Lyn Williams Recognised For Distinguished Services to Australian Music

The 2024 Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, has been awarded to Lyn Williams AM. The award will be presented to her at the Art Music Awards on Wednesday 14 August at the Southbank Theatre in Melbourne | Naarm.

In the spirit of its namesake, the honour is awarded to Williams for her decades-long dedication to choral performance and music development in Australia.

Williams’ contribution to Australian choral music has been unmatched since she founded the Sydney Children’s Choir in 1989. Its gradual evolution saw the formation of the Gondwana Choirs, which today encompasses Gondwana Voices, Gondwana Chorale, Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choirs and the Indigenous women’s choir, Marliya.

Williams’ artistic vision through the Gondwana Choirs has seen the commissioning of over 200 new choral works, many of which involve Australian composers and deep engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and cultures. The critically-acclaimed show Spinifex Gum with singer-songwriter Felix Riebl and the singers of Marliya, is just one of those exemplary works which has featured in almost every Australian arts festival since its premiere in 2018.

Over 35 years, the Gondwana Choirs has built a legacy of remarkable performances, with highlights including the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the monumental Gondwana World Choral Festival in 2019.

To date, Williams has received numerous accolades recognising her contributions to Australian music. Most recently, she was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 and, following her steadfast leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, was nominated for NSW Australian of the Year in 2022. Beyond these honours, Williams’ legacy extends through the choristers who have followed her footsteps to become musicians, continuing the work of inspiring others to connect through the power of music and song.

The honour will be presented at the Art Music Awards at the Southbank’s Malthouse Theatre and accompanied by live music performances curated by Sia Ahmad and hosted by Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe with Miranda Hill and conductor Benjamin Northey. The line-up will represent the diverse breadth of contemporary Australian art music practice, including works by Cheryl Durongpisitkul, Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 & Sui Zhen,  Cameron Lam (by The Consort of Melbourne), Daniel Wilfred, David Wilfred, Sunny Kim, Peter Knight and Aviva Endean and Bree van Reyk.