Ensemble Offspring, Jane Sheldon and Handa Opera on the Harbour join an international longlist of creative luminaries.

Australian artists Ensemble Offspring, Handa Opera on the Harbour and Jane Sheldon are on the international longlist of nominees for the Classical:NEXT 2016 Innovation Award.

“This award aims to give international recognition to the people who are doing the most to push things forward with daring yet intelligent, effective and successful “out-of-the-box” thinking, planning and action,” says Jennifer Dautermann, Classical:NEXT director. “I firmly believe the time has come to add such a distinction to the list of already existing awards. As with Classical:NEXT itself, the Innovation Award is a democratic, community effort and a work-in-progress. This first year is a small beta-version, a prototype. It will be just the starting point and we hope to refine and expand it over the coming years.”

 Handa Opera on the Harbour’s 2015 production of Aida

Ensemble Offspring is Australia’s most notable new music ensemble, based in Sydney. Led by Artistic Director and acclaimed percussionist, Claire Edwardes, they are dedicated to promoting diverse and emerging music practices that expose audiences to new...