The PRS for Music Foundation has named liminal the winner of its New Music Award 2010. The arts practice, led by composer David Prior and architect Frances Crow, was chosen from a shortlist of five, and receives £50,000 to develop and premiere its winning innovation – The Organ of Corti.

Named after a part of the inner ear, the Organ recycles existing sounds in "sound-saturated environments". Its “music” is collected from its surroundings and filtered via a structure resembling a fairground organ. The work is due to premiere at the City of London Festival in July 2011 and will subsequently take up residence in Tebay Gorge in the Lake District, the Cotswold Water Park in Wiltshire and Diglis Weir in Worcester.

“The New Music Award is about looking beyond the obvious and the commercial and envisaging the music of the future,” said PRS chair Sally Taylor. “All five ideas on this year’s shortlist, which ranged from site-specific sound art to African-inspired human beatbox, captured this spirit of adventure and discovery. We intend also that they will spark a debate about the future of new music today.”

One of the UK’s most significant arts prizes, the New Music Award is given biennially in recognition of the PRS for Music Foundation’s commitment to fostering new music of all genres. This year’s winner was chosen by a panel including composer and pianist Michael Finnissy, pianist and conductor Joanna MacGregor and music journalist Paul Morley, and by a public vote. Previous winners of the Award are The Fragmented Orchestra (2008) and Score for a Hole in the Ground (2005).

To read about the shortlisted entries click here.

Charlotte Smith