Ross Harris a four-time winner

2009 SOUNZ Contemporary Award winner

Ross Harris a four-time winner

One of the awards presented in Christchurch last night as part of the APRA-hosted Silver Scroll event was the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, the most prestigious annual prize for New Zealand composers. In an outstanding achievement, Ross Harris has won this award for the fourth time with his Symphony III.

The SOUNZ Contemporary Award is presented to the best new work premiered during the last year. The composer of the winning work receives $3000 and a trophy designed and made by Auckland sculptor Sarah Smuts Kennedy. SOUNZ Contemporary is a project of APRA, the Australasian Performing Right Association, and SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music. The other two finalists in the 2009 SOUNZ Contemporary Award were My Name is Mok Bhon by Jack Body and Volti for piano and orchestra by Michael Norris.

Harris’ Symphony III, was premiered in August 2008 by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Marko Letonja. The work was inspired both by the art of Marc Chagall, and by Hebrew klezmer music and the traditional timbres of the symphony orchestra were augmented by the less usual tones of an accordion. Reviewer William Dart said of the concert: “Chagall, who once claimed that all colours are the friends of their neighbours and the lovers of their opposites, would have been won over by the quicksilver iridescences of Harris's sound world.”
The jury convened by SOUNZ to select the Award finalists were similarly impressed, commenting: "The musical gestures informed the structure and the writing revealed the composer’s deep understanding of the orchestra while maintaining a fresh but sophisticated language."

Harris previously won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2006, 2005, and 2000 as well as being a finalist in 2004 and highly commended in 2003. Originally from Amberley, North Canterbury, Harris played French horn with the NZSO and lectured in music at Victoria University, Wellington for many years. He took early retirement to concentrate on composing full-time. His works have been performed in every continent (with the possible exception of Antarctica!) and include music for voice, chamber ensembles, orchestra, operas and electroacoustic music.

"There were 35 entries this year and the calibre was particularly strong," says Scilla Askew, Executive Director of SOUNZ, "Although this is the fourth time that Ross Harris has won the award his music is not particularly well-known in New Zealand. We can only hope this Symphony and the works by the other finalists will be given further performances or broadcasts so that a much wider audience can enjoy and experience the rich and diverse music being created and performed in this country."

or use our comprehensive website; http://sounz.org.nz
Ross Harris http://sounz.org.nz/contributor/composer/1049
Symphony III http://sounz.org.nz/works/show/18754
SOUNZ Contemporary Award http://sounz.org.nz/content/SOUNZ_Contempy
APRA http://www.apra.co.nz/
My Name is Mok Bhon and Jack Body http://sounz.org.nz/works/show/19483
Volti and Michael Norris http://sounz.org.nz/works/show/11778

ENDS