The Ivors, as the Ivor Novello Awards are affectionately known, are held every year in May and are considered one of the most prestigious music awards in the world.
The Songwriters Guild of Great Britain was established in 1947, but it would be over eight years before the creation of an award ceremony to honour the British music industry would take actual form. The project was the brainchild of Bruce Sievier and Eric Maschitz.
On March 11th 1956, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane hosted the inaugural Ivor Novello Awards, and the ceremony was televised around the world. They were named after the famous composer Ivor Novello, an important influence in the music industry and instrumental in the foundation of the Songwriters Guild. The Ivors celebrate the songwriters and composers of Great Britain and Ireland, with the winners solely picked by the writing community, in recognition of contributions to the music world.
Hazel Underwood of St Martin’s School of Art designed the award, which is a bronze statuette depicting Greek lyric poetry muse, Euterpe. This was designed in 1955 and over 1,000 of these engraved awards have been presented since the ceremony began in 1956.
The award weighs around seven pounds and is a depiction of a young girl, gazing at her hands in which she holds a piece of verse or music. The statuette stands on a round plinth with an engraved plaque bearing the winners name and category.
At H Cooper Glass Engravers, we can design engraved awards to be given at special ceremonies.
