BYMT's New Music Theatre Award Open for Applications

Applications are now open for British Youth Music Theatre's 2024 New Music Theatre Award. The award seeks to find and support exciting new voices in UK Music Theatre, giving them a platform to develop a brand-new piece to full production with the young people of the BYMT company.

Writers, lyricists, composers, music producers and creators under the age of 30 and based in the UK or Ireland are invited to submit a synopsis, outline or concept of up to 2,000 words along with supporting music, script, recordings and references via the BYMT website by Monday 16th October 2023 for consideration.

The intention of the Award is to:
support the writer/creators in their chosen path
push the boundaries of what music theatre can be
highlight the voices wanting to diversify and challenge traditional notions of musical theatre
share the resources BYMT has to develop and showcase the writers of the future
inspire young people to engage with writing music theatre

Previous NMTA Winners include Jack Godfrey and Martha Geelan whose musical Babies just announced a series of concerts in the West End (What’s on Stage story here) and Lewis Cornay, with Harry and Greta which saw its first fully realised staged production with BYMT this summer in the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich.

Chief Executive & Creative Director Emily Gray says “This process enables us to meet and work with composers and writers who are at the stage of developing their first full scale musical production. Our young people are hungry for epic stories with relevant themes that will inspire them, their audiences and the sector to question what a new musical can be. This year we have enjoyed working with Lewis through the challenges of writing for a large company and we have also been able to support and develop other fantastic ideas that the shortlisted writers brought to us. It’s exciting to await the possibilities for our 2024 NMTA show and hope innovation leads the way!”

 
 
BYMT INFO

British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) is the leading new musical theatre company for young people, working across the UK and Ireland with West End professionals to offer unique opportunities and high-quality training. Since 2003 they have trained over 15,000 young people, with alumni including Ed SHeeran, Sam Smith, Lauren Samuels, Charlotte Ritchie, Dean Johnson, Grace Mouat, Lucy Griffiths, Luke McCall, and Bradley Jaden. BYMT’s mission is to create opportunities for young people and early career creatives from all backgrounds to develop theatre skills and enhance wellbeing, through the collaborative and inclusive process of making original music theatre. Their vision is to transform perceptions of musical theatre, be the leading voice in youth music theatre and be internationally recognised as the UK’s most prolific creator of new musicals.
 

DETAILS

Applications via the BYMT website https://britishyouthmusictheatre.org/community/new-music-theatre-award. 
 
Closing date is Monday 16th October 2023 at midday
 
Any questions or concerns about the submission or requests for information in another format can be directed to the BYMT office on 020 8563 7725 or email mail@bymt.org. Applications can be submitted via Google Forms on the company website or entered onto a Word document from the website and emailed to mail@bymt.org.