Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the Australian Music Centre are proud to announce the finalists for the 2014 Art Music Awards. Once again, the hard work by judging panels has produced a strong as well as varied list of finalists, with all the ingredients of an exciting awards night: established names as well as up-and-coming artists, women as well as men, intimate pieces as well as dramatic works requiring big forces and spacious venues, solo works and projects as well as collaborations.

Several mentions on the list of finalists were claimed by Brett Dean (Work of the year: Orchestral; Performance of the Year of Dean's work by MSO/Young), Mary Finsterer (Work of the Year: Instrumental & Orchestral; Performance of the Year of Finsterer's work by SSO/Cottis & Kees Boersma), Andrew Ford (Work of the Year: Instrumental & Vocal), Matthew Hindson (Work of the year: Instrumental; Performance of the Year of Hindson's work by the Elias String Quartet), and Alister Spence (Work of the year: Jazz; Award in Excellence in Jazz).

Some new names to look out for in the future appear on the shortlist for Work of the Year: Vocal, which includes Sandra France's opera From a Black Sky as well as Eve Klein's The Pomegranate Cycle. Lists for the Award for Excellence in Music Education and Award for Excellence by an Individual are also bringing attention to important people who have been achieving big things while working behind the scenes.

The Art Music Awards ceremony will be held, for the first time ever, in Melbourne, on Tuesday 26 August at the Plaza Ballroom (Collins St).

Work of the Year: Instrumental

Mary Finsterer: Aerea, performed by the Monash Art Ensemble

Elliott Gyger: Inferno, performed by Michael Kieran Harvey

Matthew Hindson: String Quartet No. 2, performed by the Elias String Quartet (publisher Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd OBO Faber Music Ltd)

Andrew Ford: String Quartet No. 5, performed by the Australian String Quartet

Work of the Year: Orchestral

Nigel Westlake and Lior Attar*: Compassion, performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nigel Westlake (* publisher Mushroom Music Pty Ltd)

James Ledger: Golden Years, performed by Margaret Blades and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Otto Tausk

Mary Finsterer: Lake Ice: (Missed Tales No. 1), performed by Kees Boersma and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jessica Cottis

Brett Dean: The Last Days of Socrates, performed by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Simone Young, Peter Coleman-Wright, soloist (publisher Hal Leonard Australia OBO Boosey and Hawkes)

Work of the Year: Vocal

Sandra France: From a Black Sky, text by Helen Nourse, performed by the Street, with orchestra and chorus conducted by Dr David Kram

Andrew Ford: Last Words, text by Tim Winton, Dorothy Porter, et al., performed by Jane Sheldon and the Seraphim Trio

Gordon Hamilton: MOON: an Epic Song of Love, text Venero Armanno, performed by The Australian Voices conducted by Gordon Hamilton

Eve Klein: The Pomegranate Cycle, text and performance by Eve Klein

Work of the Year: Jazz

Alister Spence and Myra Melford: Everything Here Is Possible, performed by Alister Spence and Myra Melford

Quentin Angus: Happy, performed by Quentin Angus, Alon Tayar, Bambam Rodriguez and Ari Hoenig

Tilman Robinson: Network of Lines, performed by Tilman Robinson, Peter Knight, Callum G'Froerer, Erkki Veltheim, Judith Hamann, Brett Thompson, Berish Bilander, Sam Zerna and Hugh Harvey

Paul Grabowsky: Tall Tales, performed by Monash Art Ensemble, publisher J Albert & Son Pty Ltd

Performance of the Year

Arcko Symphonic Ensemble (Icy Disintegration by Annie Hsieh)

Elias String Quartet (String Quartet No. 2 by Matthew Hindson)

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Simone Young, Peter Coleman-Wright, soloist (The Last Days of Socrates by Brett Dean)

Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jessica Cottis, soloist Kees Boersma (Lake Ice: Missed Tales No. 1 by Mary Finsterer)

Award for Excellence by an Organisation

Arcko Symphonic Ensemble for 2013 activities

Australian Art Orchestra for touring, community building, recording, creativity and leadership

Chamber Made Opera for commissioning & presenting cutting-edge chamber opera

Frequency Oz for 2013 activities

Award for Excellence by an Individual

Carl Vine for exemplary contribution to Musica Viva Australia in 2013 as Artistic Director, and to the wider arts and cultural industry

Catherine Crock for The Hush Collection, Volumes 1 -13

David Montgomery for AMEB Project

Kim Waldock for contribution to music education in Australia

Award for Excellence in Music Education

Cathy Aggett for new Australian art songs for low voices

Karen Carey for the MLC School Opera House Concert 2013, and a legacy of 25 years of concerts and commissions

Topology for Music Education Program 'Top Up'

West Australian Symphony Orchestra for 2013 education program

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

Bogong Centre for Sound Culture/Bogong ELECTRIC

Goulburn Regional Conservatorium for The Goulburn Oratorio

Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Cat Hope for Drawn From Sound

Ensemble Offspring with Oren Ambarchi and Martin Ng for Ligeti Morphed

Eugene Ughetti, Robin Fox and Speak Percussion for Transducer

Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey & the City of Melbourne for 5 Short Blasts

Award for Excellence in Jazz

Alister Spence and Myra Melford for Everything Here Is Possible

Andrea Keller for the creation, release and presentation of three contemporary jazz projects in 2013

Jonathan Zwartz for the recording The Remembering And Forgetting Of The Air

The Street Theatre for Capital Jazz Project - a nine-day midwinter jazz festival.

Further links

Art Music Awards - AMC Online
Art Music Awards - APRA AMCOS