NOMINATION: Performance of the Year - Notated Composition
For the performance of a single Australian work, showcasing the performer(s)’ success in revealing the nature and intention of a composition with clear notated instructions for the performer. Works with significant improvisatory aspects should instead be submitted for Performance of the Year: Jazz / Improvised Music.
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.
Art Music Award guidelines →
Nominee
Sydney Chamber Opera, Opera Australia, Australian String Quartet, Ensemble Offspring.
Nominee email
jack@sydneychamberopera.com
Title of the work
Gilgamesh
Composer(s) of the work
Jack Symonds
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Louis Garrick
Performance Date
5/10/2024
Venue
Carriageworks
Nominator Statement
Gilgamesh is an epic work of depth and difficulty. It set near impossible demands for its performers, who, without exception, rose to meet those challenges. As an ensemble you could not hope to assemble a wider variety of colours, affects, strengths and vulnerabilities. The work abounds with theatrical, instrumental and vocal athleticism, yet there are also moments of great stillness.
One could perceive that this piece was the result of deep, deep research and labour, and the combined talents of a great many very talented people working at their edges. The performance brought together artists from different disciplines, most of whom have been working together for many years, in a way that honoured the individual strengths while cohering into a unified whole.
With so many "stand out" performances, it's hard to know where to start, but it does seem fair to single out the composer as conductor of the opera and music director of the company. His performance was a feat of multi-tasking that I have never seen another individual pull off so well. The singers too, each of them excelling in their own particular way, showed a uniformly fierce commitment to text, character and colour. Jeremy Kleeman's gravitas and beauty, Mitchell Riley's otherworldly and virtuosic physicality, Jane Sheldon's spectacularly erotic power and purity, Jessica ODonoghue's fierce fragility and Daniel Szesiong Todd's shining open tenor, all gave performances that were quite thrilling.
The Australian String Quartet and Ensemble Offspring performed the challenging score with a level of mastery seldom heard in the context of an opera. We actually heard all the players. The writing showed off the colours and capacities of their instruments, which they played convincingly with virtuosity and grace.
Add to this the contributions of a host of collaborative, creative artists in hair, wardrobe, costume, direction, lighting, sound design, set design and choreography and the "sum" of what this performance offered in its 200 minutes is a staggering achievement that deserves to be honoured.
Excerpt from additional nominator:
I thought Jessica O'Donohue's lead role performance in Jack Symonds opera Gilgamesh was truly stunning and outstanding. Jessica captivated the audience and her exceptional voice soared. I felt this should have been an award winning performance when watching it at Carriageworks in Sydney last year. She made this opera incredible with both her vocal talent and her unique stage presence. I highly recommend Jessica O'Donohue for this award as I believes she definitely deserves it.
Nominee
Sydney Chamber Opera, Opera Australia, Australian String Quartet, Ensemble Offspring.
Nominee email
jack@sydneychamberopera.com
Title of the work
Gilgamesh
Composer(s) of the work
Jack Symonds
Librettist(s) or source author(s)
Louis Garrick
Performance Date
5/10/2024
Venue
Carriageworks
One could perceive that this piece was the result of deep, deep research and labour, and the combined talents of a great many very talented people working at their edges. The performance brought together artists from different disciplines, most of whom have been working together for many years, in a way that honoured the individual strengths while cohering into a unified whole.
With so many "stand out" performances, it's hard to know where to start, but it does seem fair to single out the composer as conductor of the opera and music director of the company. His performance was a feat of multi-tasking that I have never seen another individual pull off so well. The singers too, each of them excelling in their own particular way, showed a uniformly fierce commitment to text, character and colour. Jeremy Kleeman's gravitas and beauty, Mitchell Riley's otherworldly and virtuosic physicality, Jane Sheldon's spectacularly erotic power and purity, Jessica ODonoghue's fierce fragility and Daniel Szesiong Todd's shining open tenor, all gave performances that were quite thrilling.
The Australian String Quartet and Ensemble Offspring performed the challenging score with a level of mastery seldom heard in the context of an opera. We actually heard all the players. The writing showed off the colours and capacities of their instruments, which they played convincingly with virtuosity and grace.
Add to this the contributions of a host of collaborative, creative artists in hair, wardrobe, costume, direction, lighting, sound design, set design and choreography and the "sum" of what this performance offered in its 200 minutes is a staggering achievement that deserves to be honoured.
Excerpt from additional nominator:
I thought Jessica O'Donohue's lead role performance in Jack Symonds opera Gilgamesh was truly stunning and outstanding. Jessica captivated the audience and her exceptional voice soared. I felt this should have been an award winning performance when watching it at Carriageworks in Sydney last year. She made this opera incredible with both her vocal talent and her unique stage presence. I highly recommend Jessica O'Donohue for this award as I believes she definitely deserves it.