Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

Image: Rae Howell  

Now in its third year, the APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund has awarded $100,000 to nine composers: Anthony Pateras, Bree van Reyk, Connor D'Netto, Elissa Goodrich, Fiona Hill, Julian Day, Matt Keegan, Rae Howell, and Tristan Coelho.

The successful applicants' compositions demonstrate the breadth of place that art music can go: from game theory foundations to biology labs and beehives, and to the sounds of West Bengal and on to Canberra to honour one of Australia's pioneering female musicians.

John Davis, CEO of the Australian Music Centre, said,

'It is gratifying to see such creative diversity represented in the list of recipients of the fund, which reflect the many streams of activity in art music. Congratulations to APRA AMCOS for continuing this initiative, and supporting artists in this way.'

In line with the aims of the Fund - to create commissioned work that is complemented by an exploitation program - the funded works will be performed all over Australia, as well as internationally, including in India, the United States, and numerous cities and towns in Europe.

A successful 2018 applicant Rae Howell said,

'The Art Music Fund is supporting me to bring an all new composition to life that will reach audiences in Australia and around the world. As a previous applicant and first-time recipient, I wholeheartedly encourage other composers to continue the work they really believe in.'

Art Music Fund applications were assessed on the viability of the proposed project, the quality of the work, and the strategy for the life and reach of the work. The long list of applicants included composers at all stages of their career.

Funded projects in 2018

Anthony Pateras (Berlin) - composition of a new 50-minute electroacoustic work entitled Stateless, to be performed throughout 2018/19 in Tarcento, Melbourne, Chicago, Bologna, Zürich, Brussels, Forli, Poitiers, Metz, Geneva and Ljubljana.

Bree van Reyk (NSW) - commission of a new work for orchestra as a homage to Peg Mantle, one of Australia's pioneering women musicians. Premiere performance by the Canberra Youth Orchestra at the Canberra International Music Festival in May 2019, with subsequent performances by the Sydney Youth Orchestra and West Australian Youth Orchestra in Gilgandra, Sydney and Perth throughout 2019.

Connor D'Netto (QLD) - commission of Connor's third string quartet, to be premiered by the Goldner String Quartet in 2019, and to receive its European and American premieres by Modulus Quartet (UK) and the Mivos Quartet (USA), in late 2019 and 2020, followed by a studio recording.

Elissa Goodrich (VIC) - Listen.Now.Again, a large-scale music installation/live-art performance work in partnership with St Martin's Youth Performing Arts Centre. The work takes its inspiration from evolutionary biology and explores climate and science, and features a large live ensemble of professional musicians, operating in collaboration with children-performer-participants.

Fiona Hill and Tristan Coelho (NSW) - Other Voices comprises two new electroacoustic works for flute and voice, with performances confirmed for Ensemble Offspring, Tilde, Backstage Music and Monash University, and in the US and UK. The works will be enhanced through an innovative Creative Kit, disseminated amongst the teaching community and the tertiary and secondary education sector.

Julian Day (NSW/New York) - Games People Play is a set of pieces built on game theory. The works will individually premiere in New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney and Melbourne, with various soloists and ensembles, and will be recorded as video works for exhibition in galleries and online.

Matt Keegan (NSW) - composition of a new work for the Three Seas, a band that combines Australian jazz musicians with folk musicians from West Bengal, India, to be premiered in Australia and India. The work will be recorded in 2018 and released in 2019.

Rae Howell (VIC) - Bee-Sharp Honeybee, a music-science creation project, developed from recent research of bee buzz frequencies, working in collaboration, on a global scale, with a bee research lab, beekeepers, scientists, musicians and producers. The project will culminate in a real-time audiovisual work for live chamber orchestra, electronics, a live stream of bees, and animated visuals developed from the hand-illustrated graphic scores.

> Read more in this article on the APRA AMCOS website.