BY JOHN GLOVER
We know it can take a while to trawl through all the headlines in your newsfeed. So we’ve compiled our top picks for you to absorb quickly – leaving you more time for practice (or procrastination). Set your timer and have a read – we’re here to keep you up-to-date on the big events in your industry.
This week, we congratulate some of Australia’s brightest composers who have received prestigious awards! We also pay our respects to an Australian arts news icon.
…and GO!
TSO COMPOSERS’ SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra has just announced the four lucky composers who will take part in the 2018-2019 TSO Australian Composers’ School. Holly Harrison, Mark Holdsworth, Ella Macens and Harry Sdraulig have been selected to develop their orchestral composition skills in a two-year program with the TSO, working closely with director Matthew Hindson to create new works for orchestra. Well done, you four – we can’t wait to see what amazing music you come up with!
REAL TALK ☹
We are very sad to bid farewell to fellow arts publisher RealTime after their 25 years in the industry. After bringing us regular arts coverage, from this week the publication will focus its attention on archiving its Australian arts news. RealTime is also celebrating its wonderful work with special editions and surveys on the transformation of the industry across the past 20 years, adding valuable insight into our past and towards the future! You can read more on the RealTime website, and Matthew Lorenzon of Partial Durations – a RealTime blog – wrote this beautiful elegy.
GO HOLLY!
A further congratulations goes to Holly Harrison, who has also been awarded the Sue W Chamber Music Composition Prize. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music awarded the prize to Holly for her chamber work Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup, which was premiered by ensemble Eighth Blackbird earlier this year. Good on you, Holly!
CONCERNING
Conductor James Levine, the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has denied allegations made by four men of sexual abuse which occurred between the 1960s-1980s. This has led the Met and other arts organisations to diminish their associations with Levine as the investigations continue, which we hope will reveal some answers.
WELL DONE, LACHLAN
Congratulations to composer Lachlan Skipworth, who is the recipient of the Albert H Maggs Award for 2017. Lachlan received his award for his orchestral piece Spiritus, premiered by the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra to high acclaim. With the award comes a $10k commission, which Lachlan will use to write a brand new sextet to be performed by chamber ensembles Intercurrent and Syzygy!
And that’s a wrap! This marks our final Arts News of the Week for 2017. Why? Because we’re going to PRINT!
Over the summer we’ll be preparing to bring you our inaugural print publication – so stay tuned and check in for regular updates.
Happy holidays, and if you have arts news for the new year, give us a shout: editor@cutcommon.com.
Images supplied.
