The Laban Building in Creekside, Deptford, by Michael Craig-Martin and Herzog & de Meuron where the prize concert will take place

The website of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, which runs the annual Dankworth Prize for original jazz composition, has announced the winners of the 2016 Competition, with a prize of £1,000 in each of its two categories.

The prizes will be awarded, and the winning pieces will be premiered at the concert at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance on 1st March 2016. The judges were Denys Baptiste, Tim Garland and Nikki Iles

The winner of the Award for big band is Matthew Read, a bassist from Hampshire who is a student at Guildhall, for the composition A Pun for Simon (LISTEN HERE)

The Small Ensemble prize winner is Billy Marrows, a guitarist from North Yorkshire studying at the RAM, who has also been an awardee of a bursary from the Royal Philharmonic Society

The competition was set up by At Mead in 2007 and is supported by the Wavendon Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Musicians

PAST WINNERS

2008 James Hamilton (Leeds) Big Band; Nicky Jacques (Birmingham) Small Ensemble

2009 James Beckwith (Leeds) Big Band; Matt Roberts (Leeds) Small Ensemble

2010 Matt Roberts (Trinity) Big Band; Yuriy Galkin (RAM) Small Ensemble Our 2010 Report

2011 Laura Jurd (Trinity) Big Band; Alex Roth (RAM) Small Ensemble Our 2011 Report

2012 James Opstad (RAM) Big Band. No competition for Small Ensemble Composition- Our 2012 Report

2013 Daniel Thorne (WAusAPA) Big Band; Tom Green (Cambridge & RAM) Small Ensemble Our 2013 Report

2014 Misha Mullov-Abbado (RAM) Big Band; Andrew Woodhead (Birmingham) Small Ensemble Our 2014 Report

2015 Chris McMurran (Cambridge) Big Band; Ralph Wyld (RAM) Small Ensemble (Our 2015 report)

LINK: The Announcement on the WCoM website