Competition Winners

2015 Competition

The winners of the 2015 Federation Bells Composition Competition were:

First prize:

John Coutts – Call to Prayer

John, a mechanical engineer from Melbourne, says of his piece:

“The idea I had in mind while writing “Call to Prayer” for the Federation Bells was one of calling people together to appreciate the world they live in, regardless of their beliefs or origins. I hope as people stand and listen to the Islamic and Christian (and perhaps a touch of gamelan) themes on Aboriginal ground they will feel a sense of oneness and take delight in their diversity and marvel at their beautiful surroundings.”

This is John’s second competition winner after also taking last year’s first prize for his piece “Whispers”. For more information about John and his composition, download the Call to Prayer notes, where he talks about the inspiration for the piece, his background, and what it means to win the competition.

Second prize:

Trevor Adelson – Parkville Suite

judges:

Amy Bennett, Creative Learning Producer at Arts Centre Melbourne
Councillor Rohan Leppert, Chair of the Arts and Culture portfolio at City of Melbourne
Ariel Valent, Curator Musical Instruments for the City of Melbourne

Seventy-two compositions from Australia and around the globe were submitted for the competition. The judges were very impressed with the standard of entry and many of the works submitted will go into regular programming.

Entries were due on 26 October 2015. The next competition will be run in 2016. However, don’t wait until then – we welcome submissions at any time.

2014 Competition

The winners of the 2014 Federation Bells Composition Competition were:

First Prize:

John Coutts     Whispers

John created a spacious work of beautiful shimmering textures that ebbs and flows. It makes excellent use of the Federation Bells’ dynamic sensitivity and has an extra mesmerising quality when standing amongst the bells in Birrarung Marr.
John wins $2000 and a double pass to the opening of Melbourne Music Week 2014.

Second Prize:

Chris O’Neill     Mantra

A melodic work with momentum that is both dramatic and delicate.
Chris wins  2 hours of Professional Learning at the Digital Learning Hub at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Commendation:

Will Larsen     A Festival Fanfare

Fast and furious, this work has a catchy main theme and uses accents and syncopation to great effect.
The judges awarded a special prize to Will of 2 hours professional development at RMIT’s Audio Kinetic Experiment Lab.

Judges:

Jessica Nicholas, Music critic for The Age and broadcaster for ABC Jazz
Darrin Verhagen, Sound designer, composer and lecturer at RMIT
Ariel Valent, Curator Musical Instruments for the City of Melbourne

More than seventy compositions were submitted for the competition. The judges were very impressed with the standard of entry and many of the works submitted will go into regular programming.

The Federation Bells will feature works submitted for the competition during March and April 2014. Make sure you check the schedule to make sure you come down to hear your favourites.

Entries were due on 3 February 2014. The next competition will be run in 2015. However, don’t wait until then – we welcome submissions at any time.