Liza Lim has won big at this year’s APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards, taking out both the Instrumental Work of the Year and Vocal/Choral Work of the Year awards, with Lyle Chan winning Orchestral Work of the Year and Peter de Jager winning Performance of the Year. Now in their seventh year, the awards, which were announced in a ceremony staged by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, recognise outstanding contributions of 2016 across the genres of contemporary art music, contemporary jazz and experimental music.

The winner of the Instrumental Work of the Year, Lim’s How Forests Think, for sheng (a Chinese mouth-blown free reed instrument) and ensemble, premiered at the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music in September last year performed by Wu Wei and ELISION, with Carl Rosman conducting. The piece, which reflects on the work of anthropologist Eduardo Kohn, was up against three other finalists: Austin Buckett’s Aisles, Peter Knight’s Diomira, and Jessica Wells’ Moon Fire.

Liza LimLiza Lim at the 2017 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards

Lim’s chamber opera Tree of Codes, which was commissioned by Opera Köln, Ensemble MusikFabrik and HELLERAU – Europäisches...