Belinda's award provided a festival kickstart
1 Jun 11
Australia Council Don Banks Music Award 2011 went to Kangaroo Valley resident and Artistic Director of Arts in the Valley Belinda Webster, OAM, who has been honoured with the prestigious award for her outstanding contribution to Australian music.
Belinda’s award was celebrated at a reception hosted by the Australia Council in Kangaroo Valley at 5 pm on Friday, May 6, the opening night of the third Arts in the Valley.
The reception was attended by more than 40 guests, including Belinda Webster OAM (recipient of the Don Banks Music Award 2011), Matthew Hindson (Australia Council Music Board Chair), Paul Mason (Australia Council Music Director), John Wright (Arts in the Valley President) and Denise Wright, Belinda’s mother Jocelyn Webster, Belinda’s father Bill Webster and his wife Tessa Webster, composer Martin Wesley-Smith AM, and librettist Peter Wesley-Smith.
Following the reception, the guests moved on to the Kangaroo Valley Hall for the opening night concert of Arts in the Valley, prior to which Australia Council Music Board Chair Matthew Hindson officially presented Belinda Webster with a framed award certificate in front of a packed house of more than 200 guests.
Belinda is the second woman to receive the Don Banks Music Award since its inception in 1996.
For twenty years Belinda has been committed to commissioning, producing and recording Australian music through her recording label, Tall Poppies.
This year marks the third time Belinda has curated Arts in the Valley, the biennial 3-day festival combining classical and fine contemporary music with dance and sculpture, in the heart of Australia’s most beautiful valley.