At a ceremony held last night in The Tivoli in Brisbane, the winners of the 2023 Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) were announced.

Recognising the accomplishments and pioneering efforts of Australian female artists, the AWMAs aim to close the glaring gender equality gap that still remains in the Australian music industry.

The ceremony will also be broadcast on ABC iView on 29 September, and play on ABC’s TV channel the following day at 4pm.

Claire Edwardes and Celia Craig. Photos supplied

Percussionist Claire Edwardes has won the Creative Leadership Award. This award recognises a musician whose curatorial efforts champion female champions female artists.

Across her career, Edwardes has worked as a collaborator in the creation of over 45 new solo and concerto works for percussion. Her 2021 solo project Rhythms of Change commissioned and presented a series of solo percussion works for students as composed by female Australian composers.  

She is also the founder and Artistic Director of Ensemble Offspring, whose 2017 season programmed only female composers, and whose programs are exemplary in the Australian music scene for equity in commissioning and presenting works by female...