Music & Drama Education Awards: Shortlist announcement

The shortlisting process for the Music & Drama Education Awards becomes more time-consuming, more rewarding and more diffcult year-on-year, as more and more entries come in and the incredible work being done all over the country to bring the best teaching and resources to drama students of all ages is demonstrated.

It is with great pleasure that we announce this year's shortlists, which are enormously varied, and speak volumes about the scale of creativity in action across the UK.

We begin with a brand new award this year, the #GoldStars award, mounted in conjunction with a social media campaign to celebrate and recognise the amazing teachers who went above and beyond the call of duty to support their students and keep drama alive through lockdowns and the many impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

#GoldStars award shortlist

• Charlotte Buxton
• Celia Cobb
• Chris Hodges
• Dean Johnson
• Jessa Liversidge
• Naomi Stevenson

Excellence in Musical Theatre

The shortlist this year features productions, workshops and resources, many of them fighting the odds to continue through 2020 lockdowns.

• A Place for Us CIC for West Side Story – I Wish it was Yesterday
• Craven College for Little Shop of Horrors
• Music Theatre Essex for their Summer Lockdown Musical
• Northampton College for Level 3 in Musical Theatre
• The School Musicals Company for Bamboozled – An Extraordinary Musical Adventure
• Theatre Workout for their Musical Theatre Workshops

Excellence in Primary/Early Years

This year's shortlist includes two drama and four music projects – all active initiatives to educate younger students and introduce them to the many benefits of drama and music.

• DramEd
• Lights Camera Action
• Little Strummers for Ukulele Grand Tour
• Richmond Music Trust for Team Tutti
• RSF for The RSF Primary Schools Rock & Pop Music Workshop Programme
• Sing Up for Sing Up at Home

Excellence in SEND

A mixture of one-off events and longer projects feature in the SEND category shortlist this year, with enormous inspiration to be taken from each one.

• Big Top Musical Adventures CIC
• Inspiration Creative Online
• Reach oRchestRa
• TreeHouse School for their Ukulele project
• UP! Orchestra for their Music of Black Origin Programme

Outstanding Drama Education Resource

While online products abound this year for obvious reasons, two of the shortlist can be hard-copy resources too.

• A Beginner's Guide to Devising Theatre by Tashi Gore and Jess Thorpe, published by Methuen Drama
• Horror School Scheme of Work by Siobhan Fogarty
• PB Digital Workshop Series by Paper Birds
• Online Brecht CPD by Splendid Productions
• Teechers Online by Blackeyed Theatre
• The Drama Geezers for Drama at Home

Outstanding Drama Initiative

Several long-established companies feature on the drama initiative shortlist for 2021, with new ideas for a changing world.

• ALRA, Italia Conti and Drama Studio London for Joint Drama School Auditions
• Cherrystars Performing Arts
• Platform by Tonic Theatre and Nick Hern Books
• Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass for Script Sessions
• Unexpected Places for Light UP drama
• WGYTC for their Online Summer Course production of The Party

Outstanding School Music/Drama Department

Always a hotly contested category and with obvious personal pride for the winner at stake, the judges struggle hardest every year to choose between the school departments…

• Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Music Department
• Bourne Westfield Primary Academy Music Department
• Chiswick School Performing Arts Department

Department

• Isaac Newton Academy Music Department
• Newbattle High School Music Department
• Tiffin School Music Department
• TreeHouse School Music Department

Drama Inspiration Award

…and finally, another category that is always incredibly difficult to judge, the Drama Inspiration Award for an individual drama teacher or practitioner whose work has truly inspired their students and peers. This year's shortlist is:

• Claudia Gray
• Aine Lark
• Adam Milford
• Lizzie Nurse
• Zoe Rudge
• Ellie Snow

Enormous congratulations to all those shortlisted. The whittling process has been extremely tough for the judges this year, with some categories garnering more than 90 entries. As always, we encourage those not shortlisted to try again next year, remembering that you can nominate yourself or any other person, initiative or product that you feel is worthy of recognition. In particular, we know every year that schools hesitate to enter themselves for the Outstanding Department award, and we truly encourage you to do so, however ‘ordinary’ you may consider your extraordinary work to be.

At the ceremony in March, the Lifetime Achievement Award winner will also be announced for 2021, as well as winners of the Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre Magazine Editors Awards – personally chosen by me and my colleague on our sister-title, Tom Lydon. We hope to see you online for the final announcements!

The Music & Drama Education Awards 2021 will take place on Facebook Live on the evening of 24 March 2021. For more information, go to www.musicdramaedawards.com