Paul Kelly and James Ledger have made the shortlist for the ‘Work Of The Year: Vocal/Choral’ category for the APRA Art Music Awards.
For ‘Conversations With Ghosts’ Paul Kelly collaborated with Western Australian composer James Ledger, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey and members of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).
Kelly and Ledger wrote the music based on poems by Les Murray, W.B. Yeats, Judith Wright, Lord Alfred Tennyson and others, as well as some new lyrics from Paul.
The performance was captured live at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall in Melbourne in October 2012.
The complete list of nominees for the APRA Art Music Awards are:
Work of the Year: Orchestral
Title: Blitz
Composer: Andrew Ford
Performed by: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marko Letonja
Title: Fire Music
Composer: Brett Dean
Performed by: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Brett Dean
Publishers: Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd OBO Bote Bock Der Boosey Hawkes Bote Bock GM
Title: Full Moon Dances
Composer: Ross Edwards
Performed by: Amy Dickson (saxophone) with the Sydney Symphony conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Title: Piano Concerto No. 2
Composer: Carl Vine
Performed by: Piers Lane (piano) with the Sydney Symphony conducted by Hugh Wolff
Publishers: Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd OBO Faber Music Ltd
Work of the Year: Instrumental
Title: Bright Birds
Composer: Damian Barbeler
Performed by: Stephen Emmerson and Sonya Lifschitz
Title: Dark Nebulae
Composer: Lachlan Skipworth
Performed by: Khasm Quartet
Title: Falling
Composer: Mary Finsterer
Performed by: Paul Grabowsky and Gabriella Smart
Title: String Quintet
Composer: Gordon Kerry
Performed by: Kuss Quartet with Naoko Shimizu
Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral
Title: Conversations with Ghosts
Composers: Paul Kelly* and James Ledger
Text: Paul Kelly, Emily Dickinson, Norman MacCaig, Les Murray, Kenneth Slessor, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Judith Wright, W.B. Yeats
Performed by: Paul Kelly, James Ledger, Genevieve Lacey and musicians from Australian National Academy of Music
*Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia P/L
Title: Heritage in Song
Composer: Stephen Leek
Text: Stephen Leek
Performed by: Sydney Children’s Choir conducted by Lyn Williams
Title: The Domestic Sublime
Composer: Katy Abbott
Text: Chris Wallace-Crabbe
Performed by: Greta Bradman (soprano) and Leigh Harrold (piano)
Title: We Apologise
Composer: Robert Davidson
Text: Robert Davidson (from Kevin Rudd’s apology to Indigenous Australians, 13 February 2008)
Performed by: The Australian Voices conducted by Gordon Hamilton
Work of the Year: Jazz
Title: Anda Two
Composer: Marc Hannaford
Performed by: the Marc Hannaford Trio
Title: Meditations on Light
Composer: Andrea Keller
Performed by: Andrea Keller Quartet and No Tango Quartet
Title: Meetings at the Table of Time
Composer: Sandy Evans
Performed by: members of the Australian Art Orchestra and the Sruthi Laya ensemble
Title: The World Rushes On
Composer: Alice Humphries
Performed by: Ecila ensemble
Performance of the Year
Performer: Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin
Title: Bénédiction d’un conquérant for symphony orchestra
Composer: Andrián Pertout
Performer: Members of the Australian Art Orchestra and the Sruthi Laya ensemble
Title: Meetings at the Table of Time
Composer: Sandy Evans
Performer: Trio Dali
Title: Im Winde
Composer: Gordon Kerry
Performer: Zubin Kanga
Title: The Drumfire was incessant, and continued all night with unabated fury…
Composer: Andrew Harrison
Award for Excellence by an Organisation
Acacia Quartet for Blue Silence, the recording of the complete string quartets of Elena Kats-Chernin
Soundstream: Adelaide New Music Festival for the sustained promotion of new music
Speak Percussion for their 2012 artistic program
Tura New Music and the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the Reef Tour 2012
Award for Excellence by an Individual
Cat Hope for supporting and growing new music in Western Australia
Danielle Bentley for dedication and commitment to Australian art music and chamber music
David Young for 20 years of commissioning, curating and producing new Australian art music
Zubin Kanga for ‘Spectrum’, a recital of newly commissioned piano music
Award for Excellence in Music Education
Gondwana Choirs for Gondwana Choirs Choral Training Programs 2012
James Humberstone for ‘Cycles & Circles’ education program (as part of Ensemble Offspring’s ‘Music to Infinity’)
New England Conservatorium of Music for ‘New England Sings!’
Speak Percussion for their 2012 education programs
Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
Gondwana Choirs for the Cairns Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir
Stephanie Harrison for the site-specific performance installation, CONFINED, at the Old Alice Springs Gaol
The Wired Lab and Country Arts SA for ‘Southern Encounter’
Tura New Music and the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the Reef Tour 2012
Award for Excellence in Experimental Music
Daniel Blinkhorn for composition and location field recording frostbYte triptych
Decibel for their 2012 program
Super Critical Mass for their activities in 2012
The Wired Lab and Country Arts SA for ‘Southern Encounter’
Award for Excellence in Jazz
Jamie Oehlers for recording, touring and educational achievements in 2012
Quentin Angus for composition, performance and career development
Trichotomy for compositional performance & recording projects
Jeremy Rose for excellence in jazz
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The APRA Art Music Award winners will be announced in Sydney on August 26.
