Prizewinners Announced at Australia's Art Music Awards for 2023

Paul Dean, Nat Bartsch, Omega Ensemble, Dr Lou Bennett, and William Barton were among the recipients

Australia's Art Music Awards, which are jointly presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre focus on contemporary music, celebrating classical and jazz as well as sound art, experimental music, and improvisation.

The award for Performance of the Year — Notated Composition went to Omega Ensemble and Dr. Lou Bennett AM for their performance of Bennett's work nyernur, nyarkur - to see, to hear.

Performance of the Year – Jazz/Improvised Music was given to Freya Schack-Arnott, Aviva Endean, Sunny Kim, Jasmin Wing-Yin Leung, Maria Moles, and Te Kahureremoa Taumata for their work The Cloud Maker.

Both works took a cross-cultural approach, incorporating practices and sonorities from a range of different cultures.

Composer, producer, vocalist, and didgeridoo player William Barton received the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music. He is the first Indigenous musician to receive this award.

You can read the full list of winners here.

"Many of this year’s finalists noted that their work was made possible from funding during the pandemic," said Dean Ormston, APRA AMCOS Chief Executive, and Catherine Haridy, Australian Music Centre CEO. "The silver lining of that difficult period is now clear. It also affirms what we already know; give artists the time, space and resources to do great things, and they will."