WELSH MUSIC PRIZE 2011
Organisers of the inaugural Welsh Music Prize, which celebrates Welsh music across a wide variety of genres, have announced details of this year’s competition. The prize, an initiative of SWN Festival and co-founders Huw Stephens and John Rostron, will be selected and judged by a panel of industry figures and music experts. A shortlist of 12 albums released between 1 August 2010 and 31 July 2011 will be announced very soon with the winner to be announced at SWN Festival 2011.
Huw Stephens, Radio 1 DJ said: “The Welsh Music Prize is a chance to highlight incredible albums made by Welsh musicians, and bring their music to a wider attention. By inviting a panel who love, make or work with music to judge this award, it will be a chance to celebrate the wealth of recording talent that exists in Wales, and shine a light on some exciting, diverse and excellent albums.”
John Rostron, SWN Festival organiser added: “We’ve long thought Wales should have a critically judged music prize which celebrates the great diversity in genre and language which comes from this country. I’ve watched developments such as the Nordic Music Prize and the Polaris Music in Canada and how they’ve been great platforms to discover new bands from those countries. We hope the Welsh Music Prize does the same for bands in Wales.”
