7 March 2012
Finalists for 2012 Art Music Awards
The list of finalists for the 2012 Art Music Awards, made public today, includes composers and artists from the emerging to the established - from Daniel Blinkhorn and Andrea Keller to Paul Stanhope, Clare Maclean, Nigel Westlake and Peter Sculthorpe. The Awards ceremony, MCed by the Australian jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist James Morrison, will be held on Tuesday 3 April at the Playhouse Theatre, Sydney Opera House.
The Art Music Awards are the only event that specifically acknowledges the achievements of Australia's outstanding talent in the fields of contemporary art music, jazz and experimental music, with awards covering the best compositions, performances and achievements across 10 national categories, including the brand-new Award for Excellence in Jazz. The live performance program of the 2012 Art Music Awards will be curated by Marshall McGuire.
In the category Work of the Year: Instrumental finalists include Anthony Pateras (for the wonderfully epic Flesh and Ghost), Elliott Gyger (for his subtle and delicate …out of obscurity), Brett Dean for his Sextet, and the 2011 winner in this category, Paul Stanhope, for Qinoth.
Finalists in the category Work of the Year: Orchestral are composers Barry Conyngham, who pays homage to the Japanese tradition with Gardener of Time, Nigel Westlake for the powerful and touching Missa Solis - Requiem for Eli, Peter Sculthorpe with his tribute to Henryk Gorecki, The Shining Island, and Ross Edwards for the dramatic and engaging Spirit Ground.
Ross Edwards is also a finalist in the category of Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral, this time for Sacred Kingfisher Psalms. He is joined by Iain Grandage for a uniquely West Australian piece Blackwood, inspired by the Blackwood River (with text by Kevin Gillam). Clare Maclean is acknowledged for her Osanna Mass and Gerardo Dirié for Pomegranate Friends.
The list of finalists for Work of the Year: Jazz reflects the diverse nature of Australian jazz today. Andrea Keller is nominated for the deliciously unpredictable Affectations, Tom O'Halloran for his masterful Dissolve for two pianos, Peter Knight for the atmospheric Unknowness 1 and Jeremy Rose for River Meeting Suite which brings together Indian and Western jazz traditions.
With a wonderful performance that demands the listener's attention, Felicitas Fuchs, Qian Zhou and Bernard Lanskey are nominated in the category of Performance of the Year for Stille Sprache (composed by Andrew Schultz). Michael Kieran Harvey is nominated for his performance of Lawrence Whiffin's Piano Sonata no. 3 - a complex piece filled with delicate nuances. The Sydney Symphony is nominated for their breathtaking performance of Missa Solis - Requiem for Eli (composed by Nigel Westlake). And, in what is now the 10th premiere by the orchestra of this composer's works, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra are nominated for their performance of James Ledger's Two Memorials (for Anton Webern and John Lennon).
The four finalists for the Award for Excellence by an Organisation or an Individual are Arcko Symphonic Project (for their 2011 concert series), Claire Edwardes (for Flash: Marimba Miniatures recording project), Graeme Morton (for services to Australian music) and Speak Percussion for their 2011 annual program.
The Gondwana Choirs are finalists for the Award for Excellence in Music Education for their 2011 program, alongside Graeme Morton (for his contribution to music education through St Peters Chorale), Kirsty Beilharz (for the Diffuse series of educational concerts in 2011) and Moorambilla Voices for their education strategy in North Western NSW.
The finalists for the Award for Excellence in a Regional Area are Creative Regions for The Crushing: A Gothic Opera and Queensland Music Festival (for Ailan Kores community project). The Moorambilla Voices are again recognised, this time for their engagement with local community, and Gondwana Choirs, this time for their Cairns Residency Project.
Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey are finalists in the Award for Excellence in Experimental Music for their 2011 activities, alongside Daniel Blinkhorn for his 2011 composition activities, Decibel for the PICA Performance Series, and Super Critical Mass for their 2011 activities.
And in the new category Award for Excellence in Jazz (for works, people and events) are the prolific Andrea Keller for her contribution to Australian jazz, Quentin Angus for composition, performance and international development, and Troy Roberts for the compositions Siarus and Oscar and the Shoe Box. Tom O'Halloran is nominated again for 'Piano Perspectives' performance of Dissolve.
The award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (as determined by the Board of Directors of APRA and AMC) will be announced prior to the event.
APRA and the AMC would like to congratulate all the finalists for the 2012 Art Music Awards - a group that demonstrates the vibrancy and energy of contemporary Australian creative practice in music and sound.
