Denis & Katya wins Ivor Novello Award
16 December 2020 - news
I am delighted to say that I have won an Ivor Novello Award for Denis & Katya in the Stage Works category of the 2020 Ivors Composers Awards. The awards ceremony was not a public event this year, due to Covid-19, but instead the announcement was made live on BBC Radio 3 on 1st December 2020 in a special programme.
A huge thanks must be said to my collaborator Ted Huffman, Ksenia Ravinna, the commissioners Opera Philadelphia, Music Theatre Wales and Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, the cast and crews in USA and UK, the hosting venues and the creative team, as mentioned in the “acceptance video” above.
Denis & Katya is my second opera, which was premiered in Philadelphia in September 2019, and was performed in Wales and London in March 2020 — one of the last performances to take place in London before Covid-19 hit.
The opera also won the Fedora Generali Prize for Opera in 2019, and was picked by the Telegraph as the best opera of 2020, and the 9th best cultural event/TV show/film. The opera is shortlisted in the World Premiere category of the International Opera Awards, and was shortlisted in the Opernwelt Jahrbuch Awards 2020.