Music Industry News

Some of New Zealand’s finest composers have been shortlisted for three awards to be presented at the 2025 APRA Silver Scroll Awards | Kaitito Kaiaka at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Ōtautahi Christchurch on Wednesday 29 October.

SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha

The SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha is New Zealand’s premier composition award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition. This year’s finalists highlight a captivating array of expression, spanning innovative compositions to orchestral adaptations of classic poetry.

SOUNZ Contemporary Award – Te Tohu Auaha finalists

Drift Aspect by Dylan Lardelli
In The Stars by Flo Wilson
or coral and foam by Ihlara McIndoe, with text by Katherine Mansfield
Wow Signal by Chris Gendall

Dylan Lardelli is active in both the creation and interpretation of contemporary music. His own work explores gesture, colour, physicality, and memory in innovative ways: finding new modes of instrumental technique that feel at once entirely idiomatic and sonically novel. His music has been commissioned and performed throughout the world by musicians such as, Klangforum Wien, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Horomono Horo, and many more. Lardelli’s nominated composition Drift Aspect was commissioned by renowned ensemble based in Cologne, Ensemble Musikfabrik, and premiered at Mostra Sonostra Sueca 2024, an international contemporary music festival in Spain.

Flo Wilson (they/she) is a composer, performer, and artist from Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa based in Berlin. Their practice spans choral-based experimental electronic performances, immersive spatial sound and video installations, composing for contemporary dance, and as a producer. Speaking on their nominated composition In the Stars Flo explains that it “draws inspiration from the spectral and spatial possibilities of contemporary organ music, as well as the medieval choral traditions of Hildegard von Bingen, a renowned seer, herbalist, and composer who lived nearly 1000 years ago.” In the Stars was premiered at The Second Aotearoa International Festival of Secret Sounds at Silo Park and transformed six silos into “a kind of giant hybrid organ” which audience members could walk through while listening.

Ihlara McIndoe is a composer from Ōtepoti Dunedin, currently based in New York. Her compositional work draws on themes of exploration and preservation to investigate artistic ecologies and creative modes of (re)thinking, (re)making and remembering. Ihlara’s composition of coral and foam is inspired by the poetry of Katherine Mansfield, particularly her sorrowful sea songs: Sea Child, Sea, and Sea Song (all written between 1910-1913). While explaining Mansfield’s varied character depictions of the sea, Ihlara explains “It is within this tension that I found a starting point to explore musical materials that might flow from this unstable footing.” The piece was composed for The Rhythm Method Quartet as part of the Columbia Composers 2025 season, performed at Fridman Gallery, NYC.

Chris Gendall’s works have graced the programmes of the NZSO, NZTrio, and the New Zealand String Quartet. Chris returns to the SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha shortlist after winning in 2008 for Wax Lyrical. This year, Chris is nominated for his composition Wow Signal, a concerto for trombone and orchestra. The work was performed by the NZSO under the baton of Hamish McKeich, featuring soloist David Bremner, for the 2024 New Zealand Composer Sessions. Chris wanted to highlight the versatility of the trombone, particularly the way it can mimic the human voice.

APRA Screen Awards

These two awards recognise the work of our composers that lend their expertise to film and series. Screen writers have the often-challenging task of defining the tone, illuminating the story, supporting the characters, and enriching the experience for the viewer, all while remaining unobtrusive and working within the constraints of the production – whether that’s a documentary, a drama, or a light comedy. This year’s finalists cross a wide range of styles and genres, in both local and international productions.

APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award | Tohu Paerangi finalists

Luke Di Somma for Happiness
Stephen Gallagher and David Long* for Secrets at Red Rocks (*Concord Music Publishing)
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper for The Gone Season 2

APRA Best Original Music in a Film Award | Tohu Pūmanawa finalists

Claire Cowan for Jean Cocteau
Arli Liberman* and Tiki Taane for Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End (*Heard and Seen Publishing)
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper for Plankton: The Movie

Luke Di Somma is an award-winning composer, lyricist, writer, musical director and educator working across musical theatre, opera, and television. Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Luke is based in Melbourne. Luke is the co-creator, songwriter and Executive Producer for Happiness which has landed him a nomination for the 2025 Tohu Paerangi. Happiness is a new musical TV comedy starring Rebecca Gibney, and created by Kip Chapman, alongside Luke.

Two of New Zealand’s top screen composers, Stephen Gallagher and David Long, join the nominee list for their collaboration on adventure series Secrets at Red Rocks. The story follows a 12-year-old boy who discovers a seal skin in Wellington, unleashing mythical creatures and dangers. Both Stephen and David are internationally recognised composers having worked with film and music industry legends and winning various awards for their work.

Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper is a notable figure in the Aotearoa music scene with award winning work as a composer, violinist, producer, arranger, and collaborator. From working with TEEKS and L.A.B to writing acclaimed film scores for directors including Lee Tamahori, Gerard Johnstone, Tearepa Kahi and Roseanne Liang. His classical work includes composing, arranging and curating concerts for both the Auckland Philharmonia and the NZSO. Mahuia lands on both Screen Award shortlists (Tohu Paerangi and Tohu Pūmanawa) for his work on NZ/Irish crime series The Gone, and SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff, Plankton: The Movie.

Claire Cowan is hailed as one of New Zealand’s most exciting composers with an impressive array of scoring and composition credits spanning concert, film, television, and theatre. Seven prime-time TV soundtracks, multiple “Best Original Score” national awards, several composer residencies, and two full length ballets commissioned from the Royal New Zealand Ballet are just a few of the many accolades to her name. Claire is nominated for the Tohu Pūmanawa for her score on documentary feature Jean Cocteau which premiered at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.

Arli Liberman is an award-winning screen composer, producer and guitarist who creates vibrant, immersive music for film, TV, multimedia and live experiences. In 2024 he collaborated with Tiki Taane (Ngāti Maniapoto) to create the soundtrack to the historical drama in te reo Māori Ka Whawhai Tonu -Struggle Without End (2024) directed by Mike Jonathan (Tainui, Mātaatua, Te Arawa). Their approach was to make an “invisible sonic character”, experimenting with taonga pūoro and Taane’s voice, pushing the instruments to their limits. This collaboration has landed them both on the 2025 shortlist for the Tohu Pūmanawa.

Congratulations to all finalists this year. You can read more about the SOUNZ Contemporary Award |Te Tohu Auaha here.

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