'Pious Anthems & Voluntaries' nominated for Ivors Composer Awards

Michael Finnissy's Pious Anthems & Voluntaries has been nominated in the choral category for the 2020 Ivors Composer Awards.

The nine-part cycle was composed whilst Finnissy was Composer in Residence at St John's from 2016-19, and is influenced by the architecture of the College and its Chapel. What began as a relatively modest project evolved into a cycle that takes inspiration from music that has a special significance for the Choir, spanning from John Taverner to Michael Tippett. The Choir recorded the work on its latest album release of the same name, which was later chosen for both 'Editor's Choice' in Gramophone Magazine and 'Choral & Song Choice' in BBC Music Magazine.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday 1st December at 7:30pm exclusively on BBC Radio 3 as part of a two-hour ceremony broadcast hosted by Kate Molleson and Tom Service.

Finnissy's first commission for the Choir – the 2014 Advent Carol Service commission John the Baptist – was the winner of the same award (then known as the BASCA Composer Awards) in 2015. This work appears on our album Christmas with St John's. A full list of our Advent commissions is available here.