JOAN PRIOR was a folk phenomenon in Wellington for thirty years, playing, singing, and making things happen. After she died in 2010 her family donated her instruments, recordings and memorabilia to Acoustic Routes, and this enabled us to set up the award in her name to encourage young acoustic performers.
Acoustic Routes has offered the Joan Prior Award since 2014, to support singers and musicians aged from 18 to 25.
The first awards included a sum of money offered to a ‘winner’, chosen from a number of applications. From 2021 to 2024, the award consisted of weekend passes to the Wellington Folk Festival for a number of applicants, and the opportunity to perform in a youth concert at Wellyfest, and at a special Young Performers Showcase at the Moon Bar in Newtown, hosted by Don Mackay, and/or a performance opportunity at an Acoustic Routes concert.
In 2025, the format of the award is changing again to a financial award to one applicant, with the aim of expanding the award to a wider group of young folk enthusiasts (i.e. not solely performers) and giving the sole recipient more choice in what they put the money towards. The prize will consist of a $500 grant and could put towards any activity related to the applicant’s musical journey, for example, attending a workshop/festival and/or travel overseas to improve their music skills/knowledge, researching an aspect of folk music for a qualification or publication, teaching a workshop for other young people, sound recording.
Who can enter?
The Joan Prior Award is open to performers aged from 18 to 25 on September 30 of the year of the award, resident in the Wellington region (the area covered by Wellington Regional Council and Kapiti and Horowhenua Districts).
In previous years, all genres of music have been acceptable. As a general guide, that includes the wide variety of mainly acoustic music performed at folk festivals.
Find out about applying for the current year’s award.
- Louis Gradwell – Singer-songwriter. Guitars, bass drums, keyboards, synthesizer.
Alternative rock, folk-rock, folk-pop, chamber-pop. - Ben Quayle – Vocals, acoustic guitar. Folk, pop-rock.
- Annafinau Tukuitoga – Vocals. Guitar, banjo. Country music, bluegrass, Pasifika.
- Zach Newton – Singer-songwriter. Guitar, piano. RnB, folk, pop.
- Lucy Summerfield – Singer-songwriter. Guitar. Folk, Waiata.
2023 recipients of the Joan Prior Award
River Hann-Ellen, Catherine Bullock, Dee van Wel, Ella Doty and Toby Sussex, Fergus Cardwell-Dray (Fergus CD), Abbey.
2022 recipients of the Joan Prior Award
Sofia Machray and Alex Hoare, James Hunter, Catherine Bullock, Zavier Boyles and Jackie Lamb, Alexander Guy, Caoimhe Lane.
2021 recipients of the Joan Prior Award
Previous winners of the Joan Prior Award
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2019 | HENRY BURTON-WOOD |
| 2018 | EMILY GRIFFITHS AND THOMAS STONEHOUSE |
| 2016 | HUNTER GILTRAP |
| 2015 | DANIEL WHITE |
| 2014 | FLIX ROSE |