The Sound of Young Scotland Award

Described by BBC Introducing as a "Future Superstar in loading buffer mode" Becky Sikasa is the fast rising star of UK Neo-Soul. From the very start her unique sound has captivated tastemakers and music lovers across the UK and in her native Germany.

With a voice as versatile as it is grounded, she delves deep to tie her heart to her words. Trails of vocal harmony weave effortlessly through colourful arrangements to complete explorative, vibrant off-pop tracks. Delivering to the listener songs about the questions of belonging, identity and connection. About being more than just one. About the belief in finding a home in the in-between. A home in music. For Becky Sikasa and for all those who listen.

Duncan Ross is a queer multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer and promoter from Glasgow, who co-founded The Queer History of Dance Music, and as well as playing with Declan Welsh and the Decadent West. Duncan is also a Music Industries Masters Graduate, with an focus on how media portrayals of art construct identity and class.

Emily Scott has fronted experimental folk-tinged chamber-pop outfit Modern Studies for a decade, releasing four critically acclaimed albums and two EPs with Fire Records. Scott’s style is nostalgic, cool and poetic, and she has been described simultaneously as out of her time, and timeless. A regular on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 6, her writing typically displays distinctive odd time-signatures, nostalgic lyrics, and expressive and intuitive instrumentation. Scott has most recently joined Chemical Underground as Chrysanths, with LP Leave No Shadow, a set of reflective, down-tempo piano songs with string orchestra, out in September.

Rich of voice and even richer of imagination, Hawk creates musical pen-portraits, chamber pop songs that have swallowed both a dictionary and a compendium of modern urban (and island) fairy tales. And Hawk does all this with considerable wit, inspired by artists like Leonard Cohen, Jarvis Cocker, Randy Newman and Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields.

Lizzie Reid is a Glasgow-based singer-songwriter whose debut EP, Cubicle, earned a nomination for The Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2021. Her follow-up EP, Mooching, was released in 2022 and was greeted with wide spread critical acclaim.

Lizzie has toured extensively, supporting artists like John Cale, Hamish Hawk, and 86TVs, and has opened for Paolo Nutini, Tori Amos, and Arlo Parks. She has also performed at major festivals, including Connect, Latitude, The Great Escape and Celtic Connections to name but a few.

Currently, Lizzie is writing and recording new music, set for release in 2025.

Heralded by BBC Music Magazine as 'a distinctive new voice in a crowded scene’, saxophonist and composer Matt Carmichael continues to grow from strength to strength with his powerfully emotive blend of melodic Jazz and Folk music. His live band have been playing together since they were teenagers, forming a special chemistry and sound with collective improvisation at the heart of each unique performance. Featuring Fergus McCreadie (piano), Charlie Stewart (violin), Ali Watson (bass) and Tom Potter (drums). This has led to performances throughout Europe at Bimhuis, Celtic Connections, Ronnie Scott’s, Love Supreme, Womex as well as being a guest soloist with the Grammy Award winning WDR Big Band in Germany.

Matt’s debut album ‘Where Will The River Flow’ was critically acclaimed, amassing over 5 Million streams and he was subsequently signed to the renowned Jazz label Edition Records who released his second album ‘Marram’ in October 2022 which won ‘Best Album’ in the Scottish Jazz Awards. His upcoming third album “Dancing With Embers” will be released early 2025

Some of the musicians Matt has collaborated with include Fergus McCreadie, Rob Luft, Bob Mintzer, WDR Big Band, corto.alto, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Charlie Stewart, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Kathleen MacInness, Liv Andrea Hauge, Innes White, Juliette Lemoine, Kim Carnie and Rachel Sermanni.

Born in Edinburgh to Chinese parents, 25-year-old singer and producer Rachel Lu emerged in 2020 under the moniker LVRA (pronounced loo-rah), an artist who draws from the molten core of industrial, hyperpop and deconstructed club music to crystallise a sound that’s both anthemic and experimental.

The critically acclaimed artist won the inaugural Sound of Young Scotland Award in 2021, Amazon Music’s Step Up 2022 and has gained plaudits from the likes of DMY (Artist to Watch ‘23), Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Radio 1 Dance, DJ Mag, PAPER, DIY, The Line of Best Fit and more.

Rachel Sermanni, a Scottish singer/songwriter, makes the mundane mystical. Her latest album, Dreamer Awake, is a collection of candid vignettes exploring life after birth, separation, and the internalised conditioning of patriarchy. With a focus on honesty and raw expression, the album is a call to arms to dream of the future, and tend to the inner landscape of heart and mind. To dismiss the external and focus on light and shadow in equal measure. Since Dreamer Awake's release, Rachel has become a mother for the second time, continuing to explore motherhood while sharing her songs and insights into creativity.

A Grammy nomineee, former BBC New Generation Artist, Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2012 winner, Royal Philharmonic Society 2018 Young Artist Award winner and recipient of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award, Sean Shibe continues to prove himself a truly original mind at the frontier of contemporary classical music. This season sees him premiere new concertos by Cassandra Miller and Oliver Leith, as well as tour Thomas Adès’ first work for a non-keyboard solo instrument. Born in Edinburgh in 1992, Shibe studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Allan Neave, in Austria and Italy under Paolo Pegoraro, and is now a Guitar Professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Su-a Lee is one of Scotland's most versatile, adventurous and charismatic cellists. She has worked with rock icons Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (Cream); jazz musicians Peter Erskine (Weather Report) and Thomas Stronen; and World Music sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan from India and Scottish folk-electronica pioneer Martyn Bennett. As Asst-Principal Cello of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Su-a works extensively within the UK classical music scene. She is founding member of the daring and highly innovative Mr. McFall's Chamber. She has a great passion for community education and music therapy, working with dementia programmes in hospitals throughout Scotland. She has worked with the National Youth Orchestra of Iceland, regularly tutors for NYOS, NYOGB and is Patron-in-Chief of the Perth Youth Orchestra.

Musician, producer and sound designer Susan Bear has variously worked with artists including The Pastels Tuff Love, Pictish Trail, Martha Ffion, Malcolm Middleton and Karine Polwart as a producer, songwriter, mix engineer, session musician or combination of the above.

Their compositions and productions have featured in award winning theatre shows, short film and advertising campaigns.

Susan also releases music under her own name and has received support from BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio Scotland and Spotify & Apple Music editorial playlist placement. She writes, performs, produces, records and mixes her music solo from her studio in Glasgow.