2017 Art Music Awards
An exciting group of composers, performers and educators, including several first-time recipients, were announced as the winners of the 2017 Art Music Awards in an industry event in Sydney on Tuesday 22 August 2017. The 2017 Art Music Awards were staged jointly by APRA AMCOS and the AMC. The event was hosted by Simon Marnie, with live program curated by Gabriella Smart. Presenters at the event were Sandy Evans, Paul Mason, Stephen Lias, Natalie Williams and Marshall McGuire.
A full list of winners below - for more details about the winning works, artists and the evening's program, please see this news article on Resonate. To find out more about those shortlisted, see this article about the finalist announcement, and read the judging panels' comments.
2017 Winners
Distinguished Services to Australian Music
Orchestral Work of the Year
Title: Serenade for Tenor, Saxophone and Orchestra ("My Dear Benjamin")
Composer: Lyle Chan
Text: Benjamin Britten and Wulff Scherchen
Performer: Andrew Goodwin tenor, Michael Duke saxophone, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Paul Kildea conductor
Performance of the Year
Performer: Peter de Jager
Title: Piano Sonata
Composer: Chris Dench
Vocal / Choral Work of the Year
Title: Tree of Codes
Composer: Liza Lim
Performer: Ensemble MusikFabrik; Cologne Opera, Clement Power conductor, Massimo Furlan director
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing MGB Australia obo G. Ricordi & Co. Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH
Jazz Work of the Year
Title: Now Noise
Composer: Tom O'Halloran
Performer: Memory of Elements
Instrumental Work of the Year
Title: How Forests Think
Composer: Liza Lim
Performer: ELISION, Wu Wei soloist, Carl Rosman conductor
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing MGB Australia obo G. Ricordi & Co. Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH
Award for Excellence by an Organisation
Speak Percussion for their 2016 program and sustained contribution to Australian music
Award for Excellence by an Individual
Daryl Buckley for over thirty years of contribution to the international projection of Australian contemporary performance, ideas and practice
Award for Excellence in Music Education
Moorambilla Voices for their 2016 season
Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
Tura New Music for their 2016 Regional Program
Award for Excellence in Experimental Music
Clocked Out with Bruce and Jocelyn Wolfe for 'The Piano Mill' project
Award for Excellence in Jazz
Andrea Keller for the creation, presentation and release of contemporary jazz in 2016
2017 Art Music Awards:
State and Territory Awards
ACT Award for Instrumental Work of the Year
The 7 Great Inventions Of The Modern Industrial Age by Sally Greenaway
NSW Award for Excellence in Music Education
Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) for Young Women's Jazz Workshop program
NT Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
Ngarukuruwala for Ngiya Awungarra (I Am Here, Now)
QLD Award for Excellence by an Individual
Vanessa Tomlinson for conceiving and curating the 2016 Australian Percussion Gathering
SA Award for Performance of the Year
Adelaide Chamber Singers for Agnus Dei (Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep) by Paul Stanhope
TAS Award for Excellence by an Organisation
Mona for Mofo 2016
VIC Award for Performance of the Year
Chamber Made Opera for Permission To Speak by Kate Neal, with text by Tamara Saulwick
WA Award for Jazz Work Of The Year
Help You Along Your Way by Daniel Susnjar
Pictured (from top): Liza Lim; Lyle Chan; Tom O'Halloran & Andrea Keller; Daryl Buckley; John Pochée; Tos Mahoney; Bruce & Jocelyn Wolfe (Excellence in Experimental Music); Michelle Leonard (Moorambilla Voices)
All photos © Tony Mott