Items of good news are few and far between these days, so it gives us great pleasure to be able to report something rather lovely: as per FACT, there’s a new award program to encourage and celebrate women in sound design and music, and it’s named after legendary electronic pioneer/BBC Radiophonic Workshop founder/Flavorwire favorite Daphne Oram.
The Oram Awards are sponsored by The PRS Foundation and The New BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and according to FACT’s report, “Two winners will receive bursaries of £1000 each and six winners will receive bursaries of £500.” It’s not a king’s ransom, but it’s better than a slap in the eye with a wet fish, no? News of the Awards comes a year after London’s Southbank Centre hosted a festival that honored Oram and various other pioneers. Oram was so far ahead of her time that she was met more with bewilderment than admiration during her lifetime; it’s heartening that today, at least, people are beginning to appreciate how remarkable her work was.