PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development announces today that its UK and Republic of Ireland initiative, Beyond Borders, is open today for applications from organisations, music groups and composers.

This co-commissioning and touring programme is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Creative Scotland, supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

Beyond Borders was established in 2010 to support high quality co-commissions and tours, stimulating collaboration between composers, performance groups and music organisations across the four UK countries and, since 2014, the Republic of Ireland.

Previous Beyond Borders successes have included Songs of Separation, a collective of 10 female English and Scottish folk musicians whose album won ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017, and David Fennessy's ‘Panopticon’, commissioned by Hebrides Ensemble and Psappha, which won the Scottish Award for New Music for Small Scale work. Martin Green’s ‘Flit’, combining live music and animation which reflects on first hand stories of migration, also won over audiences and critics nationwide in 2016, and was funded through Beyond Borders.

Full details about the programme and how to apply is on the Beyond Borders page of the PRS Foundation website. Applications can be submitted from today until the deadline of 6pm on Monday 19th September 2022.

Elizabeth Sills, Grants & Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation said, “We are delighted to be opening up our co-commissioning and touring initiative Beyond Borders for applications this year. This collaborative opportunity, with our friends at Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council Ireland, has enabled exciting, award winning and critically acclaimed new music to be created and performed in front of audiences across the UK and Ireland. We're excited to see who applies and the collaborations, for this unique touring opportunity.”

Clare Hewitt, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “Collaboration and exchange are vital for new ideas and connections between nations to flourish. The Beyond Borders programme is designed to do exactly that, enabling musicians from across the nations to collaborate and tour, reaching new audiences across the UK, and we’re so pleased to be partnering with the PRS Foundation to help make this happen.”

Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music and Opera, Arts Council of Northern Ireland comments, “Beyond Borders is an outstanding opportunity for musicians to collaborate with other artists across the UK and Ireland in new projects, gaining a platform for their music to tour and to be heard by new audiences. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support this important artist development programme and look forward welcoming new proposals.”

Suzanne Griffiths-Rees from Arts Council of Wales said, “The Arts Council of Wales is delighted to be able to support Beyond Borders once again, this time through our Lottery Funding. It is exciting to enable Welsh artists to tour to other countries in the UK and Ireland, and bring our culture and heritage to those who haven’t experienced it before and it is also a pleasure to welcome artists from across those countries into Wales. Funding Beyond Borders through PRS Foundation ensure that this happens and enhances the arts infrastructure for all of us.”