Brett Dean and George Dreyfus head the list of winners in a diverse cross-section of Australian arts talent.

Winners have been announced across 11 national categories and seven state categories at the 2013 ART Music Awards held at a gala function at the Parade Theatre, NIDA in Sydney. This year’s winners feature a diverse group some of Australia’s finest, established music artists alongside future stars.

The Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music (as determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors) was presented to 85-year-old George Dreyfus AM for his long and varied career as a composer of operas, symphonies, chamber works and scores for over 60 film and television productions. His son, violin virtuoso and composer Jonathan Dreyfus, took part in a musical tribute to his father alongside ART Music Awards host James Morrison and Morrison’s talented sons William and Harry.

The Orchestral Work of the Year Award went to Fire Music by composer Brett Dean. The powerful piece was inspired by the bushfires that devastated parts of Victoria in 2009 and is a powerful work replete with complex orchestration, filled with emotional intensity and a palpable sense of theatricality.

Composer Gordon Kerry won the Instrumental Work...