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.
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Nominee
Olivia Davies
Title of the work
Hyphae
Performer
West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko
Performance Date
1/8/2024
Venue
Perth Concert Hall
Nominator Statement
Olivia Davies continues to be a leading voice for orchestral composition in Australia. Her most recent creation, Hyphae, was premiered to acclaim by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko on 1st August 2024. From a technical standpoint, Hyphae is arguably her best work yet; from a contextual standpoint, this work engages with pressing ecological concerns, highlighting the mysterious intelligence of fungi through their vast underground networks.
The likeness of hyphae (fungal filaments) are captured by Davies singular approach to form and gesture. Twisting drone figures creep like the long reach of a mycelium branch, entwined between instrumental groups and giving rise to a writhing texture across the orchestra. The piece grows organically, credit to Davies sense of pacing and restraint. The climax of the work sees clouds of sound sweeping across the orchestra, dark shapes of chromatic sound-mass passing through the concert hall. It is an incredibly convincing idiom, reflecting the darkness of this curious fungal intelligence that is so ubiquitous.
Hyphae is the latest from an original voice in Australian composition. Davies has a remarkable ability to animate light and darkness in her music, this time with a beam shone upon mycelium. Hyphae, both the source of inspiration and the work itself, are expansive, intricate, and all-encompassing. This success is deeply worthy of recognition at the 2025 Art Music Awards.
Nominee
Olivia Davies
Title of the work
Hyphae
Performer
West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko
Performance Date
1/8/2024
Venue
Perth Concert Hall
The likeness of hyphae (fungal filaments) are captured by Davies singular approach to form and gesture. Twisting drone figures creep like the long reach of a mycelium branch, entwined between instrumental groups and giving rise to a writhing texture across the orchestra. The piece grows organically, credit to Davies sense of pacing and restraint. The climax of the work sees clouds of sound sweeping across the orchestra, dark shapes of chromatic sound-mass passing through the concert hall. It is an incredibly convincing idiom, reflecting the darkness of this curious fungal intelligence that is so ubiquitous.
Hyphae is the latest from an original voice in Australian composition. Davies has a remarkable ability to animate light and darkness in her music, this time with a beam shone upon mycelium. Hyphae, both the source of inspiration and the work itself, are expansive, intricate, and all-encompassing. This success is deeply worthy of recognition at the 2025 Art Music Awards.