NOMINATION: Performance of the Year - Jazz / Improvised Music
For the performance of a single Australian work, showcasing the performer(s)’ success in improvisatory creation or collaboration. This may entail entirely improvised work or significant improvisatory input such as solo passages.
A work is defined as a single complete musical composition, or expression. This includes music with movements or sub-works (i.e. song cycles), installations, and real-time compositions (improvised music).
If you believe your performance to be 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.
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Nominee
Jenna Robertson, Daniel Shearer, Finn Idriss
Nominee email
jenna.robertson@gmail.com
Title of the work
Staged
Composer(s) of the work
Jenna Robertson, Daniel Shearer, Finn Idriss, Alex Raineri
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Multiple anonymous librettists
Performance Date
23/8/2024
Venue
FourthWall Arts (Brisbane Music Festival)
Nominator Statement
'Staged' is a show-length, semi-improvised, collaboratively-composed work that premiered in the 2024 Brisbane Music Festival.
The premise of the work is to invite the audience beyond the fourth wall, to step inside the psychosis of the performative persona (think Black Swan). Ten movements set a libretto quilted from anonymous artists submissions of anxiety dreams, which serve as provocations for the audience to enter our world, the world of the stage. Musical material is gestural and semi-improvised - the score exists in instruction format, and will distinctly bear the mark of the performers temperaments through their activation in performance. This work is deeply collaborative.
Jenna Robertson (voice) brought an incredible theatrical gravitas to her performance, paired with exquisite control of her vocal technique which traversed fully-fledged operatic magnitude, to hushed intimate utterances.
Daniel Shearer (cello) matched Robertson's theatrical power, bringing an energy that ranged from unsettling-poise to demonic-explosions. An audience member commented that they expected the cello to 'explode' at one point.
Both Robertson and Shearer imbued their performance with an astonishing virtuosity, equally matched with expressive control and an undeniable flair for the power of abstract theatre.
Finn Idriss amplified all of the above with incredibly reactive, deeply integrated, and effortlessly tasteful live electronics. The dialogue between voice, cello, and electronics at all times were balanced in a resonant interplay. Idriss is a master of his craft, unafraid to blur the boundaries between art music, electronic music, and conceptual theatre.
As a co-creator (and director) of this work, I have no hesitation as recommending my three colleagues for recognition in this category to celebrate their industry-leading, fearless, excellent work.
Nominee
Jenna Robertson, Daniel Shearer, Finn Idriss
Nominee email
jenna.robertson@gmail.com
Title of the work
Staged
Composer(s) of the work
Jenna Robertson, Daniel Shearer, Finn Idriss, Alex Raineri
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Multiple anonymous librettists
Performance Date
23/8/2024
Venue
FourthWall Arts (Brisbane Music Festival)
The premise of the work is to invite the audience beyond the fourth wall, to step inside the psychosis of the performative persona (think Black Swan). Ten movements set a libretto quilted from anonymous artists submissions of anxiety dreams, which serve as provocations for the audience to enter our world, the world of the stage. Musical material is gestural and semi-improvised - the score exists in instruction format, and will distinctly bear the mark of the performers temperaments through their activation in performance. This work is deeply collaborative.
Jenna Robertson (voice) brought an incredible theatrical gravitas to her performance, paired with exquisite control of her vocal technique which traversed fully-fledged operatic magnitude, to hushed intimate utterances.
Daniel Shearer (cello) matched Robertson's theatrical power, bringing an energy that ranged from unsettling-poise to demonic-explosions. An audience member commented that they expected the cello to 'explode' at one point.
Both Robertson and Shearer imbued their performance with an astonishing virtuosity, equally matched with expressive control and an undeniable flair for the power of abstract theatre.
Finn Idriss amplified all of the above with incredibly reactive, deeply integrated, and effortlessly tasteful live electronics. The dialogue between voice, cello, and electronics at all times were balanced in a resonant interplay. Idriss is a master of his craft, unafraid to blur the boundaries between art music, electronic music, and conceptual theatre.
As a co-creator (and director) of this work, I have no hesitation as recommending my three colleagues for recognition in this category to celebrate their industry-leading, fearless, excellent work.