Screen Music Awards Winners for 2022 Announced

2022 Screen Music Awards winner Caitlin
Courtesy of APRA AMCOS

The winners of the 2022 Screen Music Awards have been revealed.

Caitlin Yeo scored two wins for her work on “New Gold Mountain” in the categories Best Television Theme and Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie.

“New Gold Mountain” is a revisionist western set in 1857 Ballarat, largely from the perspective of Chinese gold miners. It features a blend of strings, traditional Chinese instruments and a mixture of percussion, including a gold pan being used as an instrument.

Didgeridoo player and composer William Barton along with Australian Chamber Orchestra artistic director Richard Tognetti and Piers Burbrook de Vere also took home two awards for their work on motion picture “River”. The trio was awarded Best Soundtrack Album and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for “Spirit Voice of the Enchanted Waters” which featured in the film.

“The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson” won Feature Film Score of the Year. The film was written and directed by Leah Purcell who also starred in it, while Salliana Seven Campbell used fiddles, banjos, mandolins, piano and electric guitars to create a raw soundtrack to match the film’s energy.

Best Music for a Television Series or Serial went to Antony Partos and Matteo Zingales for their collaboration on the acclaimed political drama series “Total Control”, while composer Hylton Mowday won “Best Music for a Documentary” for the Emmy Award-winning doco “Puff: Wonders of the Reef”.

The 2022 Screen Music Awards also honoured the most performed composers, with Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks taking out Most Performed Screen Composer in Australia, for their work on “MasterChef”, “Anh’s Brush with Fame” and “Beauty and the Geek Australia”. The duo has won the award nine times.

Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas went to Neil Sutherland for the 15th consecutive year for his work on “Border Security”, “MythBusters” and “Bondi Vet”.

The Awards are an initiative of APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC).

The full list of winners is below.

Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award
Nigel Westlake

Feature Film Score of the Year
“The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson”
Composed by Salliana Seven Campbell

Best Television Theme
“New Gold Mountain”
Composed by Caitlin Yeo
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Lillipilli IP

Best Music for a Television Series or Serial
“Total Control”
Composed by Antony Partos & Matteo Zingales
Published by Sonar Music

Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie
“New Gold Mountain”
Composed by Caitlin Yeo
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Lillipilli IP

Best Soundtrack Album
“River”
Composed by Richard Tognetti with William Barton* & Piers Burbrook de Vere
Published by G Schirmer Australia*

Best Original Song Composed for the Screen
“Spirit Voice of the Enchanted Waters” from “River”
Composed by William Barton*, Piers Burbrook de Vere & Richard Tognetti
Published by G Schirmer Australia*

Best Music for a Documentary
“Puff: Wonders of the Reef”
Composed by Hylton Mowday
Published by We Love Jam Studios

Best Music for a Short Film
“Still Life”
Composed by Wil Hughes

Best Music for Children’s Programming
“The Deep”
Composed by Nerida Tyson-Chew
Published by A Stark Production

Best Music for an Advertisement
“Destination NSW: Feel New”
Composed by Lance Gurisik
Published by Massive Publishing

Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia
Composers: Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks
For: “MasterChef”, “Anh’s Brush with Fame”, “Beauty and the Geek Australia”

Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas
Composer: Neil Sutherland
For: “Border Security”, “MythBusters”, “Bondi Vet”