Not only has ABC Music been awarded Best Classical Album for Compassion featuring Lior and Nigel Westlake (pictured) with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, it has won all four of the 2014 ARIA Fine Arts Awards, and received a total of 22 nominations across eleven categories, it has just been announced.
The winners of the four Fine Arts Awards, all of which were taken by ABC Music, were: Compassion – Lior, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Nigel Westlake (Best Classical Album); The Bitter Suite – Paul Grabowsky Sextet (Best Jazz Album); Permission to Evaporate – Joseph Tawadros (Best World Music Album); and Gurrumul: His Life and Music – Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu / SSO (Best Original Soundtrack / Cast / Show Album).
Natalie Waller, General Manager of ABC Music, commented: “We extend huge congratulations to all of our winning and nominated artists. We are very proud of the breadth of ABC Music’s output, and our 22 nominations across 11 categories – from Classical to Comedy, Jazz to Children’s – speaks volumes about the quality and variety of the artists with whom we are so privileged to work.
“Today we offer special congratulations to the ABC Music artists who have won all four Fine Arts Awards, including Joseph Tawadros who won the Best World Music Album Award for the third year in succession, and Paul Grabowsky who has now won an ARIA in every decade since the 1980s. Good luck to all our nominees in the remaining categories for the ceremony on 26 November!”
ARIA 2014 FINE ARTS AWARDS: THE WINNING ALBUMS
The Award for Best Classical Album was taken by Compassion, a collaboration between composer Nigel Westlake, singer Lior and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Compassion, a “Symphony of Songs”, draws from the rich worlds of Islam and Judaism to present a collection of profound and poetic insights into the practice of compassion and its ability to transform our relationships as human beings. Recorded at the Sydney Opera House, the work has been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike: it was awarded five stars by The Australian and has been revived as a live concert on numerous occasions including in Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl.
Australian jazz legend Paul Grabowsky was presented with the Award for Best Jazz Album for The Bitter Suite, recorded with the Paul Grabowsky Sextet – a group which comprises some of the finest players on the Australian jazz scene. The album was written in an “urgent tumble” in just a couple of weeks, and draws on everything from The Rolling Stones to Rachmaninoff. Awarding the album five stars, The Australian acclaimed the “superb interpretations of imaginative compositions”.
For more information visit www.ariaawards.com.au.
2014 ARIA AWARDS: ABC MUSIC NOMINATIONS
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM
Compassion – Lior / Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Nigel Westlake (Winner)
Adès: Polaris / Stanhope: Piccolo Concerto
Andrew Macleod / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra / Benjamin Northey / Markus Stenz
Empires – Latitude 37
Mozart Arias – Emma Matthews / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra / Marko Letonja
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring / Mahler: Symphony No.1 – Australian World Orchestra / Zubin Mehta
BEST JAZZ ALBUM
The Bitter Suite – Paul Grabowsky Sextet (Winner)
BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
Permission to Evaporate – Joseph Tawadros (Winner)
Birdsong at Dusk – William Barton
Flute Spirit: Dreams and Improvisations – Jane Rutter
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK / CAST / SHOW ALBUM
Gurrumul: His Life and Music – Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu / SSO (Winner)
triple j’s One Night Stand – Various Artists
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Virginia Read (Gershwin: Take Two)
The Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of NSW on October 7. Winners of the further categories will be unveiled on November 26.
