Media Releases

Composer Competition for Gallipoli Centenary

Released at 1:50 pm on 1 May 2014

A grant of $30,000 has been generously provided by Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs through the Major Commemorative Grants category of the Saluting their Service program to assist with running the competition.

The Anzac Centenary Program will mark a Century of Service, encompassing all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations in which Australians and many New Zealanders have been involved.

In Gallipoli Songs, Australian and New Zealand composers are invited to set authentic Gallipoli texts to music. The texts can be from original letters, diaries or any personal writing related to the Gallipoli campaign. The material can be already published, held in national institutions or be part of private family archives.

Prize money of $5,000 per composition will be awarded to six Gallipoli Songs that best communicate the experiences of the original Anzacs and their loved ones. In addition, the winning compositions will be professionally performed, recorded and broadcast on Anzac Day 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. The judging panel will consist of Australian soprano Merlyn Quaife, composer Elliott Gyger and Stephen Adams from ABC Classic FM alongside Kate Mead from Radio New Zealand Concert and prolific composer Dame Gillian Whitehead.

To obtain a selection of relevant texts with permissions already assured, email australianmusic@abc.net.au.

For more information on how to enter visit www.abc.net.au/classic.

The closing date for submissions is 20 October 2014.