The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) has announced the winners of the 2026 AIR Awards at a ceremony at Adelaide Town Hall on 30 July.

Omega Ensemble’s David Rowden and WIlliam Barton. Photo © Keith Saunders

William Barton and Omega Ensemble were awarded Best Independent Classical Album or EP for Gift – Our Breath of Life. The album examines the rhythm and memory of breath, and featured as the score for choreographer Stephen Page’s Unungkati Yantatja, presented as part of Sydney Dance Company’s 2025 triple bill Continuum.

“Throughout my portfolio of works, the inspiration is always about the lineage of where I come from,” Barton told Limelight in September 2025.

“[Gift] is also about us breathing for those who can’t breathe; that was the spirit of it, thinking of my father who had 20 to 30 percent breathing capacity because of asbestos, poor thing. Unungkati Yantatja [the title of SDC’s dance work] means ‘breath of life and fire’ in Kalkadunga. I like to create that fire – a sacred place where we all gather and give breath to that fire.”

The album earned a four-star Limelight review from contributor Paul Ballam-Cross.

Best Independent Jazz Album or EP was awarded to Temporary Blessings for its debut album Sumbisori.

Led by Melbourne trumpeter-composer Liam McGorry, Temporary Blessings emerged from Melbourne’s cinematic soul movement and draws inspiration from 1960s Italian and French soundtrack music. The word ‘sumbisori’ is used to describe the breath sound made by haenyeo – female free-divers from South Korea’s Jeju Island who are able to dive up to 20 metres in depth without the use of an oxygen tank – as they resurface.

Other winners include DJ Ninajirachi, whose album I Love My Computer swept this year’s ceremony with five awards, and Folk Bitch Trio, which was awarded three.

The full list of 2026 AIR Award winners can be found here.