Martin Armiger to receive inaugural Distinguished Services award for screen music

Musician, producer, educator and screen composer Martin Armiger will be the recipient of the inaugural Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen award, at the Monday November 13 Screen Music Awards at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Awards organisers APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) made the announcement this morning.

“I am awed and ‘umbled, shocked and delighted and very proud to be the inaugural recipient of this award,” Armiger said.

“Can you be humble and proud at the same time? Well if you can be, I am.

“I want to say a thousand ‘thank yous’ to APRA and the Guild for their support over a long period.”

Emerging as guitarist and singer-songwriter with Melbourne bands in the mid-’70s as Toad,High Rise Bombers with Pal Kelly, and Sports (he wrote their hit ‘Strangers On A Train’), son of two musicians Armiger had already begun composing for the screen well before.

In 1972, while at university in Adelaide, he composed the music for by David Stocker’s short film Drac. In 1975 he did the music for stage musical A Day In Rio and, with Skyhooks member Red Symons, composed the movie for Bert Deling‘s Pure Shit.

From 1984, he was music director for ABC-TV’s 20-episode pop music drama Sweet and Sour (playing all the instruments and producing its two soundtracks), He did the same for the ABC’s 1987 series Stringer.

He went on to work on 14 feature films including Thank God He Met Lizzie and Young Einstein, documentaries and TV series as Come In Spinner, Bodysurfers and Police Rescue.

He was President of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers for seven years and Head of Screen Music at AFTRS over the past 14 years.

The Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen award replaces the International Achievement trophy.

It will honour outstanding contributions to the film and television industry, made by producers, directors, philanthropists, educators, music supervisors and event producers that provide promotion, opportunities and education for Australian screen composers.

Also announced this morning were the night’s presenters.

They include award winner composer Burkhard Dallwitz, TV producer Elisa Argenzio (Underbelly, Wolf Creek), Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi, Minister for Creative Industries in Victoria Martin Foley, actor/ director Daina Reed, and film critic / TV presenter Margaret Pomeranz.

Nominated artist, rapper, record label head, comedy writer and actor Briggs will perform with soul and beats singer Caiti Baker and fellow nominee Justin Shave.

Missy Higgins, also nominated, will perform alongside brother Dave Higgins.

From the opera world, mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Dark will join Musical Director Jessica Wells who will lead an orchestra to perform nominated scores.