2024 Art Music Awards

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2024 ART MUSIC AWARDS ARE CLOSED.


HOW TO NOMINATE:

Nominating is now simpler than ever!

Step 1: To nominate you need to be either:

• A member of APRA AMCOS (Composer, Author or Publisher member)
• A financial member of the Australian Music Centre (AMC). You can join here.

Step 2: Read through the 'Guidelines Overview' and 'Full Rules & Guidelines' below to ensure your nomination meets the criteria.

Step 3: Head to https://artmusicawards.com.au/

Step 4: Provide essential information about your nominee/s (category, work, name of nominee etc.).

Step 5: Write a short paragraph on why you're nominating this person/organisation/work and THAT'S IT!

Please note that you cannot self-nominate in any category. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

IF YOU GET NOMINATED:

If you are nominated, we'll be in touch with you via email after the nomination period closes.

Step 1: Confirm that you'd like to accept the nomination, or select which nomination to proceed with if you have been nominated with multiple options in a single category.

Step 2: Submit all requested support material by the due date.

Step 3: Provide any press material (additional photos, videos or bio information) to be used if you are selected as a finalist.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2024 ART MUSIC AWARDS ARE CLOSED.

The Art Music Awards consists of eleven awards (for works, performances, and excellence in education, regional areas, and experimental practice), and up to ten Luminary awards (for sustained contribution of individuals or organisations to their state/territory community or on a national scale). Additionally, the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music is presented at the discretion of the Board of Publisher and Writer Directors of APRA.

Work of the Year: Choral
Accompanied or unaccompanied works for massed voices (more than 1 singer per part).

Work of the Year: Chamber Music
Works for between 1 and 12 players, with or without vocal parts, and with or without electronics.

Work of the Year: Large Ensemble
Works for more than 12 players, with or without vocal parts, and with or without electronics. This may include works for orchestra, concert band, wind band, string orchestra.

Work of the Year: Dramatic
Music primarily intended for theatre and dance, such as opera, music theatre and ballet.

Work of the Year: Electroacoustic / Sound Art
Works which utilise and manipulate digital and/or analogue sound as the primary medium. The work may be interdisciplinary (incorporating more than one media). It may include, but is not limited to: electronics, interactive work, generative music, environmental sound, installations, soundscapes, electroacoustic music and intermedia works.

Work of the Year: Jazz
Original Jazz works of any instrumentation, including improvisatory composition.

Performance of the Year: Notated Composition
For the performance of a single Australian work, showcasing the performer(s)’ success in revealing the nature and intention of a composition with clear and notated instructions for the performer. Works with significant improvisatory aspects should instead be submitted for Performance of the Year: Jazz / Improvised Music.

Performance of the Year: Jazz / Improvised Music
For the performance of a single Australian work, showcasing the performer(s)’ success in improvisatory creation or collaboration. This may entail entirely improvised work or significant improvisatory input such as solo passages.

Award for Excellence in Music Education
For pedagogical, creative or professional development activities that champion Australian repertoire, including specific projects, recordings or recording projects, or events undertaken by an individual or organisation.

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
For activity undertaken in a regional area, utilising Australian repertoire to create a positive impact for the local community.

Award for Excellence in Experimental Practice
For works, people or events that interrogate, extend, or challenge standard artistic practice within the Australian repertoire.

Luminary Awards – National Awards (Individual)
The Luminary Awards seek to honour individuals who, through sustained contribution (demonstrated over a period 3-5 years prior), have impacted our community on a national scale through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, high-level artistic practice, and championing of Australian repertoire. No finalists are announced in the Luminary categories. Winners will be announced at the event.

Luminary Awards – National Awards (Organisation)
The Luminary Awards seek to honour organisations who through sustained contribution (demonstrated over a period 3-5 years prior), have impacted our community on a national scale through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, high-level artistic practice, and championing of Australian repertoire. No finalists are announced in the Luminary categories. Winners will be announced at the event.

Luminary Awards – State/Territory Awards
The Luminary Awards seek to honour individuals and organisations who through sustained contribution (demonstrated over a period 3-5 years prior), have impacted their communities on a state or territory level through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, and engagement with their Australian art music. repertoire. No finalists are announced in the Luminary categories. Winners will be announced at the event.

Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music
Presented at the discretion of the Board of Publisher and Writer Directors of APRA the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music seeks to honour an individual, group or organisation who through sustained contribution over a number of years, have impacted our community on a national scale through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, high-level artistic practice, and championing of Australian repertoire.

