L-R: Anthony Drewe, Eloise Hodder, Song Prize winners Rachel Walker Mason and Nina Sundstrom, Renee Lamb and George Stiles
Stiles + Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments have announced the winner of the Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize 2023. Twelve finalist songs from new British musicals were presented at The Other Palace, in a concert hosted by The Stage Debut Award winner Rob Madge. The songs were selected from 175 submissions by a large panel of industry judges.
The judging panel, comprising George Stiles, Anthony Drewe, Derek Bond, Candida Caldicot and Deborah Tracey, awarded the Best New Song Prize to Rachel Walker Mason (music and lyrics) and Nina Sundstrom (music and lyrics) for their composition ‘Drown Without Water’ from The Circle, performed by Renée Lamb. They receive £1,000 towards developing their work and a year-long complimentary Dorico Pro licence. Eloise Hodder (book writer of The Circle) also joined the team on the night. An additional prize of £250 for Voice, Vision & Potential was awarded to Geraint Owen for his song ‘BIO’ from Queerway.
The concert also celebrated recent new British musical successes, featuring songs from hit shows Operation Mincemeat, The Great British Bake Off Musical, CAKE – The Marie Antoinette Playlist, My Son’s a Queer (But what can you do?) and RIDE: A New Musical.
George Stiles and Anthony Drewe said: “It was an honour to showcase such a wide array of new songwriting talent using the finest of the West End’s singers and musicians, covering such a wide range of contemporary subjects, and seeing a packed house at The Other Palace respond to them in such a supportive and emotional way. New musical theatre writing is in a gloriously healthy and relevant place in the UK. Any of the final 12 songs would have been a worthy winner.”
Natalia Scorer, executive director of Mercury Musical Developments, added: “Huge congratulations to this year’s winners Rachel, Nina and Eloise and to all the writers in this year’s Song Prize final. We were delighted to publicly showcase the craft and talent of Mercury Musical Developments members. These were 12 wonderful and varied songs, brought to life by an exceptional cast and band, and we’d like to thank everyone who took part.”
Winner information:
Rachel Walker Mason (music and lyrics)
Grammy member, recipient of a prestigious British Citizen Award for contribution to the arts and hailed “an inspiration” by Prince Harry, Rachel Walker is a multi-award-winning musician, writing songs with Grammy, Emmy and Ivor Novello award winners, The Voice UK and American Idol alumni, Oscar, MOBO and BRIT Award nominees. Walker Mason is also a mentor for Help Musicians, an author, an international vocal and songwriting judge and patron of a mental health charity in Somerset.
Nina Sundstrom (music and lyrics)
Nina Sundstrom is a songwriter who received the Strive award from the Roundhouse Songwriters Circle, recognising promising songwriting talent. Sundstrom has worked on music for film and TV, including international perfume campaigns for Rochas Paris. She recently completed a working trip to Nashville where she was recommended for and engaged in songwriting sessions with more than 20 collaborators. She has written with: Danny O’Donoghue (The Script), Jamie Lawson, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Brooke Alex, Hannah Grace and more.
WINNER Of Voice, Vision and Potential Award Information
Geraint Owen (music and lyrics)
Geraint Owen is a composer, writer, musical director and pianist from Cardiff. As composer: Queerway (Wales Millennium Centre/Welsh tour); Rust (Edinburgh Fringe – Best Musical award winner). As musical supervisor/director: Branwen: Dadeni (Wales Millennium Centre/Welsh tour). As associate musical director: Love Never Dies (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); My Fair Lady (London Coliseum/UK and Ireland tour). As a pianist and keyboardist, Owen has played at several West End venues and major playhouses across the UK.
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