Nine established and emerging composers from Australia and New Zealand have been announced as sharing more than $110,000 of funding for the creation of new works through APRA AMCOS’ second annual Art Music Fund. And in an encouraging sign for the future, women have received 66% of the total funding pool this year.

This year’s recipients are Natasha Anderson, Newton Armstrong, Lisa Cheney, Erik Griswold, Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh, Eve Klein, Dylan Lardelli, Kate Moore and Eugene Ughetti. Commissioned works range from a 40-minute operatic work for young audiences, based on Edward Lear’s poem The Owl and the Pussycat, to a live performance combining custom built ice instruments with a frozen performance space.

Launched in 2016, the Fund aims to provide composers with more opportunities to see their works performed. Proposed projects are assessed on their viability, quality, and strategy for its life and reach. Aiming to commission new work that is innovative, displays professional compositional craft, and represents a benchmark of excellence in its field, the Fund supports a wide range of music styles.

John Davis, CEO of the Australian Music Centre, said “these works present a broad spectrum of contemporary practice in Australasian art music. In its second year, it’s fantastic...