The winners for the 2018 Art Music Awards have been announced

The 2018 Art Music Awards took place in Melbourne’s Plaza Ballroom this evening, honouring the composers of contemporary classical music, jazz, experimental music and sound art in Australia.

This evening saw the awards in their eighth year, and featured winners honoured across eleven national categories, and six state and territory categories, with coveted awards being handed out for categories such as the Orchestral Work Of The Year, Performance Of The Year, and Vocal/Choral Work Of The Year.

Hosted by Jonathan Biggins and featuring presenters such as Chief Executive Officer of the Australia Council for the Arts Tony Grybowski, composers Liza Lim, Tony Gould and Deborah Cheetham AO, the awards also saw performances from the likes of Sandy Evans performing with Bobby Singh &
Adrian Sherriff, and Melbourne pianist Timothy Young and cellist Svetlana Bogosavljevic performing a piece by South Australian composer Jakub Jankowski.

And the music continues, with Timothy Young and Svetlana Bogosavljevic performing the 1st movement of ‘Aspects of Return’. A sonata for cello and piano by young South Australian composer Jakub Jankowski, each movement illustrates a different metaphor of return #artmusicawards pic.twitter.com/ooH9zN7Vvc

— Limelight (@LimelightArtsAu) August 21, 2018

Taking home the Vocal/Choral Work of the Year award was Mary Finsterer for Biographica, while Matthew Sheens took out the Jazz Work of the Year for American Counterpoint. The Instrumental Work of the Year award was received by Lisa Illean for Cantor (after Willa Cather), while Performance of the Year went to Eighth Blackbird for ‘Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup’.

Individual awards for excellence were also handed out over the course of the evening, with Tura New Music taking home the award for an Organisation, Carl Vine AO for an Individual, the ACT’s Young Music Society Inc. for Music Education, and Chamber Made for Experimental Music.

Check out the full list of winners below.

2018 Art Music Awards Winners

Vocal/Choral Work of the Year

Title: Biographica
Composer: Mary Finsterer; libretto by Tom Wright
Performer: Sydney Chamber Opera, Ensemble Offspring with Jack Symonds (conductor)

Jazz Work of the Year

Title: American Counterpoint
Composer: Matthew Sheens
Performer: Matthew Sheens, Lyndon Gray, Myele Manzanza, and Zephyr String Quartet

Instrumental Work of the Year

Title: Cantor (after Willa Cather)
Composer: Lisa Illean
Performer: Ensemble Offspring

Orchestral Work of the Year

Title: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
Composer: Paul Stanhope
Performer: Joshua Davis (trombone), West Australian Symphony Orchestra with Asher Fisch (conductor)

Performance of the Year

Performer: Eighth Blackbird
Title: Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup
Composer: Holly Harrison

Award for Excellence by an Organisation

Tura New Music for 30 years of presenting, producing, commissioning, exhibiting, publishing, advocating and supporting Australian art music

Award for Excellence by an Individual

Carl Vine AO for 2017 activities

Award for Excellence in Music Education

Young Music Society Inc. (ACT) for 50 years of community youth music activity

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

Big hART for Acoustic Life of Sheds

Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Chamber Made for Between 8 and 9 (Chengdu Teahouse Project)

Award for Excellence in Jazz

Sandy Evans for rockpoolmirror

2018 Art Music Awards – State and Territory Awards

NSW State Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

Tyalgum Music Festival for the 2017 Tyalgum Music Festival

QLD Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Vanessa Tomlinson, Leah Barclay and John Ferguson for 100 Ways to Listen

SA Award for Vocal/Choral Work of the Year

Anne Cawrse for On Earth as in Heaven

TAS Award for Orchestral Work of the Year

Maria Grenfell for Spirals for clarinet, bassoon and chamber orchestra

VIC Award for Excellence by an Organisation

Move Records for 50 years of recording and release of new music

WA Award for Performance of the Year

Louise Devenish, Leah Scholes and Vanessa Tomlinson for Never Tilt Your Chair Back by Kate Neal

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.