The 38th annual ARIA Awards were presented last night (Wednesday 20 November) at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion. Australia’s dance-pop artists were the big winners on the night, with Royel Otis and Troye Sivan taking home seven awards between them. Sivan was awarded Album of the Year for the 2023 release Something to Give Each Other.

Sophie Hutchings. Photo supplied

In the Art Music categories, the award for Best Classical Album was presented to composer-pianist Sophie Hutchings for A World Outside, an album of cinematic soundscapes with strings, electronics and vocals informed by Hutchings’ love of surfing, the Australian landscape and artistic collaboration – in this case, Yolngu songman Rrawun Maymuru from Yirrkala (a remote community in Australia’s Northern Territory).

Best Jazz Album was awarded to the Melbourne-based jazz-funk fusionists Mildlife for Chorus, the band’s third album to date.

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album went to the Various Artists project Faraway Downs, an album of music from Baz Luhrmann’s expanded, six-part serialisation of his 2008 film Australia.

The award for Best World Music Album went to Dobby’s Warangu; River Story, a project Dobby researched, composed and produced as the 2017...