Opera for the Dead and ocean-inspired works shine at Art Music Awards

Melbourne-based experimental group Chamber Made has come out on top as the biggest winner of the 2026 Art Music Awards, held on 19 August in Melbourne.

The arts organisation picked up two awards: Excellence in Experimental Practice for its 2025 presentations and artist development activities, and the Victorian State Luminary Award for its incredible 35-year history of shaping Australian music and performance.

The ocean was a recurring theme for three of the evening’s winners. 

Paul Stanhope’s epic Mahāsāgar (the Hindi word for ocean) received the award for Work of the Year: Choral. 

Alex Turley’s the ocean’s dream of itself for mezzo-soprano and orchestra won Work of the Year: Large Ensemble, while Dark Oceanography, created by Kate Milligan and a team of artists and climate science researchers was awarded Work of the Year: Electroacoustic/Sound Art. 

Familiar names dominate Work of the Year awards

Other Work of the Year honours went to names familiar to ABC Classic audiences, including Anne Cawrse, whose Killing the Angel in the House, composed for 2022 ABC Young Performers Awards winner Eliza Shephard, won Work of the Year: Solo & Small Ensemble.

Other recipients included Nat Bartsch, Mindy Meng Wang and Monica Lim, as well as first-time winner Noemi Liba Friedman.

First Nations-led collaboration takes out Performance of the Year

Leading the Performance of the Year winners was nyilamum song cycles, a First Nations-led collaboration by Dr Lou Bennett AM and Paul Stanhope. 

Performed by the Australian String Quartet and Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung artist and academic Dr Bennett, it received the award for Performance of the Year: Classical & Experimental. 

Nick Russoniello was awarded Performance of the Year: Soloist for his performance of his own composition, Air Mass Suite. 

In Performance of the Year: Jazz & Improvised Music, The Cloud Maker took top honours for its performance of the work of the same name.

Leadership in Art Music celebrated with several awards

Internationally acclaimed Australian composer, educator and researcher, Professor Liza Lim AM, received the prestigious Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music in recognition of her visionary contribution to Australian art music.

There were also several Luminary Awards, which recognised artists and organisations whose vision, leadership and commitment continue to shape Australian music across the country.

Musica Viva Australia was awarded the National Luminary Award (Organisation), and Daryl Buckley received the National Luminary Award (Individual).

The ceremony, organised by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, was held on August 19 at The Timber Yard in Melbourne.

This year’s awards were hosted by Namila Benson, with guest presenters Aura Go and Connor D’Netto, and music curation by Sia Ahmad.

List of winners and finalists

Work of the Year: Choral

• Winner: Mahāsāgar: composed by Paul Stanhope with text by Rhys Halkidis, Steve Hawke, Michael Leunig, Cass Lynch, Alexander Maloof and Elizabeth Riddell. Performer: West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with Sara Macliver (soprano), Andrew Goodwin (tenor), and Asher Fisch (conductor) — publisher: Wise Music*
• Adira Arenio and Agnus Dei: composed by Alice Chance with Kaylynn Zaro OAM and Noel Zaro OAM. Performer: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs VOX and Elizabeth Scott (conductor)
• There is Music: composed by Stephen Leek with text by Jane Greenwood. Performer:Brisbane Chamber Choir
• Vivemus Cantare: composed by Carl Crossin with text by James Wheldon Johnson, Walt Whitman and Carl Crossin. Performers: Adelaide Chamber Singers and Christie Anderson (conductor)

Work of the Year: Dramatic

• Winner: Opera for the Dead: composed by  Mindy Meng Wang and Monica Lim. Performers: Mindy Meng Wang, Monica Lim, Yu-Tien Lin, Nils Hobiger and Alexander Meagher
• Hiroshima mon Amour: composed by Rósa Lind with text by Marguerite Duras. Performers: Bozzini Quartet and Chants Libre
• Living Poems of the Sea: composed by  Lyle Chan. Performer: Sally Walker (flutes, narration, percussion)
• Pigeon Humongous: composed by Nicholas Roder. Performers: Nicholas Roder, Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Lena Douglas, Lewis Coleman, Sydney Dance Company, and Harrison Ritchie-Jones (choreographer)

