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14 November 2016

Shortlisted works for the 2016 Paul Lowin Prizes


Shortlisted works for the 2016 Paul Lowin Prizes

Six outstanding Australian compositions have been announced as finalists for the 2016 Paul Lowin Prizes.

The recipients of the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize ($25,000) and the Song Cycle Prize ($15,000) will be announced in a ceremony in Sydney on ​6 December. Other shortlisted works will receive a special commendation and the sum of $400.

Shortlisted for the Orchestral Prize ($25,000)

James Ledger: Golden years (2013) for violin and orchestra
Cathy Milliken: Earth Plays (2015) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
Lachlan Skipworth: Concerto for clarinet and orchestra (2014)

Shortlisted for the Song Cycle Prize ($15,000)

Brett Dean: String Quartet No. 2 (2013) for soprano and string quartet (And once I played Ophelia)
Andrew Ford: Last Words (2013) for soprano and piano trio
Andrew Schultz: Paradise (2013) five songs for soprano, cello and piano

A record number of entries were received for both categories, with 67 entries for the Orchestral category, and 59 for the Song Cycle category. The judging panels found the overall standard of works extremely high in both categories. Previous recipients of the Paul Lowin Prizes include Nigel Westlake, Elliott Gyger, Mary Finsterer, Andrew Schultz, Brett Dean, Rosalind Page, Nigel Butterley, Julian Yu, Georges Lentz, Brenton Broadstock, Martin Wesley-Smith, Michael Smetanin, Raffæle Marcellino, Liza Lim and Andrew Ford. Nominations for these important prizes were, as always, accepted from the general public as well as music professionals.

Last offered in 2013, the Paul Lowin Prizes are among Australia's richest prizes for music composition and a continuing testament to the power of philanthropy in fostering and encouraging new creative works of music. The Paul Lowin Prizes are managed by Perpetual and presented in collaboration with the Australian Music Centre.

Paul Lowin was born in 1893 in Czechoslovakia, and lived in Austria in the 1930s before settling in Australia in 1939. He lived in Australia for two decades before returning to Vienna, where he died in 1961. He left a hand-written will which indicated his wish to establish a competition for works by living Australian composers in a 'modern but not too modern' style. Because of the lack of clarity in the will, there ensued a thirty-year sustained effort by the executors of his estate to establish a viable competition for composers. The competition was initially held every three years between 1991-97, and since then every 2-3 years.

> Paul Lowin Prizes (AMC Online)



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