Dr Arlene Sierra awarded PRS Foundation Composers’ Fund grant

Dr Arlene Sierra has been awarded substantial funding by the PRS Foundation Composers’ Fund.

The Fund awards £150,000 annually to support composers and enable them to realise projects and ambitions that may not be possible through traditional commissioning models. Dr Sierra is one of ten composers receiving funding this year.

Launched in 2016, the Composers’ Fund is aimed at classical composers with strong track records, giving them direct access to funding at pivotal points in their career.

The funding will support the release of Dr Sierra’s third portrait disc with Bridge Records. Many of Dr Sierra’s chamber works have toured internationally but few have been released on disc. This project addresses this oversight with a programme of works for duos and trios spanning 16 years.

The centrepiece of the new disc will be “Butterflies Remember a Mountain”, performed by the trio of Nicola Benedetti, Leonard Elschenbroich and Alexei Grynyuk. Commissioned by Bremen Philharmonic Society, the Benedetti-Elschenbroich-Grynyuk trio have performed the piece at the BBC Proms, the Concertgebouw, Cheltenham Town Hall, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and many other prestigious venues since its premiere in Bremen in 2013.

The full programme of the new disc will be:

• Butterflies Remember a Mountain (2013) – Bremen Philharmonic Society commission for the Benedetti-Elschenbroich-Grynyuk Trio
• Avian Mirrors (2013) – violin and cello duo, Peasmarsh Chamber Music and Cheltenham Festival co-commission
• Truel (2004) – piano trio, Jerome Foundation and Danspace New York co-commission
• Counting-Out Rhyme (2002) – cello and piano duo, Hamburg Pur Oder Plus Festival commission
• Of Risk and Memory (1997) – piano duo, U.S. private commission