Press release
Today we pay tribute to the leading lights of Australian screen composition with the announcement of nominees for the 2012 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS. The event, to be held this year in Melbourne on Monday November 19th, is jointly staged by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers). It is the only Australian event where the music and screen industry gather to celebrate excellence in the composition of music for film and television.
Across twelve awards categories APRA and the AGSC are today proud to recognise 61 composers, and 40 works as representing the best in Australian screen composition for 2012. Among the nominees are some of the country’s most respected screen composers including Lisa Gerrard, Burkhard Dallwitz, Antony Partos, Bryony Marks, Stephen Rae, Richard Tognetti, David Bridie, Roger Mason, Nerida Tyson-Chew, Michael Yezerski and many more.
Leading the nominations is music from the critically acclaimed ABC mini-series The Slap (based on the novel by Christos Tsiolkas) which has received nominations in the categories of Best Television Theme, Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie and Best Soundtrack Album. Internationally awarded composer Antony Partos leads the 2012 Screen Music Awards’ nominations with four nods for his compositional work including three for The Slap and a nomination for his work on Mabo.
Nominated in the category of Feature Film Score of the Year is Dead Can Dance pioneer Lisa Gerrard who is recognised for her work on Burning Man. Composer Jamie Blanks is nominated for the independent supernatural film Needle while Nerida Tyson-Chew is acknowledged for Santa’s Apprentice. Rounding out the nominations in this category are Australian violinist, conductor and composer Richard Tognetti AO and Michael Yezerski who co-composed the score for Storm Surfers 3D.
The nominees in the category of Best Television Theme are Ryan Grogan and Hylton Mowday for Guess How Much I Love You, Greg Walker for Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Vicki Hansen for My Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita and as previously mentioned Antony Partos for The Slap.
Leah Curtis has been nominated in the category of Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for Animula Vagula from Exitus Roma. Her fellow nominees in this category are Lior Attar for the infectious Hey Hootabelle from Giggle & Hoot, Will Kuether and Russell Thornton for Love Finds a Way from Shopping, and Kylie Burtland and Chloe Cassidy for The Goodnight Song from The Disney Channel.
Greg Walker, the composer behind Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has been nominated in the category of Best Music for a Television Series or Serial as has Ash Gibson Greig for Who Do You Think You Are? Vince Colosimo. Collaborators Michael Lira and David McCormack have received a nod for the television period drama Wild Boys and previous Screen Music Award winner Burkhard Dallwitz is again nominated for his work on the Underbelly series, this time for Underbelly Razor.
Joining Antony Partos as nominees in the Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie category are Stephen Rae for Beaconsfield, the telemovie based on the dramatic rescue of Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb, and Matteo Zingales for detective murder mystery Dripping in Chocolate. Antony Partos is nominated twice in this category – for The Slap and for his work on Mabo, the critically acclaimed story of Eddie Mabo’s life.
In the category of Best Music for a Documentary is Dale Cornelius for Gallipoli from Above, Caitlin Yeo for Seduction in the City: The Birth of Shopping, Russell Thornton for The Impossible Lens: The True Story of Dr Jim Frazier and Brett Aplin for Tiger Dynasty.
Veteran screen composer Roger Mason is nominated in the category of Best Music for a Short Film for This Dog’s Life. Christopher Larkin joins him for his compositional work on Aurora and Jonathan Dreyfus for Boston Tommy. Composer Bruce Heald rounds out the nominations in this category for his work on My Constellation.
The category of Best Soundtrack Album features music from some of the most talked-about television series in recent history. The composers behind these soundtracks are Bryony Marks for the adaptation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, Michael Lira, Jono Ma, Antony Partos and Irine Vela for The Slap, music legend David Bridie for The Straits and Burkhard Dallwitz for Underbelly Razor.
Henrique Dib is nominated for AH in the category of Best Music for Children’s Television while Ryan Grogan and Hylton Mowday are recognised for Gasp! Lior Attar has created the music for Hey Hootabelle, Hoot’s new sidekick on Giggle and Hoot and Roger Mason is nominated again, this time for My Place: Sarah.
The collaboration between Andrew Page and Ramesh Sathiah has received a nomination for Best Music for an Advertisement for the cheeky Bundy Rum: Ain’t No Nancy Drink. Rafael May has been nominated for Levis’: Levi’s X Korea National Ballet alongside Haydn Walker who is recognised for Nutrilon: Hope. Multiple Screen Music Award winner Elliott Wheeler is also nominated, this year for his work on the advertisement Volkswagen Tiguan: Cross Country.
Composers to receive nominations in the Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia category are Adam Gock, Dinesh Wicks, Anthony El Ammar, Jay Stewart and Neil Sutherland. Neil Sutherland is also nominated in the category of Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas alongside Alastair Ford, David Hirschfelder, Ric Formosa and Ricky Edwards.
On this year’s Screen Music Awards nominations new AGSC President Guy Gross said, “2012 sees us gather to celebrate another stellar crop of diverse Australian film and television scores. Always inventive and highly skilled our composers can be proud of their superb contribution to Australian screen culture.”
For the sixth year the incomparable composer Paul Grabowsky will be conducting a live orchestra performing a selection of this year’s nominated compositions. He will also direct musical proceedings for the 2012 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS.
The Chaser’s Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen will host the event on Monday November 19th at BMW Edge at Federation Square.
APRA and the AGSC would like to congratulate all nominees for the 2012 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS.