Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra is delighted to be announced as a finalist in the 2022 Art Music Awards for Excellence in a Regional Area for our 2021 Emerging Composer Commission in Winton.
“Plains Baked Golden in the Morning Light”, by John Rotar, was commissioned by Camerata as part of our annual regional Queensland touring program, supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation along with the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
John says in this piece he tried to capture something of the amazing landscape, with rattling dry wood of col legno, violin bird calls and flickering harmonics. The high cello solo is an attempt to emulate that sense of vertigo he got from looking across the plains and middle sections attempt to convey the tectonic starkness and harshness of the landscape.
Presented by APRA AMCOS and Australian Music Centre, the Art Music Awards recognises achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music. Art music covers activity across contemporary classical music, contemporary jazz and improvised music, experimental music and sound art.
View all the finalists at the APRA AMCOS website.
You can watch and listen to this stunning piece from our performance of it at the Concert Hall, QPAC after our regional tour, as part of our concert series “Re-Mastered” in June 2021. Footage courtesy of the Australian Digital Concert Hall, with an introduction by John Rotar.