Composer Brett Dean, percussionist Rebecca Lagos and music entrepreneur Belinda Webster are among a distinguished field of national finalists for the 2007 Classical Music Awards announced yesterday by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre (AMC).
The annual CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS are a unique opportunity to honour the people and organisations whose creativity and drive express the essence of contemporary Australia. The only event of its kind in Australia; the Classical Music Awards are dedicated to recognising significant contributions to contemporary classical music
The finalists for the three prestigious “Work of the Year” categories (choral/vocal, orchestral, instrumental) include Sarah Hopkins, for her work May You Dance, recounting the tragic events of 2000, the work was written for and performed by the community of Childers. Other finalists include Matthew Hindson for Percussion Concerto, Graeme Koehne for Tivoli Dances, Liza Lim for Flying Banner. Composer Maria Grenfell is a finalist twice over in the category of Instrumental Work of the Year for Di Primavera and Four Leunig Pieces.
Four individuals have been selected as finalists for their “Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music”: Belinda Webster formed her own record label called Tall Poppies 16 years ago, since then, she has put out an enormous amount of music by Australian composers and musicians; Ian Cleworth - the inspirational artistic director of TaikOz; Australian jazz pioneer and international ambassador, the leader of Ten Part Invention, the drummer John Pochee; and South Australian composer, teacher and mentor Tristram Cary, now a lively and productive 81 who is a world pioneer in electronic and tape music.
The 2007 finalists in the category “Best Composition by an Australian Composer” include a range of significant works many of which have been performed both internationally and locally. Finalists include: Brett Dean’s Viola Concerto; Iain Grandage’s large-scale, narrative orchestral work The Silence; Graham Hair’s work O Venezia; Liza Lim’s work Mother Tongue; and finally, Roger Smalley’s Birthday Tango – a work that was specially commissioned for the ACO's 30th Anniversary Season by arts patron and winner of the 2006 Classical Music Award for “Outstanding Contribution by an Individual”, Barbara Blackman.
Percussionist Claire Edwardes, composers Elena Kats-Chernin and Liza Lim and Tasmanian guitarist and lecturer David Malone, are all finalists for the 2007 “Outstanding Contribution by an Individual” award. In the “Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation” category, the finalists are: the 2006 Aurora Festival; Australian Youth Orchestra, Australian Ballet and the Sonic Art Ensemble for BodyTorque; and Topology Ensemble for the 2006 concert series.
APRA and the AMC proudly announce that the following complete list of outstanding composers, performers, educators and organisations have been short-listed as finalists of the 2007 Classical Music Awards.
Instrumental Work of the Year
Dawn Day Dusk
Composer: Caroline Szeto
Performed by: Denis Crowdy and Satsuki Odamura
Di Primavera
Composer: Maria Grenfell
Performed by: David Malone
Four Leunig Pieces
Composer: Maria Grenfell
Performed by: David Malone
Piano Trio
Composer: Ross Edwards
Performed by: The Australian Trio
Publisher: BMG Music Publishing Australia on behalf of G Ricordi & Co (London) Ltd
Orchestral Work of the Year
Flying Banner (After Wang To)
Composer: Liza Lim
Performed by: Sydney Symphony; Conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti
Publisher: BMG Music Publishing Australia on behalf of G Ricordi & Co (London) Ltd
Percussion Concerto
Composer: Matthew Hindson
Performed by: The Queensland Orchestra with Evelyn Glennie; Conducted by: Takuo Yuasa.
Publisher: Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of Faber Music Ltd
Tivoli Dances
Composer: Graeme Koehne
Performed by: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Conducted by: Arvo Volmer
Welcome To The MCG
Composer: Christopher Gordon
Performed by: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Conducted by Lyn Williams
Choral or Vocal Work of the Year
Daragang Magayon Cantata
Composer: Bruce Crossman*, Merlinda Bobis
Performed by: Lotte Latukefu, Merlinda Bobis, Ian Munro
Publisher: Publications by Wirripang*
May you Dance
Composer: Sarah Hopkins
Performed by: The People of Childers
Best Performance of an Australian Composition
Performer: David Rowden (soloist with the Omega Ensemble)
Title: Inferno for Clarinet and Ensemble
Composer: Margery Smith
Performer: Halcyon and Flinders Quartet
Title: Bright Forms Return
Composer: Gillian Whitehead
Performer: Queensland Youth Symphony
Title: Symphony No. 2
Composer: Carl Vine
Performer: Rebecca Lagos (soloist with the Sydney Symphony)
Title: When The Clock Strikes Me
Composer: Nigel Westlake
Best Composition by an Australian Composer
Birthday Tango
Composer: Roger Smalley
Mother Tongue
Composer: Liza Lim
O Venezia: Part 1
Composer: Graham Hair
The Silence
Composer: Iain Grandage
Viola Concerto
Composer: Brett Dean
Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in Education
Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian Ballet for the 2006 National Music Camp Composition Program BodyTorque
MLC School and Sonic Arts Ensemble for Sounding the Score Student Composition project
Newington College for the Gerard Brophy Residency Project
Sydney Symphony Education Program for the Sydney Sinfonietta Composition Project
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra for the Australian Composers’ School
Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in a Regional Area
2006 Camden Haven Music Festival
Co-Opera Tour to seven regional centres of Becky Llewelyn’s The Portrait
Paul Jarman for the Mountains Touching Sea project in Coffs Harbour. NSW
TaikOz for 2006 National Regional Tour
Outstanding Contribution by an Individual
Claire Edwardes/Duo Vertigo for the Duyfken Project
David Malone for the Fretsongs CD Project
Elena Kats-Chernin for her activities in 2006
Liza Lim for the Sydney Symphony Composer Residency
Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation
2006 Aurora Festival of New Music
Australian Ballet, the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Sonic Art Ensemble for BodyTorque
Topology Ensemble for the 2006 Concert Series at the Brisbane Powerhouse
Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music
Belinda Webster
Ian Cleworth
John Pochée
Tristram Cary
Sydney news
Finalists Announced for Classical Music Awards
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