Nomination

Any APRA AMCOS or AMC member can submit nominations in any/all of the 14 categories (with a limit of 1 nomination per category).

Unless otherwise noted, all categories of the Art Music Awards are open to all genres and practices of art music, including but limited to; contemporary classical, contemporary jazz, notated composition, improvised music, digital music, sound art, and experimental practice.

You cannot self-nominate. This includes organisations/people you work for, represent, or who work for you.

You must provide nomination details & a short statement outlining why you feel the work, individual, organisation, or performance is worthy of this award; the Nominee will provide the required assessment material.

Note the eligibility requirements for each category:

• Work of Year categories (single Australian composition first presented to the public in 2023)
• Performance of the Year categories (performance of a single Australian work in 2023)
• Excellence categories (for activity in 2023)
• Luminary Awards (for sustained contribution demonstrated within the period, 2019-2023)

Submissions

All nominations are passed onto the nominated individual/organisation via email and the Nominee will be invited to submit the required assessment materials. A Nominee can only submit once per category. If they have received multiple nominations in a single category, they must choose which nomination to proceed with.

All assessment material requirements are listed in each award category (see Rules of Nomination & Award below) and will be detailed on the submission portal.

Please Note: For submissions using Indigenous content (such as language, titles, narratives or themes) supporting documentation must be supplied showing consultation and permission from the appropriate community/communities.

Judging

All submissions are checked for eligibility and then passed on for assessment by an expert panel.

Each Annual Award has its own 3-person panel of experts overseen by the Annual Awards Chair.

All Luminary Awards are assessed by a single committee of 5 industry experts from across Australia, overseen by the Annual Awards Chair.

APRA AMCOS and AMC are committed to ensuring a diversity of viewpoints are represented in our judging panels across gender, genre, geography, generation, and culture. The list of all judges (in aggregate) is made public after assessment is completed.

Finalists

For the Annual Awards, four finalists are selected in each category and announced ahead of the ceremony.

For the Luminary Awards, no finalists are announced; the winners are announced during the ceremony.

Awards

Winners of all categories will be announced at the 2024 Art Music Awards ceremony, which is scheduled to take place in Melbourne on 14 August 2024.

The Annual Richard Gill Memorial Distinguished Services Award will also be presented at the 2024 Art Music Awards ceremony, at the discretion of the Boards of Directors of APRA and of AMC.

1. All Categories

a. Submissions for awards nominations will only be accepted through the online nomination form, located at https://artmusicawards.com.au/

b. Any nominees using Indigenous content (such as language, titles, narratives or themes) from outside their own cultural heritage must supply supporting documentation that they have consulted with the appropriate communities and have obtained their permissions to use their cultural content and intellectual property.

c. Nominations will be deemed ineligible if they are not accompanied by appropriate documentation.

d. The nominee (or the copyright owner of the entry if different from the nominee) shall permit APRA AMCOS, and any person APRA AMCOS authorises, to perform the entry in and as part of the Art Music Awards ceremony if deemed appropriate, and to record it for those purposes and for the purposes of communication to the public or promotional use.

e. The nominee agrees to allow APRA AMCOS’ use of audio and video in relation to the nomination package for the Art Music Awards for promotional purposes.

f. APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre reserve the right not to make an Award in any single or collective category, or defer the category to the following year, should six or fewer eligible nominations be received.

g. Self-nominations are not permitted. Self-nomination also includes nomination of people or organisations you work for, represent, or who work for you.

h. Unless otherwise noted, all categories of the Art Music Awards are open to all genres and practices of art music, including but not limited to; contemporary classical, contemporary jazz, notated composition, improvised music, digital music, sound art, and experimental practice.

2. Work of the Year Categories

1. A work is defined as a single complete musical composition, or expression. This includes music with movements or sub-works (i.e. song cycles), installations, and real-time compositions (improvised music).
2. The work must have been composed by an Australian citizen or by a composer who has permanent residence in Australia.
3. The work must have been made publicly available for the first time (i.e. by live or digital performance, video/audio broadcast, or commercial release) within the year prior to the Award (2023).

d. A work may only be submitted in a single Work of the Year category. If a work is eligible for multiple categories, the nominee may select which category to submit under.

e. Self-nomination by composers in the Work of the Year categories is not permitted.

