No-one disputes the quality of the album, but the inappropriate categorisation has struck a dud note within the classical industry.

As predicted by Limelight, the popular electronic duo Flight Facilities (aka James Lyell and Hugo Gruzman) has won the 2016 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album, despite consternation and protests from members of the classical music industry.

^{Flight Facilities. Photo courtesy of the ABC}

The winning album is a live recording of an outdoor concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which took place at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne last year. As reported by Limelight, the classical music industry is up in arms that an electronic album should be nominated as Best Classical Album, let alone win the Award, leaving observers asking if there is something wrong with the ARIA’s eligibility criteria and voting system.

“This album consists of Flight Facilities’ original music, with the accompaniment of an orchestra. The Flight Facilities’ compositions sit clearly within the electronic music genre,” Toby Chadd, Label Manager at ABC Classics and Jazz, told Limelight. “I know how much an ARIA nomination or win means to artists – and for classical artists,...