APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre have unveiled the finalists for the 2025 Art Music Awards, celebrating the leading voices in contemporary Australian art music.

The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 21 August at Sydney’s City Recital Hall.

Finalists have been announced across 11 of the 15 award categories, which span composition, performance, music education, experimental practice and regional engagement. Selected from a broad range of peer and public nominations, this year’s shortlist reflects a rich diversity of practice and creative innovation.

The Australian String Quartet is among the standout names, earning two nominations in Performance of the Year: Notated Composition – for Gilgamesh by Jack Symonds, and nyilamum song cycles by Dr Lou Bennett and Paul Stanhope. Bennett is also nominated as a performer on the latter, and again with Stanhope for Work of the Year: Chamber Music.

Dr Lou Bennett and the Australian String Quartet: Nilyamum song cycles at the 2025 Adelaide Festival. Photo by Tony Lewis

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