The seventh annual Queensland Music Awards will return to the Royal International Convention Centre at Brisbane Showgrounds in March 2019, celebrating what will have been an incredible 2018 for Queensland music.
Earlier this year, Amy Shark, The Jungle Giants, The Kite String Tangle, Greta Stanley and WAAX were recognised for their musical output at the 2018 ceremony, particularly by QMusic CEO Joel Edmondson. “The very strong showing from regional entrants at the 2018 QMAs shows that there is diverse talent bubbling up from every corner of our great state, and we can’t wait to see who rises to the surface after the 2019 nomination process,” said Joel.
The 2019 Billy Thorpe Scholarship, funded by the Queensland Government and administered by QMusic is now open for nominations. Now in its eleventh year, the award provides $10,000 for an emerging artist to record with an established producer, and receive career-planning advice from Chugg Entertainment. Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said the Queensland Music Awards were a wonderful celebration of Queensland’s thriving music industry. “The Palaszczuk Government, through Arts Queensland, proudly supports our state’s contemporary music scene,” Ms Enoch said. “We’ve invested in QMusic to present the QMAs and BIGSOUND, in addition to a raft of awards that enable artists to take advantage of professional development opportunities and access new audiences. This includes the $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship, which for ten years has supported local emerging musicians with their career development and helped them hone their art. Bearing the name of one of Australia’s rock’n’roll trailblazers, the scholarship is unlocking some exceptional musical talent here in Queensland, and putting truly promising artists on a path to success.”
The QMAs have a long history of not only celebrating the worldwide achievement of household names like The Veronicas, Sheppard and DZ Deathrays but also acknowledging emerging songwriters from the far corners of the region. Emma Louise, Tia Gostelow and Amy Shark are among the list of incredible songwriters who credit the support they received from the QMAs to kick-starting their careers, largely due to the exposure of their songs to the event’s 80-strong panel of national and international industry judges. Songwriters across Queensland are encouraged to enter their songs by 12 November via the Queensland Music Awards website.
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