Derry Musicians win Chris Ledger Legacy Award

The award was named in memory of the Universities former CEO who died in 2020 and the aim is to recognise the major contribution Chris made to the arts and cultural sector in the North, especially in her initiatives to support d’Deaf. Disabled and Neurodiverse artists.

Damien Coyle, CEO of the University of Atypical said, “We are delighted with these awards being made to recognise Chris’s achievements and the inspiration she was to so many people. She’d be thrilled to see this level of award going to support new work by D/deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse Artists.”

Ruth McGinley is a musician and composer who now lives in Belfast and Jonny McAllister, who is a composer, musician and DJ from Derry each won £5,000 to help them continue their practice and create new work. Both artists plan to use the award to make a music album.

Jo Verrent, Senior Producer at Unlimited said, “I want to thank every artist from Northern Ireland who applied for the Chris Ledger Legacy Awards, the applications were stunning, and it was so difficult to choose the four recipients but what an amazing four we have and what an amazing range of work and depth of experience those artists are going to bring to us.”

The winners can be viewed here and more information on the awards is available at universityofatypical.org