NOMINATION: Work of the Year - Chamber
Chamber music is defined as works for between 1 and 12 players, with or without vocal parts, and with or without electronics
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 work 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
Kym Dillon
Title of the work
Robbie's Daydream
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Robbie Heywood
Performer
Homophonic! and The Consort of Melbourne
Performance Date
3/2/2024
Venue
The Edge - Federation Square
Nominator Statement
Robbies Daydream is a ten-minute tour de force for six voices and string quintet, composed as part of the RESPECT commissioning project run by Homophonic!. This project pairs senior members of (often regional) LGBTQIA+ communities with emerging to mid-career composers in order to create works that tell their stories: writing down our stories and singing them out loud as the project tagline goes.
For this work, composer Kym Dillon was paired with Robbie Heywood, an ex fighter pilot and amateur drag racer (the car kind, not the Ru Paul kind). Both trans women, Robbie and Kym recognised each other immediately as self-described soul sisters, and Robbies Daydream resulted from this instant and enduring bond.
The work itself is an exhilarating setting of Robbies verbatim speech, captured in conversation. The strings maintain a moto perpetuo texture throughout, which was born from a literal transcription of the drone from Robbies favourite fighter engine, the de Havilland Goblin. The vocal writing draws from Robbies distinctive vocal cadence, delivered in quick snatches with pause for thought between.
The resulting piece is utterly transcendent. The string writing is virtuosic both in terms of the unrelenting demands for the players, but also in its vivid depiction of an engine in flight throughout, while exploring clear and refined harmonic pathways, and creating a supportive backdrop for the vocalists.
The vocal writing establishes Dillon as a composer of thrilling flare, unwavering craftmanship and a deep knowledge of vocal writing. It is ambitious and risky, but the composers experience as a singer in and director of choirs ensures that the singers feel confident and that any risks pay off.
A ten-minute work has particular structural challenges it is long enough to require exploration of a number of different ideas, but short enough to need careful cohesion throughout the form. Robbies Daydream triumphs on both fronts we are led through starkly contrasting emotional landscapes, skillfully articulated by changes in vocal texture and pacing, while being underpinned by the driving string engine and a unity of harmonic approach.
This work received 7 performances in 2024, and a live recording was aired on ABC Classic and 3RRR. It is an absolute pleasure to perform, and deserves many more outings and, to my mind, is a very deserving candidate for the APRA/AMCOS Work of the Year: Chamber Music Art Music Award.
Nominee
Kym Dillon
Title of the work
Robbie's Daydream
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Robbie Heywood
Performer
Homophonic! and The Consort of Melbourne
Performance Date
3/2/2024
Venue
The Edge - Federation Square
For this work, composer Kym Dillon was paired with Robbie Heywood, an ex fighter pilot and amateur drag racer (the car kind, not the Ru Paul kind). Both trans women, Robbie and Kym recognised each other immediately as self-described soul sisters, and Robbies Daydream resulted from this instant and enduring bond.
The work itself is an exhilarating setting of Robbies verbatim speech, captured in conversation. The strings maintain a moto perpetuo texture throughout, which was born from a literal transcription of the drone from Robbies favourite fighter engine, the de Havilland Goblin. The vocal writing draws from Robbies distinctive vocal cadence, delivered in quick snatches with pause for thought between.
The resulting piece is utterly transcendent. The string writing is virtuosic both in terms of the unrelenting demands for the players, but also in its vivid depiction of an engine in flight throughout, while exploring clear and refined harmonic pathways, and creating a supportive backdrop for the vocalists.
The vocal writing establishes Dillon as a composer of thrilling flare, unwavering craftmanship and a deep knowledge of vocal writing. It is ambitious and risky, but the composers experience as a singer in and director of choirs ensures that the singers feel confident and that any risks pay off.
A ten-minute work has particular structural challenges it is long enough to require exploration of a number of different ideas, but short enough to need careful cohesion throughout the form. Robbies Daydream triumphs on both fronts we are led through starkly contrasting emotional landscapes, skillfully articulated by changes in vocal texture and pacing, while being underpinned by the driving string engine and a unity of harmonic approach.
This work received 7 performances in 2024, and a live recording was aired on ABC Classic and 3RRR. It is an absolute pleasure to perform, and deserves many more outings and, to my mind, is a very deserving candidate for the APRA/AMCOS Work of the Year: Chamber Music Art Music Award.