17 November, 2020
We are so pleased to announce that Singing With Nightingales: Live at Home has won ‘Best Creative Programming‘ as part of Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Green Awards.
This November saw the fourth Creative Green Awards, in partnership with Season for Change, honour leading cultural institutions and individuals for their continued commitment to improving sustainability and responding to the challenge of the climate crisis through their business practices. In a year that has seen Julie’s Bicycle gather over 800 endorsements for their call to Oliver Dowden for a ‘fair, just and green recovery strategy for the arts’, the awards were a further example of the importance and contribution of culture in the response to the climate emergency.
This year, they launched two new awards that were open for public nominations to organisations and individuals across the world – Best Campaign and Best Creative Programming.
We are so pleased to have received the judges’ votes for our re-imagined online version of Singing With Nightingales, created at short notice during the first lockdown in Spring 2020. These online events had Sam Lee deep in the Sussex woods, beaming live nightingale song to our special guest collaborators, and the whole sonic duet was then broadcast live on Youtube.
“This is a real inspiration to receive this award. I’d like to dedicate this award to the Nest Collective team: Jess, Nathalie, Tiff, Thom, Ollie, Seraphina, and all the others who have been a part of making Singing With Nightingales happen. I’d also like to say thank you to all the musicians for their trust and commitment. I’d like to really dedicate this award mostly to the nightingales themselves, because they are the most incredible of all artists, and they represent the importance of listening to and being inspired by nature, and it is what we’re all fighting for. I’d like to thank those birds for coming back every year to the same tree, we couldn’t do this without them.”
Sam Lee, Artistic Director, The Nest Collective
Julie’s Bicycle CEO, Alison Tickell, addressed the room during the awards ceremony on the urgency of action required in the approach to COP26, and highlighted the key role of culture in securing the planet for future generations:
“2020 has been the most challenging year for UK culture yet the sector has continued to demonstrate leadership and innovation in their response to the climate crisis. Our Creative Green nominees show the immense impact culture can have and the leadership it can show as we head into 2021 and the crucial COP26 summit in Glasgow.”
Other awards winners included ‘Art, Not Oil’ (Best Campaign), the BRIT School (Best Newcomer), Tate Galleries (Pioneer Award), London’s Unicorn Theatre (Outstanding Achievement), and the Depot cinema in Lewes (Highest Achievement for Commitment).
About Julie’s Bicycle
The creative community is uniquely placed to respond to the climate and nature crisis. Founded in 2007 by the UK music industry, Julie’s Bicycle mobilises direct action across the arts and culture, harnessing the creative sector’s power to communicate the reality of the climate crisis, advocate for science based solutions and take bold practical action. Julie’s Bicycle’s freely-available resources are the most comprehensive library of good environmental practice for culture anywhere in the world.
Find our Earth Day 2020 broadcast below