Work of the Year: Jazz & Improvised Music

• Winner: When All Is Still and Quiet: composed by Nat Bartsch. Performers: VCA Secondary School Improvisation Ensemble & Chamber Choir — publisher: Origin Music Publishing
• Northern Rhapsody: composed by Hamed Sadeghi. Performers: Eishan Ensemble (Hamed Sadeghi, Michael Avgenicos, Max Alduca and Adem Yilmaz)
• The Cloud Maker: composed by Aviva Endean, Te Kahureremoa Taumata, Sunny Kim, Maria Moles and Freya Schack-Arnott. Performers: The Cloud Maker
• To Kill A Magic We Got Used To: composed by Aaron Choulai and Roman MC. Performers: Australian Art Orchestra

Work of the Year: Large Ensemble

• Winner: the ocean’s dream of itself: composed by Alex Turley. Performers: Sasha Cooke, Donald Runnicles and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra
• Nguy Gapu (Ocean Water): composed by Rrawun Maymuru and Nick Wales. Performers: Rrawun Maymuru and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra — publisher: Wise Music
• Symphony No. 4, Op. 119: composed by Andrew Schultz. Performers: West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Otto Tausk (conductor)
• Clarinet Concertino: Second Chance: composed by Ben Robinson. Performers: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Eloise Fisher (solo clarinet) and Simon Reade (conductor)
• The way it soars, the way it dances: composed by Naomi Dodd. Performers: Jennifer Owen and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Work of the Year: Medium Ensemble

• Winner: BloodRiverRootTree: composed by Noemi Liba Friedman. Performers: Meg Cohen, Phoebe Green, Alex McDonald, Roseanne Hunt, Peter Neville, Hamish Gould, Sarvenaz Monfaredi, Justine Anderson, Shelby MacCrae, Sophie Deka and Jakob Bragg (conductor)
• Four Rooms: composed by Lee Bradshaw. Performers: Flinders String Quartet and Australian Youth Orchestra Chamber Players
• The Big Idea: composed by Matthew Shlomowitz. Performers: Rubiks Collective and Lotte Betts-Dean
• Sonnet of an Emigrant: composed by Cathy Milliken. Performers: Takacs Quartet

Work of the Year: Solo & Small Ensemble

• Winner: Killing the Angel in the House: composed by  Anne Cawrse. Performer: Eliza Shephard
• Duet for One: composed by  Damian Barbeler. Multimedia: Tim Gruchy and Damian Barbeler. Performer: Sonya Lifschitz
• Tidelines: composed by Zela Papageorgiou, Alistair McLean and Hamish Upton. Performers: Zela Papageorgiou and Hamish Upton
• Yama no Yume: composed and performed by Jim Franklin. 

Work of the Year: Electroacoustic/Sound Art

• Winner: Dark Oceanography: composed by Kate Milligan. Music Technologist: Aaron Wyatt. Oceanographer: Navid Constantinou. Performers: Louise Devenish (Director), Niki Johnson, and Sofia Carbonara (The Sound Collectors Lab)
• Exhalation: composed by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey. Visual Artists: Vuth Lyno, Pal Panha, Leang Titnita and Phan Sophorn. Performance Contributors: Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey, Helen Svoboda, Winter McQuinn, Robert Larsen (speaker design), Tom McKeand (sound design) and Pat Telfer (sound engineer)
• For A Moment the Sky Knew My Name: composed and performed by Peter Knight.
• Swell: composed by Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh. Performer: Phoebe Green