2012 Art Music Awards finalists
Work of the Year: Instrumental
Title:
Flesh and Ghost
Composer: Anthony
Pateras
Performed by: Speak Percussion
Title:
…out of obscurity
Composer: Elliott
Gyger
Performed by: Zubin Kanga (piano)
Title:
Qinoth
Composer: Paul
Stanhope
Performed by: ACO2, Australian Chamber Orchestra's young artists'
training ensemble, led by Dale Barltrop
Title:
Sextet
Composer: Brett
Dean
Performed by: Australia Ensemble
Publishers: Boosey & Hawkes Inc (ASCAP), subpublished by Hal
Leonard Australia Pty Ltd
Work of the Year: Orchestral
Title:
Gardener of Time
Composer: Barry
Conyngham
Performed by: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tadaaki Otaka
(conductor)
Title:
Missa Solis - Requiem for Eli
Composer: Nigel
Westlake
Text: John Weiley, Hannie Rayson & Michael Cathcart
Performed by: Sydney Symphony, Nigel Westlake (conductor)
Title:
Spirit Ground
Composer: Ross
Edwards
Performed by: West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Margaret Blades
(soloist), Paul Daniel (conductor)
Title:
The Shining Island
Composer:
Peter Sculthorpe
Publishers: Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of Faber
Music Ltd
Performed by: Canberra Festival Camerata, ANU School of Music
Chamber Orchestra, Tor Fromyhr (conductor)
Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral
Title:
Blackwood
Composer: Iain
Grandage
Text: Kevin Gillam
Performed by: Sara Macliver (soprano), Allan Meyer (clarinet) and
Graeme Gilling (piano)
Title:
Osanna Mass
Composer: Clare
Maclean
Performed by: Sydney Chamber Choi, Paul Stanhope (conductor)
Title: Pomegranate Friends
Composer: Gerardo
Dirié
Performed by: Fusion Vocal Ensemble, Debra Shearer-Dirié
(conductor)
Title:
Sacred Kingfisher Psalms
Composer: Ross
Edwards
Performed by: The Song Company, Roland Peelman (conductor)
Publisher: Edition-s Music-Sound-Art
Work of the Year: Jazz
Title: Affectations
Composer: Andrea
Keller
Performed by: Bennetts Lane Big Band
Title: Dissolve for two pianos
Composer: Tom O'Halloran
Performed By: Tom O'Halloran and Graham Wood
Title: Unknowness 1 (from
Fish boast of Fishing)
Composer: Peter
Knight
Performed by: Peter Knight (trumpet and laptop), Adam Simmons
(contrabass clarinet),
Frank Di Sario (double bass), Erik Griswold (prepared piano),
Vanessa Tomlinson (percussion), Joe Talia (drum kit and
electronics)
Title: River Meeting Suite
Composer: Jeremy Rose
Performed by: Compass Saxophone Quartet plus Bobby Singh and
Sarangan Sriranganthan
Performance of the Year
Performer: Felicitas Fuchs, Qian Zhou and Bernard Lanskey
Title:
Stille Sprache
Composer: Andrew
Schultz
Performer:
Michael Kieran Harvey
Title:
Piano Sonata No 3
Composer:
Lawrence Whiffin
Performer: Sydney Symphony, Nigel Westlake (conductor)
Title:
Missa Solis - Requiem for Eli
Composer: Nigel
Westlake
Performer: West Australian Symphony Orchestra, WASO Chorus, Paul
Daniel (conductor)
Title:
Two Memorials (for Anton Webern and John Lennon)
Composer: James
Ledger
Award for Excellence by an Organisation or an Individual
Arcko Symphonic Project - 2011 concert series
Claire Edwardes - Flash: Marimba Miniatures recording
project
Graeme Morton - services to Australian Music
Speak Percussion - 2011 annual program
Award for Excellence in Music Education
Gondwana Choirs - 2011 program
Graeme Morton - contribution to music education through St Peters
Chorale
Kirsty
Beilharz - Diffuse series of educational concerts in 2011
Moorambilla Voices - education strategy in North Western NSW
Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
Creative Regions - The Crushing: A Gothic Opera
Gondwana Choirs - Cairns Residency Project
Moorambilla Voices - engagement with local community
Queensland Music Festival - Ailan Kores community project
Award for Excellence in Experimental Music
Daniel Blinkhorn - 2011 composition activities
Decibel - PICA Performance Series
Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey - 2011 activities
Super Critical Mass - 2011 activities
Award for Excellence in Jazz
Andrea
Keller - contribution to Australian jazz
Quentin Angus - composition, performance and international
development
Tom O'Halloran - 'Piano Perspectives' concert performance of
Dissolve
Troy Roberts - compositions Siarus and Oscar and The
Show Box
An additional category is awarded at the discretion of the Board of Directors of APRA and AMC for Distinguished Services to Australian Music.
Further links
Australian
Music Centre - Art Music Awards
APRA - Art Music Awards finalists
© Australian Music Centre (2012) — Permission must be obtained from the AMC if you wish to reproduce this article either online or in print.
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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