The flautist was the only Australian winner at this year’s Grammy Awards, which took place in LA last week.

Australian flautist Timothy Munro celebrated his third Grammy win last week, as the only Australian to receive one of the prestigious music awards this year.

The now Chicago-based musician and his new music sextet, eighth blackbird, won the gong for Best Chamber Music Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.  Munro was the co-artistic director of the contemporary music group from 2003 until 2015, in which time the ensemble performed extensively internationally, as well as in 40 US states. He was also involved in the curation of three music festivals and premiered more than 100 news works, including Steve Reich’s Double Sextet.

“The vibrancy of the American classical music world shows it’s a place where anything goes in many ways,” Munro said in an interview with ABC’s 7.30 program, discussing the significance of the win. “You know this strange world of classical music and, more specifically, music by living composers written in the classical music tradition or contemporary classical music, for me, as a practitioner of that, it’s a wonderful way to put that music and that art on the map.”

Queensland Conservatorium Director Professor Scott Harrison is proud of Munro – a graduate of the Conservatorium – who accepted an adjunct teaching appointment in 2014. “It’s incredibly inspiring to see one of our graduates on the world stage, celebrated among the very best in the industry. It’s testament to the hard work and passion that pervades everything Tim does and shows just what can be achieved by Brisbane-born musicians.”

Munro is not only active as an ensemble performer: he also has a renowned career as a soloist and orchestral musician, arranger and presenter. This year he has an upcoming collaboration planned with Chicago composer Dave Reminick and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Christ Ceronne to create a 20-minute work exploring the emotional potency of extreme acoustic spaces, funded by a New Music USA grant. Munro is also the co-music director of a large-scale project involving 1000 performers, which is due to be premiered in Chicago in 2017.

The organisers of the 2016 Grammy Awards have faced some criticism for not including a tribute to Pierre Boulez, the globally revered composer and conductor who died last month aged 90. The Awards ceremony, held at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, did feature a major tribute in memory of pop icon David Bowie, who died on January 10 aged 69.

You can read more about Tim Munro and hear some of his work on his website. For more information on eighth blackbird, visit their website.