Meet the Winners of YAMawards 2015

The winners of the Young Audiences Music Awards 2015 have been chosen and were announced on September 14th during the JMI's YAMsession event at the Mimara Museum in Zagreb, Croatia. The YAMawards honour the best music productions in the world for young audiences.

Ten nominees in three categories, chosen among more than 60 productions from 19 different countries, all innovative and captivating in their own way. On top of that, all the nominated productions competed for the title of the Production of the Year and the Public Choice Award.
Without a further ado, let us announce the winning productions of YAMawards 2015:

Best Small Ensemble: Glimp (The Netherlands)

A magical production for 2-4 year olds that integrates light and visuals in the most extraordinary way. Masterfully played, the performance maintains an exemplary balance between the music, its graphic elements and the interaction with the children Their primary role as excellent jazz musicians is never overshadowed by the visuals, rather, it gives the audience a new way to relate and explore a world of music and sounds.

Best Large Ensemble: Kryp (Sweden)

This performance for 6-11 year olds combines big band music and dance in a unusually successful way where the musicians are also integrated into the visual aspects of the show. The music and choreography is truly interesting and created especially for this show. It is obvious that both the musicians and dancers are highly skilled and deliver a riveting performance for young audiences that brings to life a fantasy world that provokes the imagination. 

Best Opera (powered by RESEO): Comfort Ye (South Africa)

The authenticity of this work, in particular through the young participants, is breathtaking. They sing and act their own stories – and how. They move with complete assurance on the stage, they perform at an astonishingly high level of excellence and at every moment you can feel their joy both in performance. They are also utterly convincing as a chorus, whether they are signing the gently swinging “Everything’s gonna be all right”, the demanding “Night Chorus” by Milliken, or Handel’s sombre “Thy pleasures, moderation, give.

Public Choice Award: The Turtle Project (Portugal)

This lively large-scale production manages to present newly composed music for a full symphonic wind orchestra. Aimed for children 6-11 years old it certainly brings out bucket loads of enthusiasm and joy. The musicians, conductor and narrator all put on a wonderful performance and on what's more, the children in the audience have all been well prepared to take part in movements and singing during the show creating a strong ownership and connection with the production.

Production of the Year: Glimp (The Netherlands)

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Of one thing there can be no doubt: the music sector for young audiences is constantly growing, reinventing itself and nothing is more exciting than to witness these changes through the productions that the jury received!

See you in 2016 for the next edition of the Young Audiences Music Awards!

Congratulations to all the @YAMA_Award nominees! It has been an absolute pleasure to meet you all!@jminetwork pic.twitter.com/yIreHTNWo3

— YAMawards (@YAMA_Award) September 15, 2015