Composer and double bassist Daniel Dean has won the Fine Music 102.5 Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Young Composer Award, the Sydney classical music radio station has announced. The annual award includes $5,000 cash and the world premiere of the winning work as part of the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s season at The Concourse in Chatswood, which will be recorded and broadcast on Fine Music. This year’s runner-up, Harry Sdraulig, will receive the APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Encouragement Award, a cash prize of $500.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won!” Dean tells Limelight. “I’m quite new to composition, and for my whole life I’ve always felt like I’ve been playing catch-up to my more talented friends as a musician, so to win this prize is a huge deal for me personally. I’m very happy that I have something real and constructive to show for the years I’ve spent obsessively poking through scores!”

Daniel Dean, winner of the Fine Music 102.5 Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Young Composer Award

Dean is also a regular double bass player in the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. So is he looking forward to playing his own work? “I’m...