Hands Up for Trad have become the first Scottish organisation to hold an entire awards ceremony online, after they unveiled the winners of the Scotland Sings Chorus Awards 2016 by streaming live via Facebook on Wednesday.
Now in their second year, the Chorus Awards celebrate the talent behind Scottish choirs and honours people who dedicate their lives to promoting the joys of singing.
Nominees and sponsors were invited to watch a live stream and were encouraged to interact throughout the “ceremony” while organisers announced this year's winners, with an unprecedented amount of followers logging in to find out who had won.
The ceremony was then later posted on the Scotland Sings webpage.
Highlights from the list of winners include Ayr Choral Union, who took home the Milestone award. Founded in 1876, they are one of Scotland’s oldest amateur choirs and celebrate 140 years of greatest hits in October.
Another notable win was Timebank Temptations (pictured below), who triumphed in the Original Music category.
The group beat off stiff competition from Edinburgh's Castle Chorus to take home the award after they were commissioned to write a song for the opening of the Gardener’s Cottage at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.
There were also three new categories at this year's awards: Workplace, Newcomer and Inspirational Year.
Tartan Tones, who are part of the John Lewis Partnership Music Society which gives partners opportunities to make and share music, scooped Workplace, while The Royal Yacht Britannia Choir were awarded Newcomer Award and Inspiring Year Award went to The Edinburgh Singers.
Scotland Sings is a Hands Up for Trad project launched in 2012, designed to bring new participants and audiences together through singing.
The initiative offers choirs, choir leaders and individual singers a platform to showcase their work. They launched the Chorus Awards in 2015 to recognise and celebrate Scotland’s choirs who keep community spirit alive through song.
Event Founder and Hands Up for Trad Creative Director, Simon Thoumire, said: “Last year was our first Chorus Awards and we can't believe how much the awards have grown in a year. We're thrilled to be honouring Scotland's choirs once again and were blown away by the calibre of nominees this year.
"To be revealing our winners through such a modern platform is a real triumph for us, as we're always looking at new and innovative ways to reach our fans.
"We might have traditional in our name, but we’re certainly not traditional in how we work. Congratulations again to all our worthy winners."
Full list of winners can be found on: https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotlandsings/chorus-awards-2016-winners
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