Stuart Ayres MP, Member for Penrith encourages emerging musicians and composers in Penrith to apply for the inaugural Peter Sculthorpe Music Fellowship in honour of the internationally renowned composer.
Stuart Ayres said applications are now open and close on 16 July for the $30,000 fellowship that will be offered every second year by the NSW Government and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
“This fellowship will support the professional development of an emerging NSW-based composer or performer dedicated to producing new Australian music,” Stuart Ayres said.
“The fellowship is in honour of the contribution to Australia’s musical heritage by Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE, who is widely acknowledged as one of the nation’s most significant composers.
“The NSW Government is committed to creating opportunities to foster future musical talent – this fellowship is a terrific initiative for upcoming musicians and composers while celebrating Peter Sculthorpe’s legacy,” Stuart Ayres said.
Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant, said Peter Sculthorpe’s passing last year was felt deeply by those who worked with him and loved his music.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is proud to fund this fellowship as a way of honouring Peter Sculthorpe’s enormous contribution to Australian music,” Mr Grant said.
“Supporting professional development of artists is a key part of the Government’s Create in NSW framework which guides strategy, investment and partnerships to grow a thriving, globally connected arts and cultural sector.”
A committee will be established comprising representatives from the Sculthorpe Trustees, the NSW Government and the University of Sydney to administer the Fellowship.
For more information including details on to apply, visit http://music.sydney.edu.au or www.arts.nsw.gov.au/
PETER SCULTHORPE PROFILE
Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE was born in Launceston in 1929 and educated at the University of Melbourne, and Wadham College, Oxford. He was an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, where he began teaching in 1964.
He had been a visiting fellow at Yale University, USA, and Sussex University, UK, and has taught at universities within and outside Australia. He held honorary doctorates from the universities of Tasmania, Sydney, Melbourne, Sussex and Griffith. He was an Officer of both the Order of Australia and of the British Empire, and in 1998 he was elected a National Trust of Australia National Living Treasure. In 2002, he was elected to Foreign Honorary Membership of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Peter Sculthorpe wrote works in most musical forms. His output relates closely to the social and physical climate of Australia, and the cultures of the Pacific Basin. He was influenced by the music of Asia, especially by that of Japan and Indonesia. In recent years he was deeply influenced by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music and culture.
