NOMINATION: Luminary - State and Territory
The Luminary Awards seek to honour individuals and organisations who, through sustained contribution (demonstrated over a period 3-5 years prior), have impacted their communities on a state or territory level through visionary leadership, fearless trailblazing, high-level artistic practice, and championing of Australian repertoire.
Nominations for individuals should demonstrate a program of activities or a range of projects rather than (for example) the recording and release of a single album. Nominations for a single work or project should be made in the Work of the Year or Excellence categories.
If you believe you are nominated in the wrong category or the details of your nomination to be incorrect, please contact the AMC via email at awards@australianmusiccentre.com.au before proceeding with the nomination.
Art Music Award guidelines →
Nominee
Flinders Quartet
Nominated Project/Activity
Long lasting investment and commitment to the nurturing of composers and their understanding of the medium of the string quartet
State/Territory
Victoria
Nominator Statement
With over two decades of devotion to the commissioning, development, premiering and recording of Australian music for string quartet, Flinders Quartet has commissioned over 75 works, with many receiving repeat performances and being integrated into the canon with performances by other ensembles
I have known Flinders Quartet since their inception in 2000 when they performed my work, Vertical Horizon. Since then, I have collaborated with them a number of times as a composer, as well as acting as a mentor in their composer development programs working with a range of composers from secondary school age to mid-career. I am well placed to attest to the impact of their work.
Flinders Quartet have an intense integrity to the way they approach their role in our industry. Not only have they led by example in the elegance with which they have approached gender balanced programming on the mainstream stage, their investment in the development of composers at all stages of their careers is exemplary.
Their inventive commissions are numerous, from Pucks Dream (integrating Mendelssohn, Shakespeare and new music by Iain Grandage) to The Mendelssohns combining the music of Bryony Marks with the letters between Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn to my own work using text from Margaret Sutherland in the Song Cycle Splitting the Ambivalence.
Having begun an extensive composer development program in 2016, this has continued to evolve with close consultation with participants and now the quartet has two streams, Emerge and Ascend which address the different needs of emerging and early career composers.
These are programs that are genuinely built on a desire to evoke the greatest impact on our industry. The score study component in particular is a testament to the holistic view of a composers understanding of the string quartet medium.
Since 2016, Flinders Quartet has worked with more than 35 composers, bringing them to Melbourne for workshops, ensuring they have an edited recording of their piece and having filmed performances available on FQ Digital. The number of composers who have had their career kick-started through their involvement in the programs is vast. Natalie Nicolas, Ella Macens, Matthew Laing, Lee Bradshaw, Anne Cawrse, Ian Whitney and Lisa Cheney to name a few.
String Quartets are intensely special. Most composers see them as an instrument in their own right and as such, there is a need to give composers added time in development with this 4 person/16 string instrument.
It is not just their committed and collaborative work with composers that make Flinders Quartet a shining Beacon in the industry. Their work in ensuring the string quartets of Margaret Sutherland are easily accessible, with corrected performance parts confirms their role as vanguards of the contemporary string quartet in Australia. My understanding is that the available parts of the Sutherland Quartets are resplendent with errors, making them unusable. In painstaking research with original sources, Flinders Quartet is working with Wirripang to ensure correct parts are available.
I have worked with the composers who have taken part in FQ's programs. I have collaborated with Flinders Quartet, attended many of their concerts. Their contribution deserves recognition.
Flinders Quartet has invested heavily in Victorias ecosystem, connecting composers who have applied, but not necessarily been successful in gaining a place in their composer programs with other opportunities. Most notably, Alisha Redmond with John Nobles program (Bairnsdale) and Robert McIntyre with Resonance String Orchestra (Woodend/Castlemaine).
With most of their work in their home state, Flinders Quartet integrates their work with composers with various activities in secondary schools and other community endeavours such as open rehearsals in community settings. One project that caught my attention as the pairing of Lee Bradshaw with Footscray High School in a Jimi Hendrix/Bartok mash up with their school band.
I think one of the biggest contributions to Victoria is the continued dedication to the work of Margaret Sutherland and her long lasting legacy as one of Australias and Victorias greatest ever composers.
Nominee
Flinders Quartet
Nominated Project/Activity
Long lasting investment and commitment to the nurturing of composers and their understanding of the medium of the string quartet
State/Territory
Victoria
I have known Flinders Quartet since their inception in 2000 when they performed my work, Vertical Horizon. Since then, I have collaborated with them a number of times as a composer, as well as acting as a mentor in their composer development programs working with a range of composers from secondary school age to mid-career. I am well placed to attest to the impact of their work.
Flinders Quartet have an intense integrity to the way they approach their role in our industry. Not only have they led by example in the elegance with which they have approached gender balanced programming on the mainstream stage, their investment in the development of composers at all stages of their careers is exemplary.
Their inventive commissions are numerous, from Pucks Dream (integrating Mendelssohn, Shakespeare and new music by Iain Grandage) to The Mendelssohns combining the music of Bryony Marks with the letters between Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn to my own work using text from Margaret Sutherland in the Song Cycle Splitting the Ambivalence.
Having begun an extensive composer development program in 2016, this has continued to evolve with close consultation with participants and now the quartet has two streams, Emerge and Ascend which address the different needs of emerging and early career composers.
These are programs that are genuinely built on a desire to evoke the greatest impact on our industry. The score study component in particular is a testament to the holistic view of a composers understanding of the string quartet medium.
Since 2016, Flinders Quartet has worked with more than 35 composers, bringing them to Melbourne for workshops, ensuring they have an edited recording of their piece and having filmed performances available on FQ Digital. The number of composers who have had their career kick-started through their involvement in the programs is vast. Natalie Nicolas, Ella Macens, Matthew Laing, Lee Bradshaw, Anne Cawrse, Ian Whitney and Lisa Cheney to name a few.
String Quartets are intensely special. Most composers see them as an instrument in their own right and as such, there is a need to give composers added time in development with this 4 person/16 string instrument.
It is not just their committed and collaborative work with composers that make Flinders Quartet a shining Beacon in the industry. Their work in ensuring the string quartets of Margaret Sutherland are easily accessible, with corrected performance parts confirms their role as vanguards of the contemporary string quartet in Australia. My understanding is that the available parts of the Sutherland Quartets are resplendent with errors, making them unusable. In painstaking research with original sources, Flinders Quartet is working with Wirripang to ensure correct parts are available.
I have worked with the composers who have taken part in FQ's programs. I have collaborated with Flinders Quartet, attended many of their concerts. Their contribution deserves recognition.
Flinders Quartet has invested heavily in Victorias ecosystem, connecting composers who have applied, but not necessarily been successful in gaining a place in their composer programs with other opportunities. Most notably, Alisha Redmond with John Nobles program (Bairnsdale) and Robert McIntyre with Resonance String Orchestra (Woodend/Castlemaine).
With most of their work in their home state, Flinders Quartet integrates their work with composers with various activities in secondary schools and other community endeavours such as open rehearsals in community settings. One project that caught my attention as the pairing of Lee Bradshaw with Footscray High School in a Jimi Hendrix/Bartok mash up with their school band.
I think one of the biggest contributions to Victoria is the continued dedication to the work of Margaret Sutherland and her long lasting legacy as one of Australias and Victorias greatest ever composers.