Finalists for ART Music Awards Announced

The ART Music Awards will be virtual in 2020 with 278 nominees holding out for 13 awards.

The shortlisted compositions for the Work of the Year – Large Ensemble category are a case in point. Maria Grenfell’s Flinders and Trim, and Harry Sdraulig’s Icarus were both premiered by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; James Ledger’s Viola Concerto was written for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra; and Kate Moore’s piano concerto Beatrice was commissioned by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, a community orchestra from North Sydney.

The Work of the Year – Choral category includes four works seemingly light-years apart: Julian Day’s A Civic Space was brought to life by community musicians from the Barossa, and on this shortlist they rub shoulders with choristers from the prestigious Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, who premiered Ross Edwards’s Singing the Love. The shortlist also includes Gordon Hamilton’s Requiem Recomposed, premiered by The Australian Voices and the Omega Ensemble, and Paul Stanhope and Steven Hawke’s I am Martuwarra, premiered by five youth choirs from all over Australia as part of the Gondwana World Choral Festival last year.

The Work of the Year – Jazz shortlist in 2020 is a showcase of emerging and experienced artists from all over Australia, with works by Perth-based bassist Linda May Han Oh (Aventurine), Melbourne-based saxophonist Josh Kelly (Displacement), South Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer Adam Page (The Colours of Grief), and the Freedman-winning pianist with an international career, Aaron Choulai (Umi No Uzu).

Compositions shortlisted in the new Work of the Year – Dramatic category remind us that 2019 was an incredible year for Australian opera. Luke Styles and Peter Goldsworthy’s Ned Kelly; Elliott Gyger and Pierce Wilcox’s Oscar and Lucinda; and Cat Hope’s Speechless are accompanied by Ekrem Eli Phoenix’s sonic composition for theatre/circus production Out Of Chaos by Gravity & Other Myths.

Shortlisted for Work of the Year – Chamber Music are Natasha Anderson’s experimental ensemble work Cleave for 12 players (the maximum for this category); a large-scale solo piano work passing bells: day by Chris Dench; Brett Dean’s String Quartet No. 3: Hidden Agendas; and John Pax’s work Where The Quiet Rests for clarinet, trombone, tuba, violin, viola, cello, and 12-channel electronics.

A new category Work of the Year – Electroacoustic/Sound Art received a large number of competitive nominations. The shortlist comprises of four strong works, by Amanda Cole (Coronal Mass); Robin Fox and Erkki Veltheim in a Chamber Made Production (Diaspora); Fiona Hill (Imago); and Matthias Schack-Arnott (Everywhen).

There are two Performance of the Year categories in 2020. The shortlist for Performance of the Year Jazz – Improvised Music includes the Australian Art Orchestra’s performance of Peter Knight’s work The Plains; Joseph Franklin’s performance of his work Amen; Phil Slater Quintet’s performance of Slater’s The Cordeaux Mirror; and Sandy Evans’s Bridge of Dreams project as realised by Evans, Shubha Mudgal, Aneesh Pradhan and the Sirens Big Band.

The Performance of the Year – Notated Composition shortlist consists of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Cathy Milliken’s Weave; percussionist Louise Devenish’s ‘Sheets of Sound’ program; Sydney Chamber Opera’s production of Gyger & Wilcox’s opera Oscar and Lucinda; and Zubin Kanga’s performance of Tristan Coelho’s Rhythm City.

Finalists for the Award for Excellence in Music Education highlight the quality of work done around the country, with Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive residency program in Tasmania; Speak Percussion’s ‘Sounds Unheard’ education program, enabling young musicians to work with leading professional musicians; Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s Australian Composers’ School; and Netanela Mizrahi & Guwanbal Gurruwiwi’s the Djari Project. A double finalist in 2020, the Djari project draws on the traditional knowledge and songlines from the Galpu community of Galiwinku/Elcho Island, NT.

The Djari Project also made it to the Excellence in Regional Area shortlist, with other finalists the Bangalow Music Festival (NSW); Gillian Howell and Tura New Music’s Fitzroy Valley New Music Project; and Rae Howell’s Bee-Sharp Honeybee.

Excellence in Experimental Music finalists are Persian-Australian artist Gelareh Pour for her Garden Quartet project; The Music Box Project for ‘Shallow Listening’ which combined new compositions by emerging composers with earlier Australian work; Nat Grant’s advocacy and performance project FEED; and Zubin Kanga for his performances of Jon Rose’s Ballast, a work combining keyboard virtuosity with absurdist theatrical elements.

The 2020 Art Music Awards ceremony on 8 September will also include numerous new Luminary Awards, recognising sustained contributions by individuals and organisations. There are no shortlists in these categories. The Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music, as determined by the APRA Board of Directors, will also be presented.

