Women creators sweep major awards: Mary Finsterer and Genevieve Lacey
Lyn Williams AM receives the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music
Winners of the 2024 Art Music Awards were announced at a ceremony at Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne/ Naarm on Wednesday 14 August.
Each year, the Art Music Awards, co-presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre (AMC), celebrate outstanding artists and works in Australian art music and sound art. Winners and finalists are recognised as some of the nation’s finest established and emerging artists pushing innovation in contemporary classical music, jazz, improvisation, electronic and sound art, and experimental practice.
“Time and again, artists move and inspire us through music, redefining the boundaries of exploration and innovation in music and sound. We are proud of tonight’s finalists and winners for representing excellence in Australian music on a global stage,” said Catherine Haridy, Australian Music Centre CEO and Dean Ormston, APRA AMCOS Chief Executive.
Genevieve Lacey Photo: RC Stills
Women creators made a sweep this year, with most Work of the Year and Performance of the Year awards going to works written by women and gender-diverse artists, including two major winners of the evening.
Mary Finsterer’s epic symphony Stabat Mater – performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Choir of Trinity College Melbourne, Mia Robinson, Joseph Nolan, with Benjamin Northey (conductor), Christopher Watson (choral director) and narration by Mel Gibson – earned the awards for Work of the Year: Choral and Performance of the Year: Notated Composition. The awards mark Finsterer’s seventh and eighth Art Music Awards wins.
Genevieve Lacey was awarded Work of the Year: Electroacoustic/Sound Art for the evocative sound installation Breathing Space (at the National Museum of Australia) and Luminary Award - National Individual
for the inspiring breadth and depth of her collaborative relationships – including the mentoring of young artists, championing diversity within Australian art music, and leading through her own artistic practice.
Mindy Meng Wang Photo: RC Stills
Sally Whitwell earned the award for Work of the Year: Dramatic for Margaret and the Grey Mare, a “meta-opera” highlighting colonialist racism and unquestioned misogyny in the canonical repertoire.
Work of the Year: Jazz was presented to Cheryl Durongpisitkul for A Pinky Promise, a provocative work reflecting on her experiences as woman of colour in the jazz community.
Alice Chance was named the recipient of Work of the Year: Large Ensemble for Through Changing Landscape, an homage to travel and long train journeys, commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Fifty Fanfares project.
First time winner, Kate Milligan, earned the gong for Work of the Year: Chamber Music for Visions | Vestiges, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra Soundhub Project in 2023, a work written with animated notation to be read directly through a crystal ball.
Mindy Meng Wang and Paul Grabowsky AO were awarded Performance of the Year: Jazz/Improvised Music for bringing to life their collaborative work Spring, Flower, Snow and the Moon 春花秋月, a seamless introduction of the Chinese Guzheng into Western and improvised music.
Luminary Award winners Photo: RC Stills
Three Excellence Awards were awarded to projects that further illuminated the importance of cross-cultural collaboration and artistic practice in contemporary Australian art music.
Excellence in Music Education was awarded to The Song Room for their work in building thriving communities for children in remote Northern Territory through the co-creation of Australian music centred on important local people, places, ways of creating, learning and being through music education.
Excellence in a Regional Area was awarded to Tura for The Journey Down, a work which resulted from deep engagement with community, and toured across 3,456km of regional Western Australia.
Excellence in Experimental Practice was awarded to Gelareh Pour and Brian O’Dwyer for their project ZÖJ, a voice and percussion duo blending traditional Persian elements with contemporary Australian sounds, making waves after the release of their debut album and sold-out shows in 2023.
Omega Ensemble earned the Luminary Award - National Organisation for their dedication to championing emerging and diverse voices and commissioning of new Australian works.
Luminary Awards were also presented to individuals and organisations who made significant contributions to the music community in their local state or territory: Jessica Cottis (ACT), Jessica Wells (NSW), Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra (QLD), The Bowerbird Collective (SA), Don Kay (TAS), Duré Dara OAM (VIC), and Gemma Farrell (WA).
The Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music was presented to Lyn Williams AM
in recognition of her decades-long commitment to the development of Australian choral music through the Gondwana Choirs, and the musical voices she has amplified throughout her career.
Bree van Reyk, Tamara Murphy, Véronique Serret, Mick Turner and Nick Wales. Photo: RC Stills
The 2024 Art Music Awards were presented by Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe, with guest presenters Benjamin Northey and Miranda Hill. Live music performances, curated by Sia Ahmad, formed an intrinsic part of the evening’s celebrations.
The line-up included Cheryl Durongpisitkul performing her work Survival (from I Still Miss You) with ensemble (Harriet Allcroft, Emily Bennett, Josh Bennier, Stephen Hornby, Xani Kolac, Reuben Lewis, Nathan Liow, Anita Quayle, Shaun Rummers, Naomi Tan, and Marcos Villata); Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 and Sui Zhen performing their co-composed melodic piece, Kong 空 ; The Consort of Melbourne performing Cameron Lam’s Blood Red, Leaves Green; Hand to Earth Trio (Daniel Wilfred, David Wilfred, and Peter Knight) performing Mokuy a collaborative work written with Sunny Kim and Aviva Endean; and Bree van Reyk’s Superclusters Part II performed with Tamara Murphy, Véronique Serret, Mick Turner and Nick Wales.
APRA AMCOS and the AMC congratulate all Art Music Awards winners on their outstanding achievements and contributions to Australian music.