Performance of the Year: Jazz & Improvised Music

• Winner: The Cloud Maker: performed by The Cloud Maker. Composed by Aviva Endean, Sunny Kim, Maria Moles, Te Kahreremoa Taumata, Freya Schack-Arnott and Jasmin Win-Ying Leung
• Lung Swara: performed by Aviva Endean, Cahwatie Sugiarto and Matthias Schack-Arnott. Composed by Aviva Endean, Cahwatie Sugiarto and Matthias Schack-Arnott
• PRESS: performed by Mad Vantage. Composed by Selene Messinis and Timothy Cox
• Ghosts Between Streams II: performed by Delay 45 and Ensemble Apex. Composed by Tom Avgenicos

Performance of the Year: Classical & Experimental

• Winner: nyilamum song cycles: performed by Australian String Quartet & Dr Lou Bennett AM. Composed by Dr Lou Bennett AM and Paul Stanhope. Publish by Wise Music
• LIMBO Sonata: performed by Sonja Schebeck with Joshua Frazer and Allie Wang. Composed by Chloé Charody
• Pigeons: performed by Speak Percussion. Composed by Eugene Ughetti, with text by Kaylie Melville, Nick Roux, Jason Lehane, Bosco Shaw, Keith Tucker, Kate Davis and Bruce Gladwin
• Disruptive Critters: performed by Duckworth Hullick Duo. Composed by James Hullick and Jonathan Duckworth

Performance of the Year: Soloist

• Winner: Air Mass Suite: performed and composed by Nick Russoniello
• Dances with Devils: performed by Claire Edwardes (soloist) with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Benjamin Northey (conductor). Composed by Iain Grandage
• Concerto for Guzheng and Orchestra: performed by Mindy Meng Wang (soloist) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Composed by Jessica Wells
• Duet for One: performed by Sonya Lifschitz. Composed by Damian Barbeler with multimedia by Damian Barbeler and Tim Gruchy

Awards for excellence

Award for Excellence in Music Education

• Winner: Wollongong Conservatorium of Music for Music in Schools program
• Ensemble Offspring for Hatched Academy
• Speak Percussion for Sounds Unheard Program & 25th Anniversary Exhibition
• Tim Nikolsky for Australian Jazz Real Book

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area

• Winner: Chamber Music Adelaide and Port Augusta Performing Arts for Where We Meet: Chamber Music
• Moorambilla Voices for sustained leadership in delivering artistically excellent, culturally grounded music-making in regional and remote NSW
• Tura and Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre for Buga Yanu Junba (Songs for Young Children)
• Van Diemen’s Band for VDB Lunchbox Concerts

Award for Excellence in Experimental Practice

• Winner: Chamber Made for 2025 presentations and artist development activities
• Mindy Meng Wang for excellence in experimental music and ongoing contribution to the Australian art music scene
• The Sonicrats for The Music Makers’ program
• Shaun Fogarty for SOUNDSTONE

Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music

• Liza Lim AM

Luminary Awards

Luminary Awards — National Awards (Organisation)

• Winner: Musica Viva Australia
• Flinders Quartet
• Forest Collective
• Rubiks Collective

Luminary Awards — National Awards (Individual)

• Winner: Daryl Buckley
• Assoc Prof Dr Jeanell Carrigan AM
• Jeremy Rose
• Jon Smeathers

Luminary: State/Territory

• ACT — Michael Sollis for work as an artistic leader, community facilitator, composer and educator.
• NSW — People’s Republic for significant contributions as a venue, promoter and studio for new and experimental music.
• QLD — Alex Raineri for his work as an extraordinary musician, director and creator, and for fostering performance, collaboration and new creative opportunities through the Brisbane Music Festival.
• SA — Melanie Walters for work as Principal Flute of Adelaide Wind Orchestra, Artistic Director of Coruscalia Collective and champion of new music in South Australia.
• TAS — Van Diemen’s Band for presenting world-class music to regional and remote communities, commissioning new Australian works alongside 400-year-old masterpieces, and building a deep, reciprocal trust with audiences.
• VIC — Chamber Made for shaping Australian music and performance for more than 35 years through ambitious, internationally engaged productions, and investment in composers, sound artists, and performance makers.
• WA — Hannah Lee Tungate for Tenth Muse Initiative and Women Composers Project.

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