Round 3: Supporting young composers

Accessible versions of this text are available on this page.

Applications are now open 

Deadline: 23:59 on 22 February 2023. 

After repurposing the Francis Chagrin Awards in April 2020 and turning them into the Covid-19 Awards, we relaunched the Francis Chagrin Awards in late 2022. We will be awarding up to 12 small-scale grants of £500 to composers and music creators in the UK. These can be used to purchase essential equipment, develop skills, or gain vital artistic and practical insight and experience in working with professional musicians, ensembles or other artistic collaborators, with a view to supporting individuals’ longer-term ability to sustain themselves and their careers.  

These awards are not designed as a hardship fund or to supplement projects which have confirmed grant support already. 

Who is it for? 

Round 3 of the Francis Chagrin Award is open to people aged 18-25.  

Our aim is to support composers at an early stage in their careers to develop their practice by undertaking creative or professional development. At least half of the Awards in this round will be given to composers not currently in education or training. 

What can the Award be used for?  

Below is an example, not an exhaustive list, of the types of activities this Award can support:  

• an online or in-person course (not including Further or Higher Education)
• an online course 
• a programme of coaching or mentoring sessions 
• acquiring and learning new software or hardware packages / getting new musical items 
• acquiring technical equipment integral to the creation of a specified new work or livestreaming opportunity (e.g., LED lighting panels or camera) 
• a self-directed composition project that would benefit from a period of rehearsal, workshopping or collaboration with a musician(s), ensemble or other artistic collaborator (e.g., visual artist, other performing artist)  
• undertaking a recording of existing work with one or more musicians 
• access costs for any self-directed project  

We are looking for applicants who have a clear idea of the activity or support they would like to access, what difference this will make and who will be able to pay for both the activity and their own time with the Award. There is no requirement to complete a new work or have a performance date secured. Activity can be in-person or online.  

We are particularly interested in supporting DIY projects and collaborations, in recognition that disabled composers and artists face increased costs for self-producing work. 

These Awards are not able to cover access costs for projects which have confirmed grant support from other organisations, or to cover Further or Higher Education costs (e.g. tuition fees, course materials etc). 

Successful awardees will be invited to contribute to Minute of Listening, Sound and Music’s resource for primary aged children. Further information on this will be available after the selection process. 

Who can apply? 

Composers, music creators and artists working in sound and music are eligible to apply who: 

• are aged 18-25 at the time of application
• are based in the UK (for at least 2 years)
• are not currently participating in a Sound and Music programme (or a previous recipient of the Covid-19 Award, or a Francis Chagrin Award in 2022)

We can support your access costs related to completing an application to the Francis Chagrin Awards – for instance, paying an assistant or support worker to complete your application on your behalf. We can also offer a short extension to the application deadline, strictly for access needs. If you have any access needs or access related costs with regards to applying for this opportunity, which are not covered on this page, please contact: Grace Bailey – (grace.bailey@soundandmusic.org).  

If you have a question about our criteria, please contact Hannah Bujic or Will Dutta – hannah.bujic@soundandmusic.org / will.dutta@soundandmusic.org  

How does the selection process work? 

Decisions will be made and Awards will be granted by external panellist Pixie N., and members of the Sound and Music team and in line with our Fair Access Principles. 

The same criteria will be used to review all applications: 

• the impact this support will have on your future career 
• value for money (to maximise the impact of these Awards) 
• diversity of recipients, a breadth of types of work and geographical locations will also be taken into consideration 

Budgeting 

To maximise the chances of your application being considered, please consider the following: 

• Your application should not exceed £500  
• Costs should be itemised 
• Where artistic collaborators are being paid, fees are expected to be in alignment with rates as set by unions or similar bodies (e.g., Musicians’ Union, Equity, etc.) 

When will I hear back? 

We will aim to let people know (if you have or have not been successful) by 20 March.  

Precise timing will depend on the number of applications we receive and we will inform all applicants if we experience delays in this process. 

Due to the expected high numbers of applicants, we will be able to offer general rather than personalised feedback, including how many people applied, plus any general advice if you plan to submit another application in the future.  

How do I apply? 

Applications are now open, please click here to apply.
An Easy Read version of this form is available for download.

Applications must be received by 23:59 on 22 February 2023. 

The application process should take less than 30 minutes. 

In the application form you will be asked: 

• to confirm that you are aged 18-25 
• to upload a short biography (100 words or less)  
• to upload a statement (in Word or PDF format – no more than 300 words) OR a video or audio application of no more than 2 minutes in which you: 
  • briefly describe the activity you want to undertake  
  • briefly describe why it is important to you right now; what difference will it make to you as an artist in terms of being better equipped to support yourself in the future? 
  • provide a full breakdown of costs that make up the full grant of £500 
• to complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

If you need to submit an application in a different format (for example by email) or have any questions please contact Grace Bailey – grace.bailey@soundandmusic.org  

Our aim is to make our application processes as accessible as possible. If you have any feedback on accessibility we would love to hear so we can learn and improve.

Find out about our previous winners.