The Limelight Awards were an annual celebration of the performances, recordings and music personalities in Australian classical music.Limelight Awards Shine on Classical Musicians
Sponsored by the monthly classical arts magazine ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

'', they were the only publicly voted awards of their kind in Australia. In 2012 the awards attracted more than 4,500 votes. The Limelight Award winners are voted on from a shortlist of entries selected by an expert panel of ''Limelight'' critics and

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

staff over ten categories. These categories included Music Personality of the Year, Best Newcomer and Best Orchestral, Chamber and Solo performances. From this shortlist the public were then invited to select and vote for their favourite musicians. The Limelight Awards were distinctly unique, being the only classical music awards in Australia where the public are invited to help recognise well-loved musicians.

Award winners

2007 *Music Personality of the year:

Jonathon Welch Jonathon Charles Welch (born 5 October 1958) is an Australian choral conductor, opera singer and voice teacher. As a singer, Welch has been a tenor for the Victoria State Opera, Lyric Opera of Queensland and Opera Australia. During 2006 Welc ...

(choirmaster, The Choir of Hard Knocks) *Best Classical Crossover Artist:

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multinational classical crossover vocal group. Formed in the United Kingdom in 2003, it is a male quartet that was created and then promoted by British media magnate Simon Cowell for Syco Music, a record label that he had ...

*Best Orchestral Concert: Piers Lane (piano) with the Queensland Orchestra/

Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen (born 29 April 1980) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Inkinen was born in Kouvola, Finland, and began violin and piano studies at the age of 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibe ...

, Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’ *Best Chamber music concert:

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on chamber music based in Sydney. History The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''T ...

Patricia Kopatchinskaja Patricia Kopatchinskaja (born March 1977) is a Moldovan-Austrian-Swiss violinist. Biography Early life Kopatchinskaja was born in Chișinău, in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Moldova). She comes from a family of musicians. H ...

: Hope *Best Solo performance:

Håkan Hardenberger Ulf Håkan Hardenberger (born 27 October 1961) is a Swedish trumpeter, conductor, and professor at the Malmö Academy of Music. Early life Hardenberg was born in Malmö and began his practice of the trumpet at the age of eight under the guida ...

, trumpet *Best World music achievement:

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was a Yolŋu Aboriginal Australian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he played drums, keyboards ...

*Best Classical recording:

Sara Macliver Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. Macliver has appeared in operas, concert and recital performances and on recordings. She specialises in Baroque music, and lectures in Voice at the UWA ...

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestr ...

/Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Mozart: Arias (ABC Classics) *Best World Music Achievement:

Joseph Tawadros Joseph Tawadros (born 6 October 1983) is an Egyptian-born Coptic Australian multi-instrumentalist and oud virtuoso. Tawadros has won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album seven times: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Biograp ...

& James Tawadros, Ben Rogers, Epiphany *Best Jazz achievement: Phil Slater Quartet; The Thousands *Best New Composition: Kaidan by Ian Cleworth, Timothy Constable

Riley Lee Riley Kelly Lee (born 1951) is an American-born Australian-based shakuhachi player and teacher. In 1980 he became the first non-Japanese person to attain the rank of Dai Shihan (grand master) in the shakuhachi tradition. He is a recipient of two o ...

and members of TaikOz *Best Event/festival:

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian orchestra based in Adelaide, established in 1936. The orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Hall, but the ASO also performs in other venues. It provides the orchest ...

, Sibelius Festival *Best Newcomer: Benjamin Northey (conductor) 2008 *Music Personality of the year:

Richard Tognetti Richard Leo Tognetti AO (born 4 August 1965) is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director. He is currently artistic direct ...

*Best Classical Crossover Artist:

*Best Orchestral Concert: Sydney Symphony/ David Robertson,

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

: ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' *Best Chamber music concert:

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO) is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music. Founders The orchestra's founder and artistic director is Paul Dyer. In 2013 Dyer was ...

with

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

*Best Solo performance:

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and viola, violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and has since expanded into jazz music, jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and ...

violin concertos by Mozart and Beethoven *Best World music achievement:

*Best Classical recording:

Slava Grigoryan Slava Grigoryan is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist. He frequently collaborates and performs with his younger brother, fellow guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, performing as the Grigoryan Brothers. Career Grigoryan signed with ...

and Leonard Grigoryan, ''Baroque Guitar Concertos'' (ABC Classics) *Best Jazz achievement:

Don Burrows Donald Vernon Burrows (8 August 1928 – 12 March 2020) was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute. Life and career Donald Vernon Burrows was born on 8 August 1928, the only child of Vernon and Beryl an ...

*Best Event/festival:

Sydney International Piano Competition The Sydney International Piano Competition is a music competition, presented in Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia and internationally. It is held every four years, over a three-week period in July–August, and is internationally r ...

of Australia *Best Newcomer: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu 2009 *Limelight Readers' Choice:

*Music Personality of the year:

*Best Orchestral Concert:

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

, Elgar: ''

The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Opus number, Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from The Dream of Gerontius (poem), the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man' ...

'' *Best Opera Production: ''

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

'' (

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

) *Best Chamber Music Concert:

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-century classical music, ...

: '' Transfigured Night'' *Best Performance in an Opera:

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand-born operatic baritone based in Australia. He has performed at opera houses in New Zealand, Australia, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and throughou ...

, Figaro in ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

'' *Best Solo Performance:

James Ehnes James Ehnes (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian- American concert violinist and violist. Early life Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Alan Ehnes, long time trumpet professor at Brandon University (Canada), and Barbara Withey E ...

with Sydney Symphony Orchestra *Best World Music Achievement:

Dan Sultan Daniel Leo Sultan is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for his second album, '' Get Out While You Can'' (N ...

