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16 August 2016

2016 Art Music Awards: WINNERS


Instrumental Work of the Year winner Kate Neal Image: Instrumental Work of the Year winner Kate Neal  

Winners have been announced across 11 national categories and 8 state / territory categories for the 2016 Art Music Awards at a gala event at the Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne on Tuesday. This year's list of winners features a diverse group of Australia's established as well as emerging artists.

The winner of the Orchestral Work of the Year Award is Earth Plays by composer Catherine Milliken. Earth Plays is a 40-minute epic and imaginative work for orchestra and mezzo-soprano, commissioned and premiered by the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. The four movements of this carefully planned and masterfully scored work are tribute to places where sounds, music and words can be imagined to have left acoustic imprints - from an ancient Greek theatre to New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Paul Grabowsky and the Young Wägilak Group received the award for Jazz Work of the Year for their collaboration on Nyilipidgi. This is the latest in a series of projects by Grabowsky and the Young Wägilak Group, an expression of the Wägilak tradition of manikay: shared songs which bind the community together, reflecting on and creating a sense of identity, place and unity. The work was created for the Monash Art Ensemble, which Grabowsky founded in 2012.

Kate Neal's Semaphore, a complex and ambitious work that combines theatrics, animation, music and dance, won the Instrumental Work of the Year category. A major addition to the composer's output, Semaphore features twice on the winners' list: this year's Performance of the Year Award went to the Semaphore band and dancers for their powerful realisation of Neal's work.

Composer Andrew Schultz received the award for Vocal / Choral Work of the Year for his Le Molière Imaginaire for eight voices, with text by Timothy Knapman after the final scene of Molière's Le Malade Imaginaire. A witty and multi-layered vocal tour de force, the work was commissioned for performance by the British vocal ensemble I Fagiolini in Musica Viva's international concert series last year.

The Award for Excellence by an Organisation went to Ensemble Offspring for their 2015 activities and sustained services to Australian music for 20 years. The Award for Excellence by an Individual was awarded to Offspring's Artistic Director, percussionist and arts champion Claire Edwardes for performance, advocacy and artistic leadership.

Speak Percussion took out the Award for Excellence in Experimental Music for their 2015 program. The Award for Excellence in Jazz went to the Australian Jazz Real Book, dedicated to the preservation and distribution of Australian jazz in both digital and print formats.

In their 10th anniversary season, Moorambilla Voices received the Award for Excellence in a Regional Area. The Award for Excellence in Music Education was won by Artology for the Fanfare Competition, a unique opportunity for aspiring young composers.

The Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (as determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors) was presented to composer Helen Gifford OAM for her long and illustrious career (read a news article about the announcement on Resonate).

A total of 8 State and Territory Awards were presented recognising some of the finest performances, compositions and contributions to the art music community all over Australia in 2015 - for details, see the list below.

As an important part of the ceremony, the AMC's CEO John Davis paid moving tribute to those members of our music community who passed away over the year: Helen Noonan (1948-2016), Roy David Page (1961 - 2016), Bryce Rohde (1923-2016), Roger Smalley (1943-2015), Catherine Sullivan (1982 - 2016), as well as the NZ composer Jack Body (1944 - 2015).

As part of his speech, the APRA AMCOS CEO Brett Cottle reminded the audience about the opportunities now offered by APRA's new Art Music Fund. Applications for the 2017 Art Music Fund will open later this year. The first grants from this fund, dedicated to supporting art music composers to create new, commissioned work, were awarded earlier this year to 12 recipients.

The 2016 Art Music Awards were hosted by Jonathan Biggins, with musical performances curated by Gabriella Smart. Presenters at the event were Waleed Aly, Mairi Nicolson, Merlyn Quaife AM, Katie Noonan, Rupert Myer AO and Dr Joel Crotty. The event featured performers Warren H. Williams, Derik Lynch, Deborah Kayser, Derek Pascoe, Barry Campbell, Trevor Jamieson, Lina Andonovska, Speak Percussion, the Australian Art Orchestra with Erik Griswold, Peter Knight, Mindy Wang, Sam Pankhurst, Vanessa Tomlinson, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Madi Chwasta, Matthew Horsley, Hamish Upton and Timothy Walsh.

APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre congratulate all the 2016 Art Music Awards winners on their outstanding achievements. Staged jointly by APRA AMCOS and the AMC, the Art Music Awards is the only national event in Australia to acknowledge the extraordinary achievements and creative successes of Australian composers, performers and educators in the genres of contemporary art music, jazz and experimental music. This is the second time the Art Music Awards have been held in Melbourne.

A full list of Art Music Awards winners is below - to read about all 2016 finalists, please see this news article on Resonate. See also the APRA AMCOS website for more coverage.

2016 Art Music Awards winners

Distinguished Services to Australian Music

Helen Gifford OAM

Vocal / Choral Work of the Year

Title: Le Molière Imaginaire, for eight voices
Composer: Andrew Schultz
Text: Timothy Knapman, after the final scene of Molière's 'Le Malade Imaginaire'
Performed by: I Fagiolini

Jazz Work of the Year

Title: Nyilipidgi
Composer: Paul Grabowsky and the Young Wägilak Group
Performed by: Paul Grabowsky*, the Young Wägilak Group and the Monash Art Ensemble
*Publisher: J Albert & Son

Instrumental Work of the Year

Title: Semaphore
Composer: Kate Neal
Performed by: Semaphore band and dancers

Orchestral Work of the Year

Title: Earth Plays
Composer: Catherine Milliken
Performed by: Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Fiona Campbell, soloist, Peter Rundel, conductor

Performance of the Year

Performer: Semaphore band and dancers
Title: Semaphore
Composer: Kate Neal

Award for Excellence by an Organisation

Ensemble Offspring for 2015 activities and sustained services to Australian music for 20 years

Award for Excellence by an Individual

Claire Edwardes for performance, advocacy and artistic leadership

Award for Excellence in Music Education

Artology for the Fanfare Competition

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

Moorambilla Voices for the Moorambilla Voices 2015 Tenth Anniversary Season

Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Speak Percussion for 2015 Music Program

Award for Excellence in Jazz

Australian Jazz Real Book for the Australian Jazz Real Book

State Winners

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY AWARD
Category: Instrumental Work of the Year
Recipient: Natalie Williams for Saudade

NEW SOUTH WALES STATE AWARD
Category: Performance of the Year
Recipient: Sydney Chamber Opera for Fly Away Peter
Composer: Elliott Gyger

NORTHERN TERRITORY STATE AWARD
Category: Orchestral Work of the Year
Recipient: Darwin Symphony Orchestra for Tracy
Composers: Ross Edwards, Iain Grandage, Lachlan Skipworth and Kat Mcguffie

QUEENSLAND STATE AWARD
Category: Excellence in Jazz
Recipient: Berardi/Foran/Karlen for Hope in my Pocket

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE AWARD
Category: Excellence by an Organisation
Recipient: Zephyr Quartet for Sustained Contribution for over 16 years

TASMANIAN STATE AWARD
Category: Instrumental Work of the Year
Recipient: Michael Kieran Harvey for Patañjali

VICTORIAN STATE AWARD
Category: Orchestral Work of the Year
Recipient: Elliott Gyger for From Joyous Leaves

WESTERN AUSTRALIA STATE AWARD
Category: Performance of the Year
Recipient: Louise Devenish for Electroacoustic Music For One Percussionist
Composers: Warren Burt, James Hullick, Stuart James, Andrián Pertout and Lindsay Vickery

> More information about the Art Music Awards (AMC Online)



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