Australia: May 2006 Report
Australian composer Natalie Williams,
recipient of the Classical 2006 APRA
PDA, with senior Australian composer
Richard Meale. Photo by Tony Mott.
The last six months have been busy for the Australian Music Centre as it continues to foster opportunities for new music to be presented, as well as providing resources for practitioners in the Australian music community.
Awards and Recognition
Nominations are now closed for the 2006 Classical Music Awards and the Centre and the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) are currently organising the ceremony to be held on 14th August at the Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, an event which will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM. These awards are one-of-a-kind in the new music community – recognising and celebrating the achievements of our most outstanding composers, performers, educators and administrators during 2005.
Composers and songwriters in the earlier stages of their careers were awarded more recently at the 2006 APRA Professional Development Awards. With six awards being presented across various genres, these awards — administered biennially by APRA in conjunction with partner music organisations such as the Australian Music Centre — offer cash, travel and recognition to emerging composers and songwriters.
Natalie Williams was awarded the APRA PDA in the Classical genre. Selected from a broad range of applicants, Williams intends to travel abroad to pursue postgraduate study in music theory and composition. Having already been commissioned to write works for ensembles such as Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Australian Youth Orchestra, Williams demonstrates talent as a young and upcoming artist.
Other recipients included Johannes Luebbers (Jazz), Ashley Klose (Film/TV), Amira Pyliotis, Damian Crosbie (Popular/Contemporary) and Tom Curtain (Country).
New Music Performance
A strong advocate of new music, Australia's premier contemporary music ensemble ELISION celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Since its formation, the ensemble has established an international profile and premiered over 120 works. A highlight of their 2005 concert program was the world premiere of internationally acclaimed composer Liza Lim's The Quickening and In Shadows of Light at the Festival d'Automne á Paris in November.
Immediately after their return from Paris, ELISION hosted New Zealand composer Jim Gardner as part of the Trans-Tasman composer exchange program (in partnership with SOUNZ) and will premiere his new work in August at the Judith Wright Centre of Performing Arts in Brisbane. Since workshopping his ideas with the ensemble, Gardner has created a work for clarinet, trombone, electric guitar, percussion and live electronics.
Gardner's work will also feature in ELISION's United Kingdom tour later this year within concerts given for the 2006 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in Liverpool's 'Cities in Transition' program.
With the days getting noticeably shorter and the weather cooler, the season for Australian arts festivals is coming to an end. Numerous arts festivals in Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide all provided opportunities for composers and sound artists to present new works. At the Adelaide Festival, for example, works by Elena Kats-Chernin and Brett Dean were performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, while sound artist Jon Drummond performed as part of the series Project 3.
The 2006 Aurora Festival, a new festival featuring only contemporary music by living composers, will take place in Sydney in May 2006. As well as showcasing new works by various Australian composers, the festival will host an academic conference, lectures, forums, master classes, community workshops, artist collaborations and sound installations. With the majority of events taking place in Western Sydney, composer Matthew Hindson, Aurora's artistic director, is excited to be providing an opportunity for the entire Sydney region to have access to Australia's contemporary music scene.
Danielle Carey
Publications Coordinator, Australian Music Centre
