On Friday, November 27, TONO surprised composer and lyricist of the Bergen band 9 degrees north, Mira Thiruchelvam, with the 2020 EDVARD Prize in the "Challenger" category. She receives the award for the music on 9 degrees north's album Jaffna.
/ 27/11/2020 / Kristian DugstadMira Thiruchelvam is one of Norway's best composers and lyricists. This is the opinion of TONO's EDVARD jury, which has now named her the winner of the EDVARD award in the "Challenger" category for the 9 Grader Nord album "Jaffna", premiered and released in 2019.
The price consisting of kr 50,000, as well as a trophy and a diploma designed by Magne Furuholmen, were awarded today by Thiruchelvam's manager presenting the trophy and diploma at their office in Bergen, while Kristin Norderval from the EDVARD jury announced the actual awarding over the phone. The solution was chosen in light of the COVID-19 situation.
– Wow, thank you. That's absolutely amazing. An honor, said Thiruchelvam when she received the award.
See how Mira reacted when she received the nice phone call. The story continues below the video.
The EDVARD Prize has been awarded annually by TONO since 1998, and is awarded in five categories to composers and lyricists who have created musical works of particularly high quality in the previous year. A highly qualified professional jury selects the winners.
– With the EDVARD Prize, we highlight some of the most beautiful music created in the previous year. The purpose is both to honor and thank individual creators, but also to raise awareness about the important work that composers, lyricists and songwriters do, says TONO's communications manager, Willy Martinsen.
"Songwriter Mira Thiruchelvam from 9 Grader Nord will challenge many listeners' understanding of their own musical taste with her debut album "Jaffna". The band itself has chosen to describe its genre as progressive ethnic, but more words are needed to describe the emotional range and sometimes uncontrollable energy conveyed in the music. Thiruchelvam's compositions are fearless and liberating, the music a fusion of different genres, with clear ties to South Indian musical tradition and Thiruchelvam's family roots in Sri Lanka. The lyrics are performed in confident Tamil with a rare presence. It doesn't matter that we don't understand the words, we understand the emotions conveyed. The music reminds us that genres and languages are man-made and can be as limiting as borders on a map."
The jury for the EDVARD Prize 2020 has consisted of Peter Edwards (Norwegian Composers' Association), Kristin Norderval (Norwegian Composers' Association), Torgny Amdam (NOPA), Samsaya Sharma (NOPA), Sten Ove Toft (Independent), Ole Børud (Independent), Thomas Wettergren (Music Publishers) and jury chair Stine Lieng (Music Publishers).