Congratulation to the winners of the 2013 ART Music Awards.
Hosted by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre (AMC), the ART Music Awards are 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.
Members of the Australian Art Orchestra and the Sruthi Laya Ensemble won the category of Performance of the Year for their thrilling performance of Sandy Evans’s Meetings at the Table of Time. Combining both Western jazz and Eastern Carnatic music, this unique work created a unified performance of depth and integrity.
Improvising jazz pianist Marc Hannaford won the Work of the Year: Jazz with his dynamic composition Anda Two. Deemed highly original by the judging panel, Anda Two integrates many influences to create a powerful piece that supports impressive group improvisation.
Saxophonist Jamie Oehlers receives the Award for Excellence in Jazz. A phenomenal musician, inspiring educator and tireless advocate for Australian jazz, Oehlers toured the country and overseas extensively in 2012 and released three CDs to excellent reviews.
Composer Gordon Kerry is recognised in the category of Work of the Year: Instrumental for his String Quintet. An accomplished piece with a high degree of sophistication in its instrumental writing, Kerry’s quintet is a major addition to his repertoire.
Stephen Leektook out the Award in the category of Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral for Heritage In Song, a unique collaboration between the composer, artists, musicians and the young Sydney choristers who sing stories which resonate across generations – stories of inspiration, hardship and joy all taken from their own lives as well as those of their parents and grandparents.
The powerful Fire Music by composer Brett Dean received the Award in the category of Work of the Year: Orchestral. Inspired by the bushfires that devastated parts of Victoria in 2009, Fire Music has outstanding, complex orchestration and is filled with emotional intensity. Its palpable sense of theatricality is enhanced by the moving and powerful musical exploration of a disastrous event.
Soundstream: Adelaide New Music Festival won the Award for Excellence by an Organisation for their sustained promotion of new music. With satellite concert events, public forums, workshops, composer residencies and master classes, this energetic collective has given art music a tremendous boost in South Australia.
The winner of the Award for Excellence by an Individual was cellist Danielle Bentley. Her dedication and commitment to Australian art music and chamber music has been recognised, especially her commissioning and championing of music and musicians across many genres through the Collusion ensemble and Restrung and Crossbow festivals.
The New England Conservatorium of Music received the Award for Excellence in Music Education for the New England Sings! 2012 program. Designed to encourage and support singing, music making and composition in regional and remote schools across the New England area, the program ensures a lasting legacy for future students.
The Award for Excellence in a Regional Area went to The Wired Lab and Country Arts SA for Southern Encounter. This exceptional regional project engaged with the community on all levels with its extensive collaborations and networking across a vast landscape in regional South Australia.
The Wired Lab and Country Arts SA and the Southern Encounter project also received the Award for Excellence in Experimental Music. From sheep dogs and Indigenous choirs to soundscapes and site-specific field recordings, Southern Encounter combined art, culture, community, heritage and landscape with the very best in experimental music and leading artists in this field.
The Queensland State Award was awarded to Linsey Pollak in the Performance of the Year category. The well-known Queensland composer, instrument maker and community music facilitator is recognised for The Dream of Zedkat Nabu, a striking piece featuring four wonderful singers and four musicians that trigger the calls of endangered animals by striking bamboo poles.
The Western Australian State Award went to Tura New Music and The Australian Chamber Orchestra for the outstanding Reef Tour 2012 in the category of Excellence in a Regional Area.
Nicole Canham won the ACT State Award in the category of Excellence by an Individual for Hourglass, the multimedia performance installation she curated and directed, while the New South Wales State Award has gone to the Moorambilla Voices for Moorambilla Voices Education Program in the category of Excellence in Music Education.
Chamber Made Opera received the Victorian State Award for The Minotaur Trilogy (and their Living Room Opera Series) in the Excellence by an Organisation category.
The South Australian State Award went to the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and OzAsia Festival for Australian Emerging Composers Creative Workshops with Tan Dun in the category of Excellence in Music Education. And the Tasmanian State Award has been given to composer Maria Grenfell for Ten Suns Ablaze in the category of Work of the Year: Instrumental.
Last but not least, the Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (as determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors) was presented to 85-year-old George Dreyfus AM for his long and varied career as a composer of operas, symphonies, chamber works and scores for over 60 film and television productions.
