Nominees for 2021 Screen Music Awards announced

Lights. Camera. Music!

APRA AMCOS and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers) today are proud to announce the nominees for the 2021 Screen Music Awards, highlighting the composers who have created the music for screen gems such as Bluey, Ahn’s Brush with Fame, Love on the Spectrum, Hungry Ghosts, Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, Bump, Wakefield and many more.

Here are the musical masterminds who scored the on-screen moments that helped us get through the previous year.

Leading the nominations for the 2021 Screen Music Awards with three a-piece are accomplished composers Antony Partos, Cezary Skubiszewski and Michael Yezerski. Antony is acknowledged for Best Music for a Television Series or Serial (Jack Irish), Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie (The End) and Feature Film Score of the Year for Rams. Cezary’s three nominations are for Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie and Best Television Theme for Halifax Retribution co-composed with dual nominee Jan Skubiszewski and Best Music for a Documentary (Chef Antonio’s Recipes for Revolution). Michael appears in the Feature Film Score of the Year category for The Tax Collector, Best Soundtrack Album for The Vigil and Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas.

Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks have also scored three nods apiece; together they are nominated as Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia, Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas and for Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie for Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire.

Dual nominees for the 2021 Screen Music Awards are David McCormack who appears twice in Best Music for a Television Series or Serial - for his work on Bump and Jack Irish.

Composer and vocalist Brontë Horder has also received two nods this year for Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie (Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire) and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen (Fragile Soul from Ellie Was Here).

Other screen composers with dual nominations are:

• Caitlin Yeo for Best Music for a Documentary for Playing with Sharks and in Best Music for a Television Series or Serial for her work on Wakefield.
• Matteo Zingales, who is acknowledged for Best Music for an Advertisement (Save Our Sons: Heartbeat) and Best Music for a Television Series or Serial (Bump).
• King of the kids Joff Bush, who is nominated for Best Soundtrack Album and Best Music for Children’s Programming for his musical magic on the ABC Television kids smash hit Bluey.
• Multi-instrumentalist Roger Mason, who appears twice for his work on Hungry Ghosts in the categories of Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie and Best Television Theme.
• Composer and lyricist Maria Alfonsine who is both a first time AND dual Screen Music Awards nominee. The score for the ABC Television series Wakefield (co-composed with Caitlin Yeo) covers an expansive range of feeling, in alignment with the wide emotional range of the characters.

With Maria, there are a total of 31 first-time nominees to the roll call of 2021. This list of newcomers includes Kate Miller-Heidke, Keir Nuttall, Daniel Müller, Rob Law, Fiona Hill, Jorden Heys, Marly Lüske, Lachlan Nicolson, Steve Peach, Nathan Bird (pka Birdz), Fred Leone, Daniel Rankine (pka Trials), Luke Dubber, Beatrice Lewis, Joel Ma (pka Joelistics), Claire Nakazawa, Mieh Nakazawa, Angus Stuart, Ack Kinmonth, Joni Hogan, David Huxtable, Richard LaBrooy, Rufio Sandilands, Alex Slater, Adam Sofo, Cassie To and Brian Cachia, who is nominated in the Feature Film Score of the Year category for the Australian-British action horror film Bloody Hell. Alex Lahey, Sophie Payten (pka Gordi) and Gabriel Strum (pka Japanese Wallpaper) have also landed on the nominees list each for the first time for On My Way from The Mitchells vs The Machines.

APRA AMCOS and the AGSC would like to congratulate all nominees of the 2021 Screen Music Awards which will be announced on Tuesday 22 February.

In light of the current COVID-19 situation, the live Screen Music Awards event has been cancelled.