3. Performance of the Year Categories

a. The performance must have taken place publicly in the year prior to that of the Award (2023).

b. The performance may have taken place anywhere in the world.

c. The work must have been composed by an Australian citizen or by a composer with permanent residence in Australia.

d. There is no requirement on a year of composition or completion (heritage works are eligible).

e. Public broadcast of a live studio or concert performance in the same year is eligible as a public performance. (This includes radio broadcasts, live streams, podcasts, and other digital distribution of a live recording).

f. Nominations of performances of non-score-based works are also encouraged.

g. Self-nomination by the performer in Performance of the Year categories is not permitted.

4. Excellence Categories

a. Awards for Excellence can be awarded for a range of activities that champion Australian repertoire, including specific projects, activities, recordings or recording projects, or events undertaken by the individual or organisation.

b. Awards are made for activities which took place in the year prior to the award (2023). Nominations for sustained contribution should be made in the Luminary Award categories instead.

c. In all Excellence Categories, the winner in the previous year is not eligible to be nominated in the following year.

d. Nominations for organisations in the Awards for Excellence should demonstrate excellence above and beyond the standard remit or mission of that organisation. Nominations for individuals should demonstrate a program of activities or a range of projects rather than (for example) the recording and release of a single album.

e. In the category for the Award for Excellence in a Regional Area, judging will prioritise those individuals or organisations located in regional areas, however the judging panel may also choose to consider exceptional activities by metropolitan-based organisations or individuals working in regional areas. The panel will also include assessment of the impact of the nomination in the location(s) of the activity.

f. Nominations in the Award for Excellence in Experimental Music must provide a rationale that demonstrates how the nomination questions or extends standard practice.

g. Nominations for Awards for Music Education are for pedagogical, creative or professional development activities that champion Australian repertoire.

h. Self-nomination in Excellence categories is not permitted.

5. Luminary Awards

a. The Luminary Awards seek to honour individuals or organisations who, through sustained contribution (demonstrated during the period 3-5 years prior), have impacted our community on a national, or state level.

b. Nominations for Luminary Awards are made for activities which took place during five years prior to the award (2019-2023).

c. Winners of Luminary Awards are not eligible to be nominated in their category for three years following their award.

d. A nominee may be nominated for both a National Luminary and a single State Luminary Award. In the case of multiple State nominations, the nominee will be asked to select which state they would like to submit in (based on their geographic location during the period in question).

e. Only the recipients of the Luminary Awards will be announced; there are no finalists for these categories.

f. Self-nomination in Luminary Awards is not permitted.

6. Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music

Presented at the discretion of the Board of Publisher and Writer Directors of APRA, the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music seek to honour an individual, group, or organisation who through sustained contribution over a number of years, have impacted our community on a national scale through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, high-level artistic practice, and championing of Australian repertoire.

The Art Music Awards and The Malthouse strive to provide fair and inclusive access to their events, and APRA AMCOS is excited to host the 2024 Art Music Awards in the Merlyn Theatre, located on the ground floor (Level 1) of the theatre.

PARKING

Limited on-street parking is available on Sturt Street, Grant Street and Dodds Streets. Two accessible parking spaces are just outside The Malthouse entrance on Sturt Street.

The closest secure carparks are:
Arts Centre Melbourne Car Park (enter from Kavanagh Street) – 650metres
There are a number of clearly marked accessible parking bays available.
The Australian Ballet Centre Car Park (2 Kavanagh Street) – 600metres

ACCESSIBLE DROP OFF

The best place for drop off and pick-ups is on Sturt Street on either side of the disabled parking space directly in front of The Malthouse.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

The Malthouse is accessible by wheelchair when entering via the ramp near the Box Office. There are permanent spaces in the Merlyn Theatre dedicated to patrons using a wheelchair.

AMENITIES & SERVICES

Accessible Bathrooms
A gender neutral and fully accessible toilet is located to the right of the Merlyn Theatre.

Hearing Assistance
Malthouse offers a Hearing Assistance System which allows patrons using a hearing aid to tune into the frequency of that venue. For patrons without a hearing aid, they offer a similar system and provide the patron with headphones.

Lighting
There is low lighting in the venue throughout the award ceremony. All walkways are clearly marked, however if you have low vision and need assistance, please let a member of staff from APRA AMCOS or The Malthouse know, our staff will be happy to help.

Service Animals/Guide Dogs
Support and assistance animals are welcome at the Art Music Awards. Please contact [email protected] prior to the event so we can arrange for entry and a reserved space if you’d like it.

Please be aware that the venue is a noisy and busy environment, so you may want to consider the use of an alternative aid when attending this event.

CONTACT US

Should you have any questions or considerations not mentioned in the above, please contact us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 642 634.
To download this accessibility pack including all images, please click here.