A talented young musician is one step closer to becoming a professional artist after winning the 2009 Billy Thorpe Scholarship.
Premier and Arts Minister Anna Bligh congratulated Brisbane guitarist Alan Boyle on winning the $10,000 scholarship at the Q Song Awards in Brisbane tonight (11 August).
“This scholarship was named in honour of late, great Australian musician Billy Thorpe who passed away in February 2007,” Ms Bligh said. “Billy spent his formative years in Brisbane and made an enormous contribution to the Australian and global music industry over five decades of performing, writing and producing.
”During our Q150 year, as we honour our people, our places and our stories, it is important to remember our cultural heroes such as Billy whose musical legacy has touched all Australians.
“Alan’s considerable skill in playing, programming and arrangement makes him a worthy recipient of the Scholarship which he will use to study piano and music theory to create his own sound for live performance and future recording.”
Alan’s commitment to establishing himself as an all-round performer appealed to the selection panel , which consisted of Billy Thorpe’s wife Lynne and daughters, Lauren and Rusty, and Thorpe’s long-term managers Amanda Pelman and Michael Chugg.
The annual Billy Thorpe Scholarship, administered by Arts Queensland, gives a structured range of support for an emerging musician to establish their professional career through career planning and the opportunity to record with a local producer.
The Q Song Awards which celebrates Queensland songwriting talent is supported by Q Music which receives triennial funding of $220,000 from the Queensland Government.
Other songwriters recognised at the awards included the Gold Coast's Lucas Proudfoot, winning the Indigenous Award for What’s Going On; Troy Cassar-Daley’s Big Big Love was named Published Song of the Year; Timothy Carroll won Song of the Year for Danshyttan; and The Bee Gees took home the G. W McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award.
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11 August 2009
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