APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre have announced the finalists for the 10th Art Music Awards – an annual event celebrating achievements in the fields of composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian art music. Due to the impact of COVID-19, this year’s presentation will go digital, streaming online as a virtual event on September 8.

Oscar and Lucinda, Sydney Chamber Opera, CarriageworksOscar and Lucinda, Sydney Chamber Opera. Photo © Zan Wimberley

Those on the list for the 2020 Awards range far and wide across the country as well as across the generations with individual nods to composers Amanda Cole, Julian Day, Brett Dean, Ross Edwards, Maria Grenfell, Guwanbal Gurruwiwi, Zubin Kanga, James Ledger, Cathy Milliken and Kate Moore and Paul Stanhope, and collective nominations including Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Bangalow Music Festival, Speak Percussion, Sydney Chamber Opera, and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

This year’s Awards categories have been revised, reworked and sometimes renamed, and although the deadline for entries was just preceded by states going into lockdown, a simplified process resulted in a record 278 nominations across 13 national categories.

Reflecting regional diversity in all categories, this year’s shortlisted compositions for the Work of...