The World Soundtrack Academy announces a new wave of nominees for the prestigious World Soundtrack Awards 2021: Nainita Desai and Natalie Holt are piling up the nominations and Gavin Brivik and Amelia Warner, no strangers to the WSA, return to the competition this year as possible winners of the Discovery of the Year and Public Choice Awards respectively. And with that, all nominees for the WSA2021 have now been revealed.
After the announcement of the nominations for Film Composer of the Year, Television Composer of the Year and Best Original Song one month ago, the World Soundtrack Academy announces a second and final wave of nominations for the World Soundtrack Awards 2021. The final categories are Discovery of the Year, Public Choice Award and the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer.
As with the first wave of announcements, the trend of double nominees continues. Natalie Holt complements her nomination for Television Composer of the Year with a mention for Discovery of the Year. The triple nomination for Nainita Desai is also a big highlight. Earlier, the composer was named as potential Film Composer of the Year and now she also appears in the categories of Discovery of the Year and Public Choice. With a complete list of nominees full of promising names, an exciting 21st edition of the World Soundtrack Awards lies ahead.
With the Discovery of the Year Award, the WSA wants to put upcoming film music talent in the spotlight. In 2017, Gavin Brivik already won the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer and now he appears again among the nominees as a contender for the Discovery of the Year Award with his score for Wild Indian. Nainita Desai with her work for The Reason I Jump and Florencia Di Concilio with Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary (Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary) are also in the running. Finally, Natalie Holt with Infidel – also nominated for Television Composer of the Year with her score for Loki – and Anthony Willis for Promising Young Woman can count themselves among the nominees as well. Not only do these composers have a chance of receiving the prestigious Discovery of the Year Award, the winner can also present his or her score at next year’s World Soundtrack Awards concert.
In addition, the general public was given the opportunity to vote for their favourite film score of the past year. The person who received the most votes, will take home the Public Choice Award 2021. In the running are, among others, the duos Susan DiBona and Salvatore Sangiovanni with their work for I Liviatani – Cattive Attitudini (Bad Habits Die Hard) and Ralf Wengenmayr and Marvin Miller for Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Jim Button and the Wild 13). Nainita Desai also reappears among the nominations with her score for The Reason I Jump. Finally, the audience voted for Benji Merrison with SAS: Red Notice and Amelia Warner – already nominated in 2018 for the Discovery of the Year Award – with Wild Mountain Thyme to attend the World Soundtrack Awards as contenders for the Public Choice Award 2021.
To conclude, there is also the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer, worth 2,500 euros. The participating composers were asked to write a score for a scene from Nanook of the North, the silent documentary film from 1922 by Robert J. Flaherty. Dougal Kemp, a British visual arts composer and sound designer, the American composer Matthew Lucado-Donner and Prokhor Protasov, a Russian composer and conductor, are the young film music talents who are competing for this award.
During the 21st edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, which takes place on 23 October in the Opera of Ghent, the work of the Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou will take centre stage. She will join Brussels Philharmonic, under direction of Dirk Brossé, as soloist at the piano and she will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, works by last year’s winner of the Discovery of the Year Award, Bryce Dessner, will be performed. As announced earlier, the WSA concert will take place in the presence of guest of honour Max Richter.
Overview of all the nominees of the WSA2021
- Film Composer of the Year
- Nainita Desai – American Murder: The Family Next Door, Persona: The Dark Truth behind Personality Tests, The Reason I Jump
- James Newton Howard – News of the World, Raya and the Last Dragon
- Emile Mosseri – Kajillionaire, Minari
- Daniel Pemberton – Enola Holmes, Rising Phoenix, The Trial of the Chicago 7
- Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste – Soul
- Television Composer of the Year
- Christophe Beck – WandaVision
- Nicholas Britell – The Underground Railroad
- Ludwig Göransson – The Mandalorian (Season 2)
- Natalie Holt – Loki (Season 1)
- Carlos Rafael Rivera – Hacks (Season 1), The Queen’s Gambit
- Best Original Song
- “Call me Cruella”, from Cruella – written by Nicholas Britell, Florence Welch, Steph Jones, Jordan Powers and Taura Stinson
- “Fight for You”, from Judas and the Black Messiah – written by H.E.R., Dernst Emile II & Tiara Thomas.
- “Hear My Voice”, from The Trial of the Chicago 7 – written by Daniel Pemberton & Celeste Waite
- “Húsavík (My Hometown)”, from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – written by Savan Kotecha, Rickard Göransson & Fat Max Gsus
- “Loyal Brave True”, from Disney’s Mulan – written by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan & Billy Crabtree
- “Rain Song”, from Minari – written by Emile Mosseri
- Discovery of the Year
- Gavin Brivik – Wild Indian
- Nainita Desai – The Reason I Jump
- Florencia Di Concilio – Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary (Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary)
- Natalie Holt – Infidel
- Anthony Willis – Promising Young Woman
- Public Choice Award
- Susan DiBona & Salvatore Sangiovanni – I Liviatani – Cattive Attitudini (Bad Habits Die Hard)
- Ralf Wengenmayr & Marvin Miller – Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Jim Button and the Wild 13).
- Nainita Desai – The Reason I Jump.
- Benji Merrison – SAS: Red Notice
- Amelia Warner – Wild Mountain Thyme
- Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer
- Dougal Kemp
- Matthew Lucado-Donner
- Prokhor Protasov
