NOMINATION: Work of the Year - Large Ensemble
Large ensemble music is defined as works for more than 12 players, with or without vocal parts, and with or without electronics. This may include works for orchestra, concert band, wind band, string orchestra.
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.
Art Music Award guidelines →
Nominee
Nicholas Vines
Title of the work
A Mega Masquerade
Performer
Australian Youth Orchestra : Momentum Ensemble
Performance Date
19/4/2024
Venue
Cell Block Theatre and UKARIA Cultural Centre
Nominator Statement
AYO Momentum Ensemble was conceived in response to the challenge of being a classical orchestral musician in the 21 century. Questions such as:
- What are the skills, mindsets, values, approaches that a musician will need to be a flourishing creative in 2024 and beyond?
- How will the environment change our artform 2030 and beyond?
AYO Momentums performance in April 2024 took on this challenge presenting a program that was musically challenging, technically demanding and artistically innovative. Bookended by giants of Ligeti and Gruber, AYO Momentum premiered a commission by Dr. Nicholas Vines A Mega Masquerade.
16 musicians on the cusp of their professional career were chosen from across the nation to collaborate with Maestro Christoph Altstaedt (European Youth Orchestra, Junges Klangforum Mitte Europa etc) on this new work. The 25 minute work paid homage to Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals though a series of miniatures that traversed a pre-historic Gondwana land, exploring the diverse, unique and truly weird mega-fauna of ancient Australia. With a modernist take on the traditions or programmatic music, the Momentum musicians engaged with spoken extended techniques, non-traditional instruments, electronic samples as well as a sophisticated harmonic language. An ensemble of single string, double percussions, piano, flute/piccolo, clarinet, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon/contra basson, trumpet, trombone and French horn, was supplemented by rubber ducks, harmoniums, kazoos, whirlies, toy piano and more.
The rich soundworld immersed the audience in a prehistoric tapestry that was both familiar and exotic. With Demon Ducks showing characteristics of the squabbles of a modern chicken coop and the lumbering pace of the Giant Echnidnas (all found in exhibits at the Natural Museum), Composer Vines proved that artistic challenge, musical depth and rigour can also engage and entertain a broad audience. The work was premiered on 19 April at Cell Block Theatre, Sydney/Gadigal and on 20 April at UKARIA Cultural Centre, Mount Barker.
The work is deserving of consideration not only because of the compositional excellence and craftmanship, but also because of the artistic bravery of bridging the divide between the paradoxes with which we daily engage: Sophistication of art music and the entertainment of broad audiences, classical traditions of instrumentalists and contemporary/toy/found sounds, classical heritage artform and new ways of imagining, the Australia of the future and our ancient past (to name a few).
Nominee
Nicholas Vines
Title of the work
A Mega Masquerade
Performer
Australian Youth Orchestra : Momentum Ensemble
Performance Date
19/4/2024
Venue
Cell Block Theatre and UKARIA Cultural Centre
- What are the skills, mindsets, values, approaches that a musician will need to be a flourishing creative in 2024 and beyond?
- How will the environment change our artform 2030 and beyond?
AYO Momentums performance in April 2024 took on this challenge presenting a program that was musically challenging, technically demanding and artistically innovative. Bookended by giants of Ligeti and Gruber, AYO Momentum premiered a commission by Dr. Nicholas Vines A Mega Masquerade.
16 musicians on the cusp of their professional career were chosen from across the nation to collaborate with Maestro Christoph Altstaedt (European Youth Orchestra, Junges Klangforum Mitte Europa etc) on this new work. The 25 minute work paid homage to Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals though a series of miniatures that traversed a pre-historic Gondwana land, exploring the diverse, unique and truly weird mega-fauna of ancient Australia. With a modernist take on the traditions or programmatic music, the Momentum musicians engaged with spoken extended techniques, non-traditional instruments, electronic samples as well as a sophisticated harmonic language. An ensemble of single string, double percussions, piano, flute/piccolo, clarinet, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon/contra basson, trumpet, trombone and French horn, was supplemented by rubber ducks, harmoniums, kazoos, whirlies, toy piano and more.
The rich soundworld immersed the audience in a prehistoric tapestry that was both familiar and exotic. With Demon Ducks showing characteristics of the squabbles of a modern chicken coop and the lumbering pace of the Giant Echnidnas (all found in exhibits at the Natural Museum), Composer Vines proved that artistic challenge, musical depth and rigour can also engage and entertain a broad audience. The work was premiered on 19 April at Cell Block Theatre, Sydney/Gadigal and on 20 April at UKARIA Cultural Centre, Mount Barker.
The work is deserving of consideration not only because of the compositional excellence and craftmanship, but also because of the artistic bravery of bridging the divide between the paradoxes with which we daily engage: Sophistication of art music and the entertainment of broad audiences, classical traditions of instrumentalists and contemporary/toy/found sounds, classical heritage artform and new ways of imagining, the Australia of the future and our ancient past (to name a few).