1 April 2010
Don Banks Award to Warren Fahey
Image: Warren Fahey The 2010 Don Banks Award 2010 has been granted to the Australian folk legend Warren Fahey. A highly respected writer, broadcaster, music publisher and performer, Fahey is also a tireless champion of the documentation and research of our musical culture. Fahey's humour, endless curiosity, irreverence and bottomless swag of songs, poems and stories have been instrumental in bringing our collective history alive. His pioneering record company, Larrikin Records, and retail outlet, Folkways Music, have also changed the face of music in Australia.
Warren Fahey has had a long association with the Australian Music Centre since its establishment in 1974. Over the years, he has served as a Director on the AMC Board, and has contributed to various AMC publications.
Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, presented the $60,000 Australia Council for the Arts award in Canberra on Thursday at the opening concert of the National Folk Festival in front of Fahey's friends, family, peers and an audience of 2,000 people. Previously, Fahey has received the Order of Australia, the Centennial Medal and the Advance Australia Award and the Republican of the Year Award.
Warren Fahey continues to spend his considerable energy furthering his collecting and research work and performing with his group, the Larrikins. In 2009, he released a 10-CDc collection of Australian folk songs and this year releases a further two CDs and a new music book.
The Australia Council Don Banks Music Award is one of the top annual awards offered in recognition of Australian artists whose work represents outstanding achievement in their respective fields. The purpose of the award is to honour an artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian music over a period of many years. The award was established in memory of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer, and the first Chair of the Music Board of the Australia Council.
Recent winners of the Don Banks Award include Tony Gould (2009), Bob Sedergreen (2008), Peter Sculthorpe (2007), Richard Gill (2006) and Carl Vine (2005).
Further links
Warren Fahey - website (www.warrenfahey.com/)
'A larrikin honoured with Australia's top music
prize' - news article on the Australia Council website
© Australian Music Centre (2010) — Permission must be obtained from the AMC if you wish to reproduce this article either online or in print.
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The Australian Music Centre connects people around the world to Australian composers and sound artists. By facilitating the performance, awareness and appreciation of music by these creative artists, it aims to increase their profile and the sustainability of their art form. Established in 1974, the AMC is now the leading provider of information, resources, materials and products relating to Australian new music.
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