BBC Soundstart 2016 - the Carleton Hobbs Bursary & Norman Beaton Fellowship
Hannah Khalil
Digital Content Producer, About The BBC Blog
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Actor Bill Nighy at the award ceremony in BBC Broadcasting House
It's that time of year again: BBC Radio Drama’s (((soundstart))) winners' ceremony. For the uninitiated (((soundstart))) comprises two important awards: The BBC Norman Beaton Fellowship and BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary, both programmes exist to bring new voices into radio drama.
The Carleton Hobbs Bursaries are aimed at students graduating from regular (or post-graduate) courses run by accredited drama schools across the country, while the Norman Beaton Fellowship is for applicants from non-traditional training backgrounds, and this year partnered with a range of theatres across the UK to source the winners .
The winners of both the Bursary and the Fellowship are each given a five-month contract in the Radio Drama Company, while the runners-up will all be cast as a freelance actor in one of Radio Drama’s autumn/winter productions.
The event itself was held in the Council Chamber at New Broadcasting House last Thursday 30 June and presided over by actor and radio veteran Bill Nighy (pictured above).
Nineteen accredited Drama schools and colleges took part in this year's Carleton Hobbs - a total of 76 students. Four 2016 Carleton Hobbs bursaries have been awarded and the winners will join the Radio Drama Company on Saturday 23 July 2016:
- Natasha Cowley (RADA)
- Keziah Joseph(Royal Central School of Speech and Drama)
- Catriona McFarlane (Manchester School of Theatre)
- Luke MacGregor (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama)
Five finalists receive runners-up awards - and each of them will be cast as a freelance actor in one of our autumn/winter productions:
- Norah Lopex Holden (RADA)
- Maeve Bluebell Wells (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama)
- Joseph Ayre (East 15)
- Matt Gavan(RADA)
- Robert Ginty (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
The three BBC Norman Beaton Fellowship Winners 2016 are:
- Alison Belbin (Birmingham Rep)
- Karen Bartke (Tamasha)
- Gavi Singh Chera (Tamasha)
They will also join the Radio Drama Company on Saturday 23 July 2016, along with this year’s BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary Award winners.
This year, the judges awarded two runners-up prizes to NBF finalists who will be cast via a freelance engagement in one of Radio Drama's 2016 summer/autumn/winter productions:
Nicole Abraham – Theatre Royal Stratford East
Kerry Gooderson – Yellow Earth
You can hear an audio montage of the winners below:
Soundstart winners 2016 audio montage
