Song Detectorists Award
Radio show inspired by University music project wins prestigious award
Published on: 8 June 2026
The Song Detectorists has won silver in the New York Festivals Radio 2026 Awards.
Music, Heritage, Place
The show, inspired by Newcastle University and Royal Holloway, University of London’s Music, Heritage, Place project, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and was in the running for best music documentary in the awards which celebrate the world’s best radio programmes.
The Song Detectorists sees experts from Newcastle and Royal Holloway visiting county archives with presenter Matthew Bannister to discover musical treasures. The Newcastle team included Professor Kirsten Gibson, Nancy Kerr, Dr Steph Carter and Dr Caro Lesemann-Elliott.
Kirsten Gibson, Professor of Early Modern Music and Culture at Newcastle University, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that The Song Detectorists has been awarded Silver for this international award. It speaks to the power of music to connect listeners to the past, to place, and to our shared local, national and global histories. It’s a testament to the brilliance and insight of producer, Natalie Steed, who has so beautifully woven together the stories and the musical threads in each episode.”
Acclaimed folk musician and Newcastle University music lecturer Nancy Kerr, is co-investigator on the project. Her musical interpretations of the project’s findings with the Melrose Quartet are a key part of every programme in the series. She said: “I’m delighted by this award! It was an honour to be commissioned - and then re-commissioned – to create the musical performances for this impactful series, and to work with my Quartet colleagues and the brilliant Natalie, to set these musical gems in their geographical and historical spaces for the listener.”
Untold stories
The Music, Heritage, Place project has uncovered more than 600 musical materials in local archives across England, including two major new Purcell discoveries. Much of this musical heritage was previously unknown and has changed our understanding of music-making from the 16th to the mid-19th centuries.
Funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the project investigates the music made and used in England’s regions to create a new, decentralised understanding of English music and reveals previously untold stories about local identities, meanings of place, and the men and women active in musical life during past centuries.
The research teams have also worked to connect the musical heritage their project has uncovered with the communities where the music originated. They co-created a wide range of public engagement events including workshops, educational resources, concerts and festival appearances by the Melrose Quartet, to rework these musical discoveries for present-day audiences and inspire a new generation of musicians.
There are 10 episodes of the Song Detectorist available to listen to on BBC iPlayer.
