CONTENT COURTESY APRA AMCOS
APRA AMCOS, in partnership with the Australian Music Centre (AMC) and SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, has announced the 11 recipients of the 2025 Art Music Fund.
The Fund provides a total of AU$82,500 for 11 established composers, nine from Australia and two from Aotearoa New Zealand, to create commissioned work with the intention of ensuring a long artistic life for the work and its composer.
This year’s winners are Australians Biddy Connor (pictured above), Cayn Borthwick, Katy Abbott, Leah Curtis, Mace Francis, Megan Clune, Phoebe Bognar, Rafael Karlen and Thomas Meadowcroft, with New Zealand composers Dylan Lardelli and Tatiana Riabinkina making up the final 11.
The range of works being supported by this year’s Fund include song cycles, string quartets and jazz orchestras that explore a range of themes from climate change to cancer treatment and a celebration of the unique cultural diversity of New Zealand.
Melbourne-based composer, performer and arranger, Biddy Connor’s Song to the Cell transforms an IV machine into an instrument in this intimate performance. A vocalist and a medical device entwine in a unique duet of hums, beeps and mechanical rhythms, exploring ideas of healing, dependency and transhuman connection.
She explains: “The Art Music Fund is crucial because it champions ambitious, innovative and often genre-defying contemporary music that might otherwise lack dedicated backing. It allows composers to take creative risks and develop original and artistic works. Without this support, many significant projects in art music would simply not be unrealised.”
New Zealand-based international composer, Dylan Lardelli’s work will be written for Swiss group – Ensemble Mondrian – and will be composed for violin, viola, cello and electronics.
He adds: “This grant will provide me with invaluable space to reflect on my artistic concerns, undertake points of research and create my work uninterrupted. It will permit me to engage with the fine performers involved in interpreting my work, allowing for a score that is idiomatic while still containing the elements of exploration that I value.”
The Art Music Fund was launched in 2016 in recognition of the limited opportunities for art music composers to have new works performed. It commissions new work, providing winning composers with professional support to grow their repertoire in a sustainable way. To date, it has provided over half a million dollars in funding to over 100 projects.
Previous winners have included Anna Liebzeit, Cat Hope, Christine Pan, Dominik Karski, Erkki Veltheim, Liza Lim, Mindy Meng Wang, Monica Lim and Nadia Freeman.
Chris O’Neill, Director of Creative Programs at APRA AMCOS, says: “The calibre of entries for this year’s Art Music Fund was incredible, and we’re thrilled to be able to announce such an impressive line-up of recipients for 2025. The Fund is a vital opportunity for established composers to get their works commissioned on a large scale and create longevity and exposure for a long time to come.”
Catherine Haridy, CEO of AMC, adds: “The Art Music Fund provides meaningful and lasting professional support for creators to explore bold artistic ideas and transform them into imaginative and impactful new works. The AMC is proud to be a partner of the Art Music Fund, and we warmly congratulate all 11 recipients for 2025.”
“SOUNZ is delighted to be able to collaborate with APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre,” concludes Hannah Darroch – Chief Executive, SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music | Toi te Arapūoru. “This opportunity is of huge value to our composers in Aotearoa, and it’s wonderful to be able to support artistry and creative career sustainability through the Art Music Fund. Congratulations to all eleven recipients – what a huge range of innovative projects – and we look forward to hearing the musical results!”
Images supplied.
