NI Music Prize announces concert line up

As part of this year's Sound of Belfast Festival, the NI Music Prize winner will be announced on November 15, following a concert at the Ulster Hall with performances from six of the nominees.

Taking to the stage on the night will be Brand New Friend, Ciaran Lavery, Hannah Peel, Roe, Ryan Vail featuring Arco String Quartet, and The Wood Burning Savages.

The Northern Ireland Music Prize honours and celebrates the very best of Northern Irish albums, and this year includes three additional categories for Best Single, Best Live Act and The Oh Yeah Contender Award.

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The evening will feature performances from six of the nominees across the four categories. Hannah Peel will perform music from her shortlisted album Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, live with colliery brass and synths, an exclusive for NI. Best Album, Live and Single nominees The Wood Burning Savages will bring the pulsating riffs and rebellious spirit and Brand New Friend will bring their unending positivity and joyful harmonies. Best Single and Oh Yeah Contender nominee Roe will own the stage with those electro pop sounds, and former NI Music Prize winner and third time album nominee Ciaran Lavery returns with full band. Best Live and Album nominee Ryan Vail is promising lasers and will be accompanied by the Arco String Quartet, a collaboration that made its debut at Moira Calling earlier this year.

The event host is Rigsy (BBC Radio Ulster), with the winners of all four categories to be announced by special guests on the night. The evening will end with an after party at Limelight 2.

Charlotte Dryden of Oh Yeah said: “After five fantastic years at the wonderful Mandela Hall we are moving to the Ulster Hall. It’s an iconic and beautiful stage and it’s going to be exciting to see some of the nominees up there and doing what they do best. Thanks to our sponsors we are able to introduce a cash prize for each of the winners, and the addition of three categories indicates just how strong things are in Northern Irish music right now. It is fantastic to see completely fresh talent like Cherym sit alongside international names like Snow Patrol. We have always had the biggest faith in our music community, and we want to celebrate, support and promote it beyond Belfast and Northern Ireland. We hope to see as many people come out to support the nominees on the night. It promises to be special.”

The NI Music Prize event is supported by Belfast City Council, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, PRS, PPL, Help Musicians NI and Tourism Ireland.

For more information and full list of nominees go to www.nimusicprize.com