NOMINATION: Work of the Year - Electroacoustic / Sound Art
The Electroacoustic / Sound Art category is for works which utilise and manipulate digital and/or analogue sound as the primary medium. The work may be interdisciplinary (incorporating more than one media). It may include, but is not limited to; sonic art, electronics, interactive work, generative music, environmental sound, installations, soundscapes, electroacoustic music, and intermedia works.
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
Stephen de Filippo
Title of the work
Travelogue: Surat→ Hat Yai, sul G
Performer
Sarah Saviet
Performance Date
14/5/2024
Venue
14/05/2024
Nominator Statement
I am nominating this work for because it is an extraordinary musical achievementone that captures the essence of travel, discovery, and the search for meaning through sound. This is a work shaped by movement, by distance, and by the perspective of an Australian composer experiencing the world. It is a sonic reflection on the journey itself: the exhilaration of exploration, the hypnotic rhythm of long-distance travel, and the quiet nostalgia for home that often lingers beneath it all.
What sets this work apart is its deeply immersive approach to storytelling. The composer recorded the ambient sounds of travel across Thailand and Malaysia, embedding the physical experience of motion into the fabric of the piece. The rattling train carriages, the hum of ferry engines, and the distant, incidental sounds of passing landscapes are not just captured but transformedprocessed into an evocative soundscape that serves as both setting and emotional undercurrent. These sounds are more than documentation; they create an intimate connection between place, time, and memory.
The violin, performed entirely on the G string, embodies the personal nature of this journey. It speaks with a voice that is at once raw and expressive, restrained yet deeply resonant. In its grainy bowing, high harmonics, and whispered textures, there is a sense of searchingof navigating unfamiliar places while carrying echoes of home. This element of the piece is what makes it so powerful: the tension between movement and stillness, between the external world and the internal experience of the traveler.
The arrival at the Phra Maha Chedi Tripob Trimongkol, with its delicate bells swaying in the wind, serves as a poignant resolution. It is a moment of reflectionan acknowledgment that travel is not just about reaching new places but about the way those places transform us. Even in the midst of foreign landscapes, there is an ever-present awareness of home, of what has been left behind and what awaits upon return.
I am nominating this piece because it is a stunning meditation on sound, place, and identity. It is a work that challenges and invites the listener to embark on a journey of their own, to consider the ways in which sound carries memory and how movement shapes perception. It is an exceptional compositionone that deserves recognition with this award.
Nominee
Stephen de Filippo
Title of the work
Travelogue: Surat→ Hat Yai, sul G
Performer
Sarah Saviet
Performance Date
14/5/2024
Venue
14/05/2024
What sets this work apart is its deeply immersive approach to storytelling. The composer recorded the ambient sounds of travel across Thailand and Malaysia, embedding the physical experience of motion into the fabric of the piece. The rattling train carriages, the hum of ferry engines, and the distant, incidental sounds of passing landscapes are not just captured but transformedprocessed into an evocative soundscape that serves as both setting and emotional undercurrent. These sounds are more than documentation; they create an intimate connection between place, time, and memory.
The violin, performed entirely on the G string, embodies the personal nature of this journey. It speaks with a voice that is at once raw and expressive, restrained yet deeply resonant. In its grainy bowing, high harmonics, and whispered textures, there is a sense of searchingof navigating unfamiliar places while carrying echoes of home. This element of the piece is what makes it so powerful: the tension between movement and stillness, between the external world and the internal experience of the traveler.
The arrival at the Phra Maha Chedi Tripob Trimongkol, with its delicate bells swaying in the wind, serves as a poignant resolution. It is a moment of reflectionan acknowledgment that travel is not just about reaching new places but about the way those places transform us. Even in the midst of foreign landscapes, there is an ever-present awareness of home, of what has been left behind and what awaits upon return.
I am nominating this piece because it is a stunning meditation on sound, place, and identity. It is a work that challenges and invites the listener to embark on a journey of their own, to consider the ways in which sound carries memory and how movement shapes perception. It is an exceptional compositionone that deserves recognition with this award.