VNZMA Artisan Awards to be hosted in Wellington

Massey University’s School of Music and Creative Media Production will host the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards’ Artisan Awards which recognise the best technical and production values in the music industry.

Presented by Massey University, the awards will be hosted in the school’s new music and production facilities, part of the College of Creative Arts on the Wellington campus on Monday November 5. The event is in Wellington for the first time and will be livestreamed.

Head of school, Associate Professor Andre Ktori, says “it’s very exciting that the Artisan Awards and Tui Music Series are in Wellington this year and we are really pleased to be able to support and host VNZMA in our new facilities in the college.

“Supporting and partnering with the creative sector is an important part of our mission so this is a fantastic opportunity for us to actively engage again. We have our annual end of year show, Exposure happening at the same time, so it’s great that attendees will be able to experience the brilliant work our students have produced across the music, design, media and fine arts programmes.”

The awards will be held in the main recording studio, which is one of seven new recording studios designed by leading UK studio designer Andy Munro, and feature the very latest in recording and post-production facilities. The facility also houses motion/performance capture, music technology and mixed reality labs, a dubbing theatre and screening room, edit suites, animation and digital video production suites and games labs.

Chief executive of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency Lance Walker also welcomed the event to the city.

“Wellington is a breeding ground for the country’s top bands and musicians, and a huge part of that success has been the local talent behind the scenes – the sound engineers and artists who all contribute to the final package.”

Massey University will sponsor and present awards for Best Engineer, Best Producer
and Best Album Cover. Awards will also be presented in the categories of NZ On Air Best Music Video and the new award for Music Teacher of the Year.

Recorded Music NZ chief executive Damian Vaughan said it was an “incredible honour”, to bring the Artisan Awards to Wellington and renew the partnership with Massey University.

“The Artisans have been established to honour the depth of Kiwi talent who craft the best of the years’ local music, and Massey’s world class music facilities provide the perfect setting for this event.”

Coinciding with the awards evening are several panel events – the Tui Series featuring local and international leading industry practitioners. Panels include:

• The NZ Music Producers Series: Involving local and international producers
• Design Studio: A free seminar with local designers discussing music projects, album covers, artist brands and digital media.
• Film-makers studio: A free seminar with local film-makers on topics related to music video production.

Further information about the Artisan Awards event and finalists for each award will be announced on Thursday October 11.

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