Apply for a grant of $7,500 - nine for Australian composers, two for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Since 2016, the grants have funded the composition and creation of new works.
To apply, please follow the AU or NZ guidelines. Applications close on 13 February.
Australian and New Zealand art music composers are invited to apply for a $7,500 (AUD) Art Music Fund grant to help them make new musical works a reality. Eleven grants will be allocated to nine Australian and two New Zealand composers.
The Art Music Fund, now in its ninth funding round, is an initiative of APRA AMCOS, in partnership with the Australian Music Centre and SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music.
The per recipient funding of $7,500 is available for the creation of commissioned work that is innovative, displays professional compositional craft and represents a benchmark of excellence in its field. The intention is to support composers to create works with a long artistic and performance life - whether it is presented in a concert hall, via live stream, filmed, as a recording, set to choreography or other formats.
Applications close 13 February 2024 at 5:00pm AEDT.
Recent Art Music Fund-supported premieres include Anne Boyd AM's The Olive Pink Opera in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Salina Fisher's Papatūānuku with Jerome Kavanagh and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Queensland composer Corinna Bonshek's the space between us…has an international premiere in Portugal in 2024.
The fund has supported a wide range of work from Dylan Lardelli’s evocative Visiting Blue, Maree Sheehan’s The Song(s) of Solomon Project and Celeste Oram’s Yunge Eylands Varpcast Netwerkið a live radio play created with Germany’s Ensemble Adapter, to name but a few.
"SOUNZ is really delighted to be partnering with APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre to support this wonderful opportunity for composers. The Art Music Fund is an exciting initiative that enables our composers to embark on a new project and performance(s). We are looking forward to hearing the works that this grant will support,” said Diana Marsh, Chief Executive, SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with APRA AMCOS and SOUNZ again to support the development of 11 new works by our art music creators. Creation, support and connection to artists and their works is a fundamental part of the Art Music Fund and the essence of what we do. We look forward to being inspired by this new music," said Catherine Haridy, CEO, Australian Music Centre.
“The ninth round of the Art Music Fund continues APRA AMCOS' investment into the wildly creative storytellers of Australia and New Zealand's art music community. We are proud to be supporting, once again with our partners the Australian Music Centre and the SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, the composers, improvisers, and sound artists who bravely create commentary on our current world, interrogate our past and craft their vision for our potential futures," said Cameron Lam, Art Music Lead, APRA AMCOS.
APRA AMCOS created the Art Music Fund, in partnership with the Australian Music Centre and now SOUNZ, in recognition of the limited opportunities for art music composers to have new works performed. We strongly encourage support of these partner organisations, who champion the work of art music composers, by becoming either an AMC Financial Member or a Friend of SOUNZ.
Please read the full guidelines for AU or NZ before you apply. Applications close 13 February.
We created the Art Music Fund, in partnership with the Australian Music Centre (AMC) and now SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, in recognition of the limited opportunities for art music composers to have new works performed. We strongly encourage the support of these partner organisations, who champion the work of art music composers, by becoming either an AMC Financial Member or a Friend of SOUNZ.
In 2024, are providing a total pool of A$82,500 to provide funding for eleven composers (nine from Australia, two from New Zealand) to create commissioned work that is complemented by an exploitation program. Each recipient will receive a grant of A$7,500.
The fund exists to commission new work that is innovative, displays professional compositional craft and represents a benchmark of excellence in its field.
To be considered, your work must have committed partners to ensure the work is presented multiple times with the intention to create a long artistic life for the work and by extension, you, the composer.
The Art Music Fund is assessed by an external panel of musicians. With an aim to represent a complete view of the industry, we are particularly aware of ensuring the panel of experts includes diverse voices across culture, gender, geography, generation, and genre.
Applicants planning to use of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori, Pasifika or other indigenous cultural content (such as language, titles, traditional instrumentation, narratives or themes) from outside their own cultural heritage must supply supporting documentation that they have consulted with the appropriate communities (or mātanga reo / language and cultural advisors) and have obtained their permissions and support to use their cultural content and intellectual property.
The fund supports a wide range of music styles including notated composition; electroacoustic music; improvised music (including innovative, original jazz); sound art; installation sound; multimedia, web and film sound and music; and theatrical, operatic and choreographed music.
As an applicant, you will be asked to explain how your arts practice aligns with the qualities identified in the Art Music Fund (innovation, compositional craft, and excellence), regardless of style.
It is expected that you will collaborate with ensembles, orchestras, producers, recording companies, broadcasters, festivals and other parties to propose the writing of a work that will be guaranteed multiple exposures by way of performances, recordings, broadcasts or digital dissemination.
Please note: The Art Music Fund is not intended to support popular contemporary music, nor folk music.
Past recipients