2021 Lilburn Trust NZSM Composers Competition
The 2021 Lilburn Trust NZSM Composers Competition was a celebration of a year of creative endeavour in the Composition Programme at the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī. The programme demonstrated the diversity and breadth of activity: finalists ranged from a work for solo erhu, to game audio, to a work performed on repurposed discarded electronics, to a large ensemble of winds, strings and percussion.
The finalists were chosen from submissions of new pieces written for assessment throughout 2021, and presented as a concert at the Adam Concert Room. A jury of three experts — Anna Edgington (Massey), Dr. Ewan Clark (VUW) and Shannon Pittaway (VUW) — made the difficult deliberations afterwards, in the end awarding a number of prizes to works they felt deserving.
The results were:
First place: Liam Furey ‘Emerge’ for mixed chamber ensemble
Second equal: Sai Natarajan ‘Medievalien’ (game audio)
Second equal: Zak Argabrite ‘5 Episodes’ for discarded electronics and live projections
Third equal: Jacob Barrett ‘Rattlesnake’ for solo guitar
Third equal: Nathan Carter ‘Moving Machines’ for 8-channel electroacoustic audio
Highly Commended: Sonya Ishimnikova ’The Sun Sets at 6pm’ for electroacoustic audio
Best use of Music Technology: Zak Argabrite
Performer prize: Isabella Gregory (flute)