Work of the Year- Choral

Title: A Civic Space
Composer: Julian Day
Performer: Musicians from the Barossa region

Title: I am Martuwarra
Composer: Paul Stanhope, text by Steve Hawke
Performer: Gondwana Choirs, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Valla Voices, Hunter Singers, and Resonance and Lyn Williams, conductor

Title: Requiem-Recomposed
Composer: Gordon Hamilton
Performer: Omega Ensemble and The Australian Voices and Gordon Hamilton, conductor

Title: Singing the Love
Composer: Ross Edwards
Performer: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and Stephen Cleobury, conductor
Publisher: BMG AM

Work of the Year- Dramatic

Title: Ned Kelly
Composer: Luke Styles, librettist Peter Goldsworthy
Performer: Lost and Found Opera and Chris van Tuinen, conductor
Publisher: G Schirmer Australia

Title: Oscar and Lucinda
Composer: Elliott Gyger, librettist Pierce Wilcox
Performer: Sydney Chamber Opera and Jack Symonds, conductor

Title: Out of Chaos
Composer: Ekrem Eli Phoenix
Performer: Gravity and Other Myths

Title: Speechless
Composer: Cat Hope
Performer: Judith Dodsworth, Karina Utomo, Tara Tiba, Sage Pbbbt (soloists), Australian Bass Orchestra, Decibel New Music Ensemble and Aaron Wyatt, conductor

Work of the Year – Jazz

Title: Aventurine
Composer: Linda May Han Oh
Performer: Linda May Han Oh, Greg Ward, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith, Fung Chern Hwei, Sara Caswell, Benni von Gutzeit, Jeremy Harman, Invenio with Gian Slater, director

Title: Displacement
Composer: Josh Kelly
Performer: Josh Kelly, Niran Dasika, Aviva Endean, Mary Rapp, Jacques Emery and Maria Moles

Title: The Colours of Grief
Composer: Adam Page
Performer: The Adam Page Ensemble

Title: Umi No Uzu
Composer: Aaron Choulai
Performer: Australian Art Orchestra, Aaron Choulai, Miyama McQueen-Tokita and Kojoe

Work of the Year – Large Ensemble

Title: Beatrice
Composer: Kate Moore
Performer: Vivian Choi, piano, Willoughby Symphony, and Fabian Russell, conductor
Publisher: Donemus Publishing BV

Title: Flinders and Trim
Composer: Maria Grenfell
Performer: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Eivind Aadland, conductor

Title: Icarus
Composer: Harry Sdraulig
Performer: Lloyd Hudson, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Elena Schwarz, conductor

Title: Viola Concerto
Composer: James Ledger
Performer: Brett Dean, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Fabien Gabel, conductor

Work of the Year- Chamber Music

Title: Cleave
Composer: Natasha Anderson
Performer: Ensemble Offspring, International Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Adapter

Title: passing bells: day
Composer: Chris Dench
Performer: Alex Raineri

Title: String Quartet no. 3: Hidden Agendas
Composer: Brett Dean
Performer: Doric String Quartet
Publisher: Hal Leonard/Boosey & Hawkes Group

Title: Where The Quiet Rests
Composer: John Pax
Performer: WasteLAnd

Work of the Year- Electroacoustic/Sound Art

Title: Coronal Mass
Composer:Amanda Cole with lead artist Michaela Gleave, programmer Warren Armstrong, sound engineer Bob Scott and scientists Martin Connors and Ian Schofield

Title:Diaspora
Composer: Robin Fox and Erkki Veltheim in a Chamber Made Production
Performer: Robin Fox, Erkki Veltheim, Madeleine Flynn, Georgie Darvidis, Tamara Saulwick (co-direction/dramaturgy)
and Nick Roux (video artist)

Title: Everywhen
Composer: Matthias Schack-Arnott
Performer: Matthias Schack-Arnott

Title: Imago
Composer: Fiona Hill
Performer: Lamorna Nightingale, Jane Sheldon and Fiona Hill

Performance of the Year – Jazz/Improvised Music

Performer: Australian Art Orchestra
Title: The Plains
Composer: Peter Knight

Performer: Joseph Franklin
Title: Amen
Composer: Joseph Franklin

Performer: Phil Slater Quintet
Title: The Cordeaux Mirror
Composer: Phil Slater

Performer: Sandy Evans, Shubha Mudgal, Aneesh Pradhan and Sirens Big Band
Title: Bridge of Dreams
Composer: Sandy Evans, Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan

Performance of the Year – Notated Composition

Performer: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Douglas Boyd, conductor
Title: Weave
Composer: Cathy Milliken

Performer: Louise Devenish
Title: ‘Sheets of Sound’
Composers: Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Louise Devenish and Stuart James

Performer: Sydney Chamber Opera and Jack Symonds, conductor
Title: Oscar and Lucinda
Composer: Elliott Gyger, librettist Pierce Wilcox

Performer: Zubin Kanga
Title: Rhythm City
Composer: Tristan Coelho

Award for Excellence in Music Education

Australian Art Orchestra for its Creative Music Intensive

Netanela Mizrahi and Guwanbal Gurruwiwi for the Djari Project

Speak Percussion for Sounds Unheard Education Program

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra for the Australian Composers’ School

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

Bangalow Music Festival for its 2019 festival