prospect that people all over the UK will be able to be involved in this unique score. It was a unanimous decision,” says Davey.

To watch a short film about The Fragmented Orchestra visit the PRS Foundation website: www.prsfoundation.co.uk/newmusicaward