South Bank Sky Arts Awards reveal 2020 nominations

Nominations revealed for The South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2020.

“This year’s Awards will inevitably be a very different sort of event for very different circumstances, but nonetheless will be an inspiring and uplifting celebration of the remarkable talent and strength of many artists at the peak of their powers. The diverse and eclectic list of nominees in every category proves that there is much to enjoy in the Arts – even in the toughest of times.” – host Melvyn Bragg

Having faced one of their toughest years ever, a host of talent from across the arts industry is set to be celebrated next month at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. Now in its 24th year, the annual ceremony will take place next month at the London Coliseum in a new, socially distanced format.

Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards is the only Awards ceremony in the world to acknowledge and celebrate every genre of the Arts, including Dance, Classical Music, Comedy, Film, Literature, Opera, Pop, Theatre, TV Drama and Visual Art.

The TV Drama category sees Sky Original Chernobyl nominated alongside Channel 4’s The Virtues and BBC One’s epic Years and Years.

In Comedy, BBC Three and Amazon Prime’s Fleabag goes up against Netflix’s Sex Education and Channel 4’s insightful and charming Home. A hotly contested Film category also spans multiple genres, featuring Rocketman, The Souvenir and For Sama.

On stage, Sheffield’s renowned Crucible Theatre boasts two separate nominations in the Theatre category for new plays Standing at the Sky’s Edge and Life of Pi. They go head to head with Cyrano de Bergerac at the Playhouse Theatre.

Music categories are particularly strong this year, with BRIT award-winning rapper Dave’s album Psychodrama competing with Kano’s Hoodies All Summer and Mercury Prize winner Michael Kiwanuka’s Kiwanuka, in the Pop category.

Meanwhile in Classical Music, Edinburgh International Festival’s performance of Götterdämmerung, from Sir Andrew Davis and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is nominated alongside the Thomas Adès Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with the piano soloist Kirill Gerstein.

The final nominee in the category is the world premiere of the Thea Musgrave Trumpet Concerto, from the Cheltenham Music Festival and CBSO, based on a series of paintings by Scottish artist Victoria Crowe.

The Opera nominees include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk from Birmingham Opera Company, directed by Graham Vick and conducted by former Times Breakthrough nominee Alpesh Chauhan, and Katya Kabanova, a story of love and loneliness from The Royal Opera. They are up against the dark and beautiful fairy tale of isolation and enchantment, Iolanta, from Opera Holland Park.

In Dance, Northern Ballet’s tale of passion, tragedy and fierce devotion, Victoria, is nominated alongside Ballet Black’s Ingoma, a fusion of ballet, African dance and song. Matthew Bourne’s contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s timeless love story, Romeo and Juliet, is the final nominee.

In Visual Art, Tracey Emin’s A Fortnight of Tears at White Cube is nominated alongside Only Human, the Martin Parr exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and Steve McQueen’s celebrated Year 3 project in collaboration with Tate Britain, Artangel and A New Direction, which appeared on billboards across London.

The authors nominated in the Literature category are Sara Collins for the thrilling murder mystery The Confessions of Frannie Langton, Edna O’Brien, for her powerful story of survival, Girl, and Laura Cumming for the deeply moving On Chapel Sands: My mother and other missing persons.

The final award is the Outstanding Achievement Award, the winner of which will be revealed on the night.

This award recognises the remarkable contribution an artist has made to the Arts, throughout their career to date. Previous winners include Harold Pinter, Judi Dench, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Benedict Cumberbatch and last year, Sir Lenny Henry.

The awards will be free for everyone to watch on Sky Arts, Freeview channel 11, at 8pm on Sunday 20th December.