WOMADelaide WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of music, arts and dance in Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia. One of many WOMAD festivals held around the world, it is an event that presents a diverse selection of music from artists around th ...

*Best Classical Recording: Goldner String Quartet, Beethoven the complete string quartets *Best Jazz Recording: Tom O’Halloran Trio, We Happy Few *Best Event/Festival: Australian Festival of Chamber Music *Best New Composition:

Carl Vine Carl Edward Vine, (born 8 October 1954) is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music. From 1975 he has worked as a freelance pianist and composer with a variety of theatre and dance companies, and ensembles. Vine's catalogue inclu ...

Symphony No. 7 *Best Newcomer: Hamer String Quartet 2010 *Limelight Readers’ Choice:

Emma Matthews Emma Matthews (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards ...

(soprano) *Music Personality of the year:

*Best Orchestral Concert:

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

;

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

: Symphony No. 5;

Pēteris Vasks Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946) is a Latvian composer. Biography Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player wit ...

: ''Vox Amoris'';

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

: Symphony No. 41 'Jupiter' *Best Opera Production: ''

'' (

) *Best Chamber Music Concert: Australian Chamber Orchestra and

, The Barefoot Fiddler *Best Performance in an Opera:

, Figaro in ''

'' *Best Solo Performance: Paul Lewis (piano)

Musica Viva Musica Viva, also known as Musica Viva Australia, is a national organisation in Australia dedicated to chamber music. History Music Viva was founded in Sydney in 1945 by Romanian-born Vienna-educated violinist Richard Goldner, who had fled Naz ...

*Best World Music Recording: Band of Brothers *Best Classical Recording:

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

: '' Concerti grossi Op. 6'',

/ Paul Dyer (

ABC Classics ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult conte ...

) *Best Jazz Recording: James Oehlers and

Paul Grabowsky Paul Atherstone Grabowsky , born 27 September 1958, is an Australian pianist and composer, founder of the Australian Art Orchestra. Biography Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea, Grabowsky is a pianist and composer of music for film, theatre and o ...

, On a Clear Day (Head Records) *Best Event/Festival: Musica Viva Festival *Best New Composition: ''Bliss''

Brett Dean Brett Dean (born 23 October 1961) is an Australian composer, violist and conductor. Early life Brett Dean was born, raised, and educated in Brisbane. He attended Brisbane State High School. He started learning violin at age 8, and later stu ...

*Best Newcomer: Zubin Kanga (piano) 2011 *Music Personality of the year:

*Best Orchestral Concert:

Simone Young Simone Margaret Young AM (born 2 March 1961) is an Australian conductor and academic teacher. She is currently chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Biography and career Young was born in Sydney, of Irish ancestry on her father' ...

*Best Opera Production: ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

'',

*Best Chamber Music Concert:

Synergy Percussion Synergy Percussion is an Australian percussion ensemble formed as Synergy in Sydney in 1974. They mainly play works composed by others for the group. They marked their 40th year with a performance of a new work by Anthony Pateras, specially commi ...

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...

, ''

Pléïades ''Pléïades'' is a composition for six percussionists composed in 1979 by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis, originally commissioned by the percussion ensemble Les Percussions de Strasbourg. It is notable for its use of the sixxen, an instrument Xenak ...

'' *Best Performance in an Opera:

, Figaro in ''

'' *Best Solo Performance: Fiona Campbell *Best World Music Recording: '' Band of Brothers'' *Best Classical Recording: Mozart Violin Concertos Vol. 2,

(BIS) *Best Jazz Recording:

The Idea of North The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1993, by Nick Begbie (tenor), Meg Corson (alto), Trish Delaney-Brown (soprano) and Andrew Piper (bass). Still active in 2024, but touring less frequently sin ...

, ''Extraordinary Tale'' (ABC Classics) *Best Event/Festival:

Festival *Best New Composition:

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake (born 6 September 1958) is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films ''Ali's Wedding'', ''Paper Planes'', ''Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the ...

, ''Missa Solis: Requiem for Eli'' *Best Newcomer: Zane Banks 2012 *Music Personality of the Year:

, conductor *Best Orchestral Concert:

, Beethoven:

Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 9 most commonly refers to: * Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) in D minor (Op. 125, ''Choral'') by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1822–24 * Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák) in E minor (Op. 95, B. 178, ''From the New World'') by Antonín Dvořák, 1893 ...

, ''

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Calm or CALM may refer to: Acronyms Organisations * Cal-Maine (NASDAQ: CALM), an American egg producer * Campaign Against Living Miserably, a UK charity * Department of Conservation and Land Management (Western Australia) * California Living Museu ...

''; Brahms: ''

Geistliches Lied ''Geistliches Lied'' (English: "Sacred Song" or "Spiritual Song"), opus number, Op. 30, by Johannes Brahms is an 1856 work for four-part mixed choir, chorus accompanied by organ (music), organ or piano. The composition is in the form of a canon ( ...

''; Messiaen: '' Prayer of Christ ascending towards his Father'' *Best Chamber Music Concert:

Australian String Quartet The Australian String Quartet (ASQ) is a chamber music group founded in 1985 and based at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. It delivers an artistic program of performances, workshops, commissions, digital content and education projects ...

, Legacy *Best Solo Performance:

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

, Beethoven Violin Concerto *Best Opera Production: '' La traviata'',

*Best Performance in an Opera:

, Violetta in '' La traviata'' *Best Classical Recording:

, ''SSO Live 2012'' *Best New Composition:

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and education Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uz ...

, ''Symphonia Eluvium'' *Best Event/Festival: Australian Festival of Chamber Music *Best Newcomer: Emily Sun, violinist

References

{{Reflist Classical music awards Australian music awards