The Ivors awards celebrate the best new works by UK-born or UK-based composers writing for classical, jazz and sound art, and have been recognised as a pinnacle of achievement since they began in 1956.
Louvel's shortlisted 2020 work was made as her MA Final Project, and is typical of her fusion of voice, computer music making and digital narrative. The work re-sounds a 1961 recording of sculptor Barbara Hepworth's voice, originally made to accompany a slide talk for the British Council – then unearthed by Louvel in the British Library archives.
Speaking about her Ivor Novello Award nomination, Louvel said: “That was a wonderful uplifting surprise, in this challenging time. I am very grateful. Being part of the Ivors brings visibility to the work – the awards ceremony was a live event on BBC Radio 3.”
“I applied principles of sculpture to Hepworth’s voice to manipulate its texture, carving her voice directly, so Hepworth appears herself as a sculptural entity,” explains Olivia. You can see her talking further about the piece – which The Wire described as “a dreamy meditation on the nature of creativity” - on , as well as on her .