Undergraduate prizes

You could be eligible for an undergraduate music prize. The prizes are awarded for outstanding work, including the best overall second year student with the highest marks, the highest performing undergraduate student, and the best third year project.

Professor David Osmond-Smith

The David Osmond-Smith Prize

The "David Osmond-Smith Prize" is awarded by the Sussex Music Department to the graduating student who has written the most academically rigorous essay/dissertation over the course of his or her studies. The prize has been given to celebrate the life and teaching of David Osmond-Smith who taught at Sussex for 34 years from 1973 to 2007.

During this time, David inspired generations of students both in the Music Department and across other disciplines with his astounding and original intellect, the energy and intensity he brought to a seminar or tutorial, and the warmth and kindness he shared with students, colleagues and friends alike. The prize is £200 donated by a Sussex Music Alumni.

  • Previous recipients

    2024 Mina-Mae Alexander (BA Music): Constructing Prehistoric Musicologies: A Re-Examination of Spirituality, Community, Identity and Continuity Through Musical Practice in Mesolithic and Neolithic Britain

    2023 Katie Dermody-Palmer (BA Music Technology): Yonic Rock? Exploring female presence in post punk as a rejection of masculinised notions of music with The Last Dinner Party

    2022 Daryl Pruess (BA Music Technology): Transhumanism in Popular Music: Exploring the Cyborg and Technology

    2021 Agnete Johansen (BA Music) From Military Men to Boys With Luv: The Evolution of BTS's Versatile Masculinities

    2020 Mathilde Davidson (BA Music): Queer female sexuality and authenticity in French chart music through the lens of Susan Cusick’s ‘power/pleasure/intimacy’ triad: A case study on three songs by Angele.

    2019 James Longcake (BA Music): Now That's What I Call Playlists

    2018 Robert Gyorgyi (BA Music): Opus Ex Machina: The Concept, History, Creation, and Performance of Robot Opera

    2017 Natalie Whiteland (BA Music): David Bowie: The Construction, Death, and Resurrection of Musicians in Popular Music Culture

    2016 Anton Pearson (BA Music): Musical Spatial Awareness: Understanding the relationship between the created space and the existing space at the music festival

    2015 David Gridley (BA Music):  Title to be confirmed 

    2014 Oliver Lindman (BA Music) The Musical Evolution of the Princess in Disney’s Animated Features

    2013 Hannah Cooper (BA Music) - Is the ‘bad press’ associated with musical neoclassicism justified, or can it transcend these historical criticisms to become an authentic trend in modern music?'

    2012 Calum Bowen (BA Music) - Sampling and Society

    2011 Emma Howard (BA Music & French) - Music and Driving

    2010 Tim Satterthwaite (MA Art History) - Desire & Denial

    2008 Emily Richardson (BA Music) - West Side Story, and the representation of the ethnic Other

Sir Thomas Beecham Scholarship

Sir Thomas BeechamThe Trustees of the Sir Thomas Beecham Trust have established, in perpetuity, a scholarship at the University for undergraduate Music students. The award of £1,000 is given as a 'Sir Thomas Beecham Scholarship Award' to a first year student for skills as an outstanding instrumentalist, outstanding academic work and contribution to music in general.

Sir Thomas Beecham was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.

  • Previous recipients

    2022/23          Connor Johnson    Piano

    2021/22           Amelia Rubra    Piano

    2020/21           Samuel Thrussell   Clarinet

    2019/20           Kai Vollprecht    Cello

    2018/19           Suheil (Sunny) Shehab     Flute

    2017/18           No scholarship awarded

    2016/17           James Longcake      Electric Guitar

    2015/16           Charles Higgins      Jazz Piano

    2014/15           Natalie Whiteland      Harp

    2013/14           Anton Pearson     Guitar

    2012/13           Dominic Horsley     Tuba

    2011/12           Tom Reade        Piano

    2010/11           Amy Squirrell    Cello

    2009/10           Louis Scott-Delany        Piano

    2008/09           Joe Garvey         Guitar

    2007/08           Matt Sheeran    Violin

    2006/07           No scholarship awarded

    2005/06           Suzie Wilkins     Flute

    2004/05           Ruth Collings     Violin

    2003/04           Stefan Haffner   Piano 

    2002/03           Ben Rosairo       Piano

    2001/02           Emily Hall          Piano

    2000/01           Frances Marriott    Violin

    1999/00           Darran Laine      Voice

    1998/99           Emma Booth     Cello

    1997/98           Hannah Baxter Guitar

Gazelle Twin Scholarship

Gazelle Twin at a performanceThe Gazelle Twin Scholarship for Women in Music Technology is available to a woman, trans or non-binary applicant taking up a place on a Music or Music Technology BA at the 日韩无码. 

Gazelle Twin, otherwise known as Elizabeth Bernholz, is a composer and producer who graduated from Sussex in 2006 with a BA in Music. She’s since gone on to release five studio albums under her Gazelle Twin pseudonym, including The Quietus’ 2014 Album of the Year UNFLESH. 

Photo credit: Victor Frankowsi

  • Previous recipients

    2023/24           Natasha O'Flynn

    2022/23           Nina Kohoutová

    2021/22           Rania Bouzekraoui

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