From amongst 70+ international live music productions from over 20 different countries, 10 amazing experiences for young audiences were nominated for the 2019 YAMawards. On the 1st of October 2019 during the YAMawards Ceremony in Horsens, Denmark, 5 of them were crowned winners.
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the YAMawards 2019!
BEST PARTICIPATORS PROJECT WITH YOUNG AUDIENCES
Agreed, By Glyndebourne (United Kingdom)
As stated in the category description “one of the best ways to inspire people (and especially young people) is to provide opportunities to be directly involved in its creation, production and performance”. Agreed is an opera project of Glyndebourne (UK) that ticks all the boxes: young people and the local community were involved in the creation process and these young people singing and performing the opera together with the professional singers and musicians. We appreciate the wonderful artistic value of this opera production by composer Howard Moody as such, but especially want to award the vision and passion with which young people are given opportunities that will change their lives and views of opera through participation projects as Agreed.
BEST LARGE ENSEMBLE
Copper & Skin, By Zonzo Compagnie (Belgium)
Copper & Skin takes you to a world where you forget about the surroundings and just enjoy the journey of virtuous music and inventive visualisation and choreography. Nothing in this production is missing and there is just the right amount of everything. It is artistically very high level but not in the way that excludes someone from the audience by taking it too far. During the show, you simply start to live through the instruments and movement in this elegant, stylish and innovative show that proves that with quality elements, but a somewhat minimalistic approach, you can achieve something marvellous. This piece really stands out in its category with its uniqueness and creativity, but especially by the quality that it has in music, visual design, performance and choreography as a whole.
BEST OPERA*
Romeo’s Passion, By Umculo (Germany / South Africa)
*The Best Opera award is powered by RESEO
(The European network for opera, music and dance education)
The jury was overwhelmed by almost every aspect of this original production. With a multi-layered, open-ended story set to a delicious mix of traditional South African and contemporary music and performed by world-class singers, this is opera that needs to be seen and heard. In spite of having minimal staging resources, the production was engaging and deeply moving. We thought the approach to the subject of LGBT+ rights would be of tremendous value for communities around the world. The company were brave and intelligent to perform in and amongst the teenage audience in the way that they did, symbolically placing the opera in and amongst society. We could hear in the applause at the end what an impact they have on that audience. We felt privileged to witness it.
BEST SMALL ENSEMBLE
The Fluteman Show, By Gabor Vorsteen (Germany)
The recorder is often an underrated instrument but through Gabor Vosteen’s incredible playing techniques and fantastic performance on a whole range of different recorders, he gives takes the instrument into a whole new dimension. Through the recorder, Gabor introduces us to different forms and genres of music, and furthermore new unexpected sides of the instrument with incredible, sometimes awkward, sounds and by playing up to five recorders at the same time in several voices! The Fluteman Show is completely non-verbal. The main language is music. Gabor holds the suspense throughout the entire show and is able to reach any audience, from small school settings to stages in front of thousands of children, connecting with his radiant charisma and impeccable sense of timing. Gabor goes far with his comedy but without losing his quality and professionalism. Although produced specifically for children. His show is suitable for all ages and of high professional standard so that grown-ups will enjoy just as much.
PUBLIC CHOICE AWARD
Over the last month, online audiences have been fervently voting for their favourite productions to decide the YAM Public Choice Award. Thousands of voters from more than 40 countries have done their bit and the result are now in!
In 3rd place is Agreed by Glyndebourne with 357 votes!
In 2nd place is Copper & Skin by Zonzo Compagnie with 522 votes and in first place is...
Thelonious by Zonzo Compagnie with 652 votes!
A drummer, pianist and bassist take you to New York in the first half of the 20th century. As a child, Thelonious watches the piano keyboard over his big sister’s shoulder and finds himself completely entranced by the instrument. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of memorable encounters, jam sessions, success stories and his fair share of bad luck. As stubborn as he is talented, Thelonious Monk has a career full of ups and downs, making music that is every bit as unpredictable with its surprising harmonies and adventurous rhythms. However, this was never enough to stop him from becoming the “High Priest of Jazz”, with numerous jazz standards to his name.
-------------- The Young Audiences Music Awards (YAMawards) honours creativity and innovation in the field of musical productions for young audiences, from all corners of the world, created by professional ensembles of all forms, from solo artist to orchestra.The YAMawards aim to identify and support cutting-edge productions that inspire and engage young people giving them magic moments to keep for a lifetime. Music has a profound impact on young people and promotes intercultural dialogue and understanding. The YAMawards take place in the context of the YAMsession - www.yamsession.org The YAMawards are brought to you by JM International (JMI), the world’s most renowned youth-music organisation. JMI’s work with young audiences is based on the principle that all children and youth must have access to music/culture as a fundamental human right. JMI operated currently in over 60 countries, with over 40,000 musical activites outreach 8 million young people and children. www.jmi.net