Olympic Composer Wins Again!
John Psathas won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, for excellence in composition, at the Silver Scroll Awards last night in
Wellington.
It’s a terrific way to top off the year for the composer, who wrote music for the Olympic Games opening and closing
ceremonies and whose CD Fragments, was named ‘Classical Album of the Year’ at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards in September.
Psathas, was one of four finalists for the SOUNZ Contemporary Award and it was his Piano Concerto, premiered by New York
pianist Stephen Gosling with the NZSO in April that won him the award.
The judges said of the work,” its beautiful, sparkling individual and fresh.”
The other finalists were John Cousins of Christchurch, with his multimedia work Say and from Wellington, Michael Norris
with his orchestral work Rays of the Sun, Shards of the Moon and Ross Harris with At the Edge of Silence, for chamber
ensemble.
Psathas will be familiar to most Wellingtonians now, if not purely for his composing achievements, for the giant
billboard ‘John Psathas, Olympic composer and Wellingtonian’ on Wakefield Street.
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ENDS
The SOUNZ Contemporary Award is a project of both APRA and SOUNZ (the Centre for New Zealand Music). SOUNZ administers
the award and convenes a jury of four to judge the entries.
The Centre for New Zealand Music (SOUNZ) is a charitable trust which promotes the music of New Zealand's composers
through a range of services and projects. It receives major funding from Creative New Zealand, APRA and through PPNZ
(Phonographic Performances New Zealand Ltd).
John Psathas Biographies: