A trick-or-treating publicist has just contacted us with strong hints as to the identity of the winners of this year’s very valuable Paul Hamlyn Awards for Composers, won last year by John Butcher (above) . All will be revealed at a ceremony tomorrow November 1st. In the meantime here are various nudges and winks. The winners,we read, are:

– a famous folk singer

– a young composer who writes for concert halls, film, dance floors, installation and choreography

– a musician in his 60s known for his free improvisation and experimental music for a wide variety of instruments.