The South Bank Sky Arts Awards – the first and only awards ceremony to celebrate every genre of the arts, including Dance, Theatre, Pop, TV Drama, Film, Classical Music, Literature, Opera, Comedy and Visual Art – returns on Sunday 2 July. The ceremony, presented by Melvyn Bragg, will take place at The Savoy Hotel and will air on Wednesday 5 July at 10pm on Sky Arts, the UK’s only free-to-air TV channel dedicated to arts, music and culture.
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2023 nominees, officially announced today, celebrate a host of artists and arts organisations across the full spectrum of the industry. Nominated in the Pop category this year are RAYE and Kojey Radical with their respective debut studio albums, and Arctic Monkeys with their seventh studio album, The Car.
The TV Drama category celebrates memorable TV moments from the past year, with nominees including the highly anticipated return of Happy Valley, revisionist Western miniseries The English, and award-winning writer James Graham’s crime drama Sherwood. Occupying the Film category are Ali & Ava, The Wonder and Aftersun.
Big Boys, created, and written by Jack Rooke, is nominated in the Comedy category alongside the third and final series of Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls, both for Channel 4. Jordan Gray’s ground-breaking stage-show Is It A Bird? is also nominated, following a sell-out success at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe.
Nominations for Theatre include one-woman play by Suzie Miller, Prima Facie (Harold Pinter Theatre), Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida Theatre) written by Tennessee Williams.
In the Opera category, Violet, Britten Pears Arts and Music Theatre Wales for the Aldeburgh Festival, English National Opera’s The Rhinegold and Welsh National Opera’s The Makropulos Affair compete for the award. Literature category nominations this year include Tom Crewe’s The New Life, Paddy Crewe’s My Name is Yip and Charlotte Mendelson’s The Exhibitionist.
The world of ballet dominates the Dance category this year, with The Royal Ballet’s Light of Passage, Scottish Ballet’s Coppélia and Say It Loud by Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black vying for the prize. Classical Music nominations include Hive by Sally Beamish, performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Catrin Finch (harp) for the BBC Proms; Gavin Higgins' Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra, performed by The Tredegar Band with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, also for the BBC Proms; and Manchester Collective & Abel Selaocoe’s The Oracle.
Three nominations round out the Visual Art category; Hew Locke’s The Procession (Tate Britain), Mohammed Sami’s The Point 0 (Camden Art Centre) and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Fly In League With The Night (Tate Britain).
The Outstanding Achievement Award – an award which acknowledges an artist’s remarkable contribution to the Arts over the course of their career to date – will be announced at the ceremony. The 2022 accolade was awarded to Tamara Rojo, in recognition of her services to Ballet, and particularly her 10 transformational years as Artistic Director of English National Ballet.
The Times Breakthrough Award shines a spotlight on up-and-coming talent in the British Arts. Nominees announced today are Leo Woodall (TV Drama), Leo Reich (Comedy), Louise Kennedy (Literature), Freddie De Tommaso (Opera), Sophie Kauer (Classical), Rana Begum (Visual Art), Musa Motha (Dance), Rosie Sheehy (Theatre), Raine Allen-Miller (Film) and Jockstrap (Pop). Previous winners include creator of critically acclaimed One Woman Show, Liz Kingsman, playwright Samuel Bailey, actors Jessie Buckley and Tom Hiddleston, and British rapper, singer and songwriter Stormzy.
Melvyn Bragg said: "For our 27th South Bank Sky Arts Awards, we once more celebrate the artistic excellence that our country has to offer, across the entire spectrum of the arts. As reflected in the nominations, the British Arts are thriving and continue to shape our cultural landscape.”
Director of Sky Arts, Phil Edgar-Jones added: “The South Bank Sky Arts Awards bring together the most incredible range of people across the arts all in one room. It’s a hotbed of creativity and testimony to the health of our vibrant arts sector and a demonstration of the power of the Arts to enrich our lives.”
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards was commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment for Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content for Sky UK and Ireland. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Benedetta Pinelli. The South Bank Sky Arts Awards is part of a portfolio of South Bank content on Sky Arts produced by Directors Cut Productions.
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will take place on Sunday 2 July.
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will air on Sky Arts, Freeview and streaming-service NOW on Wednesday 5 July, 10pm.
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES:
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Hive; Sally Beamish - BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Catrin Finch (harp), BBC Proms
The Oracle – Manchester Collective & Abel Selaocoe
Gavin Higgins' Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra – The Tredegar Band with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Proms
COMEDY
Big Boys - Roughcut Television/Channel 4
Derry Girls - Hat Trick Productions/Channel 4
Jordan Gray, Is It A Bird?
DANCE
Light of Passage – The Royal Ballet
Say It Loud – Ballet Black
Coppélia – Scottish Ballet
FILM
Ali & Ava
The Wonder
Aftersun
LITERATURE
The New Life – Tom Crewe
My Name is Yip - Paddy Crewe
The Exhibitionist – Charlotte Mendelson
OPERA
Violet - Britten Pears Arts and Music Theatre Wales for the Aldeburgh Festival
The Rhinegold - English National Opera
The Makropulos Affair - Welsh National Opera
POP
RAYE – My 21st Century Blues
Kojey Radical – Reason To Smile
Arctic Monkeys – The Car
THEATRE
Prima Facie – Harold Pinter Theatre
Blues for an Alabama Sky – National Theatre
A Streetcar Named Desire – Almeida Theatre
TV DRAMA
The English - Drama Republic Limited & Eight Rooks for Amazon & BBC
Happy Valley - Lookout Point/BBC One
Sherwood - House Productions/BBC One
VISUAL ART
Hew Locke: The Procession - Tate Britain
Mohammed Sami: The Point 0 - Camden Art Centre
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night - Tate Britain
THE TIMES BREAKTHROUGH AWARD
Comedy - Leo Reich
TV Drama - Leo Woodall
Literature - Louise Kennedy
Opera - Freddie De Tommaso
Classical - Sophie Kauer
Visual Art - Rana Begum
Dance - Musa Motha
Theatre - Rosie Sheehy
Film - Raine Allen-Miller
Pop – Jockstrap
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
To be announced
