News July 19, 2017

2017 ART MUSIC AWARDS FINALISTS ACROSS CLASSICAL, JAZZ AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC ANNOUNCED!

PRESS RELEASE

Some of Australia’s finest composers and performers in contemporary classical, jazz and experimental music have today been named as finalists for the 2017 Art Music Awards.

The finalists include previous winners Paul Grabowsky, Paul Stanhope, Cat Hope, Iain Grandage, Andrea Keller, Andrew Ford and 2016 dual winner Kate Neal. Well-known names such as Katie Noonan, Elena Kats-Chernin and Richard Tognetti also feature.

In addition to composers and performers, the Art Music Awards also recognise excellence by organisations and individuals, and, in 2017, Moorambilla Voices, Tura New Music,Speak Percussion (who took out theAward for Excellence in Experimental Musicin 2016), David Bridie, Daryl Buckley and both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra andWest Australian Symphony Orchestra are among the finalists.

All in all, a diverse range of finalists have been acknowledged across 11 categories. Australian State and Territory Awards will be revealed during the Awards ceremony, while the Distinguished Services to Australian Music Award will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 2017 Art Music Awards will be presented at a gala event in Sydney on Tuesday 22 August at the City Recital Hall. Staged jointly by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre (AMC), the ceremony will be hosted by ABC presenter Simon Marnie. Gabriella Smart will return to curate the live performance element for the event.

Brett Cottle, APRA AMCOS Chief Executive said: “Australia’s art music community is creating and presenting extraordinary work. We’re thrilled to be partnering with the AMC on the 7^th Art Music Awards, and I congratulate all the 2017 finalists.”

Please see the complete list of finalists below for the 2017 Art Music Awards.

2017 ART MUSIC AWARDS
Tuesday 22 August
City Recital Hall, Sydney
With host Simon Marnie and music curation by Gabriella Smart

VOCAL / CHORAL WORK OF THE YEAR

Agnus Dei (Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep)
Paul Stanhope
Mary Elizabeth Frye; Requiem Mass
Adelaide Chamber Singers, Carl Crossin conductor

Permission to Speak
Kate Neal
Tamara Saulwick
Chamber Made Opera (Gian Slater, Georgie Darvidis, Josh Kyle and Edward Fairlie)

Tree of Codes
Liza Lim
Ensemble MusikFabrik; Cologne Opera, Clement Power (Conductor)
Ricordi & Co Berlin obo Universal Music Publishing MGB Australia

With Love and Fury
Katie Noonan, Paul Dean, Andrew Ford, Paul Grabowsky, Iain Grandage, David Hirschfelder, Elena Kats-Chernin, John Rodgers, Richard Tognetti and Carl Vine
Katie Noonan & the Brodsky Quartet

JAZZ WORK OF THE YEAR

Intrusions
Eugene Ball
Monash Art Ensemble

Moons of Jupiter
Paul Grabowsky
The Paul Grabowsky Sextet
BMG AM

Now Noise
Tom O’Halloran
Memory of Elements

Still Night
Andrea Keller
Vince Jones, Andrea Keller, Stephen Magnusson, Gian Slater and Julien Wilson

INSTRUMENTAL WORK OF THE YEAR

Aisles
Austin Buckett
Australian Art Orchestra and Ensemble Offspring

Diomira
Peter Knight
Australian Art Orchestra

How Forests Think
Liza Lim
ELISION
Ricordi & Co Berlin obo Universal Music Publishing MGB Australia

Moon Fire
Jessica Wells
Lyn Fuller

ORCHESTRAL WORK OF THE YEAR

Frog and Star Cycle : double concerto for alto saxophone, percussionand orchestra
Ross Edwards
Amy Dickson (saxophone), Colin Currie (percussion), Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Lothar Koenigs (conductor)
BMG AM

Raga: for electric guitar and orchestra
Andrew Ford
Zane Banks (guitar), Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Benjamin Northey (conductor)

Serenade for Tenor, Saxophone and Orchestra (“My Dear Benjamin”)
Lyle Chan
Benjamin Britten and Wulff Scherchen
Andrew Goodwin (tenor), Michael Duke (saxophone), the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Paul Kildea (conductor)

The Witching Hour
Elena Kats-Chernin
Australian World Orchestra, Alexander Briger (conductor) and soloists
Hal Leonard/Boosey & Hawkes Group

PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Adelaide Chamber Singers
Agnus Dei (Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep)
Paul Stanhope

Benjamin Beilman and Andrew Tyson
Cerulean Orbits
Jane Stanley

Michael Kieran Harvey
Piano Concerto
Yitzhak Yedid

Peter de Jager
Piano Sonata
Chris Dench

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE BY AN ORGANISATION

Speak Percussion for their 2016 program and sustained contribution to Australian music

Synergy & Taikoz Limited for activities and achievements of the two new music ensembles Synergy Percussion and Taikoz

Tura New Music for their 2016 program and sustained contribution to Australian music for over 30 years

Zephyr Quartet for performances, collaborations, commissions and recordings in 2016

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL

Cat Hope for performance, academia, composition, mentoring and advocacy

Daryl Buckley for over 30 years of contribution to the international projection of Australian contemporary performance, ideas and practice

David Bridie for the music projecta Bit na Ta

Tos Mahoney for his work with new music in Western Australia in 2016

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC EDUCATION

Goulburn Regional Conservatorium, Canberra Symphony Orchestra and University of Canberra for The Goulburn Concerto

Moorambilla Voices for their 2016 season

Sydney Symphony Orchestra for their annual teacher-training program, TunED-Up!

West Australian Symphony Orchestra for their 2016 education program

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN A REGIONAL AREA

Four Winds for their 2016 Easter Festival

Ngarukuruwala for Ngiya awungarra (I Am Here, Now), ethnographic recordings of Tiwi song material

Primal Dance Company for modern dance work, Footmarks

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

JOLT Arts for The Book of Daughters mini-festival

Matthias Schack-Arnott for the percussion duo, Anicca

Robert Curgenven for Climata, a performance, installation and recording project

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN JAZZ

Andrea Keller for the creation, presentation and release of contemporary jazz in 2016

Daniel Susnjar for Afro-Peruvian Jazz musical activities including album Moth to a Flameand Australian / US touring

Ross McHenry for the album Child of Somebody and various performances

Stu Hunter for the recording, world premiere and national tour of The Migration