Amplify your achievements: nominate your project for the Youth Music Awards

The annual Youth Music Awards, in association with Hal Leonard Europe, takes place on Wednesday 18 October 2023 at Troxy, London.

The Youth Music Awards celebrates the most forward-thinking projects and people making, learning and earning in music. From artists and entrepreneurs to grassroots projects and young leaders, the event recognises an exciting range of trailblazers from across the scene.

Nominations are now open for 2023. See all categories and nominate here.

All projects supported by Youth Music funding within the past 5 years are eligible. We’d particularly like to see more nominations from projects and professionals working with children and young people aged under 18, to showcase the full diversity of Youth Music’s funded partners.

Shortlisted nominees are invited to the event, their stories reaching a large live audience from all parts of the music industries. Nominees also benefit from local and national publicity supported by Youth Music’s PR agency.

The deadline for nominations is Sunday 9 April 2023, 11.59pm.

Youth Music Awards 2022 nominees on the impact of music on their lives and the importance of creative spaces. Narrated and composed by rising star and Youth Music Awards 2021 2x winner TEE.

 

The Youth Music Awards is a night to get young voices heard. And everyone should be listening.

The Youth Music Awards celebrates the most forward-thinking projects and people making, learning and earning in music. It gives a platform to young creatives and leaders who might face barriers because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through. The Youth Music Awards calls for industry-wide collaboration and commitment to equalising access to the music industries and education for the next generation. From artists and entrepreneurs to grassroots projects, young leaders and community activists, the event recognises and represents an exciting range of trailblazers from across the scene.

And at Youth Music, we’re the people behind that scene: powering the grassroots music infrastructure since 1999 with our investment, insights and influence. With our backing over the past 24 years, the most innovative people and organisations all over the UK have made strides in equalising young people’s access to music.

This is founded on our belief that every young person should have the chance to make, learn and earn in music. But we know many can’t because of inequalities they face brought into sharp focus in these challenging times and exacerbated by the cost-of-living emergency.

Nominating your project, participants or professionals isn’t just about taking the time to celebrate your achievements. It’s also about amplifying the role every grassroots organisation plays in equalising access to music for young people across the UK. Together, we can ensure the future of music is more creative, more diverse and more inclusive.

We remain determined that as we look ahead, young people can and must play a central role in leading and shaping this future.

 

“Just regular people helping other regular people”

 

Raghad Haddad, winner of the Inspirational Music Leader Award 2022 sponsored by The MU
Surrey Arts, Youth Ensemble for Arabic Speaking Children

Raghad is a viola player and pianist from Yabroud, Syria. After graduating from the conservatory in Damascus, she began teaching and performing. Since being granted asylum in the UK in 2018, Raghad has performed at numerous charity events and with orchestras such as The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. On behalf of Surrey Arts she has worked on multiple projects supporting vulnerable children, including SEND and refugee children, and was the musical director for I Speak Music, a project bringing together refugee and host communities.

 

Kavyan Hajirostami, winner of Young Leader Award 2022 sponsored by PPL Big Leaf Foundation, Music Connects

Within the Music Connects programme, Kavyan uses his talent as a Kurdish daf player and excites other musicians to learn about Kurdish instruments. He created a space within the project for young people who want to tell their stories to do so, showing superb leadership.

 

Music Fusion, winner of the Social Action Award 2021 sponsored by Hal Leonard Europe

The Words Not Weapons - Mavericks Project has been running in Havant since 2011. Initially, the project came about to help resolve rising tensions in rival communities. Young people were making violent threats and using weapons to incite fear. The main protagonists were brought together by Music Fusion. They decided they wanted to make an album with some VIP artists, with the aim being to take weapons out of young people's hands. During Mavericks sessions, people get to mix with others from different backgrounds, walks of life, religious and political beliefs that they might not have had the chance to, or even wanted to before.

Jinx Prowse, CEO of Music Fusion explains their mission as an organisation to be ”Not school, not police, not social services - just regular people helping other regular people make better choices through making music.”

 

Neil Card, winner of the Inspirational Music Leader Award sponsored by PMLL (2019)

Neil is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer (artist name: D.Ni.L) who works at Tang Hall SMART CIC in York as their Director of Music. A prolific composer in his own right, Neil also enables others to realise their potential, particularly young people battling addiction and poor mental health, and/or who have experienced homelessness.

Neil says: "Winning the award last made a huge difference to my career; it gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment that reverberated through the year, and it has reinforced what I already knew about myself and Tang Hall SMART, and that is that I hope to continue this work for the rest of my career."

 

WILD Young Parents Project, winner of the Innovation Award sponsored by Novation (2019)

The Music Makes Me Happy project in Truro was focused on encouraging vulnerable young parents to practise music-making with their young children. The project also facilitated sessions geared towards engaging the parents in new and innovative musical technology away from their children. This includes using the MidiSprout and SubPac technology - with which participants can take electrical impulses from plants - including trees, flowers, seaweed and moss - to trigger electronic synthesisers on iPads, and therefore create completely original music. These sessions in particular have been transformative, taking parents out of suburban areas and into nature. Feedback from these sessions instigates powerful debates about the environment - in particular, how our actions will affect our children as they grow up.

The team at WILD Young Parents Project say: "Winning the Innovation Award was a huge moment for our project. It vindicated all of the creative work we have been doing with young parents in Cornwall and gave us the confidence to push ourselves further and think of new and inspiring ways of working".

Youth Music CEO, Matt Griffiths, says: “The Youth Music Awards showcases what can be achieved when we invest in grassroots music nationwide, long-term. We’re thankful to all our award nominees, for making the music industries more diverse, more inclusive and more creative every day.”

Thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England, investment from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, headline sponsors Hal Leonard Europe, and other Youth Music Awards sponsors and partners. Videos by Tell Studios.