Top composer named best classical artist

The award recognises her recent album The Gristle of Knuckles, which features nine selected musicians including Don McGlashan, Delaney Davidson, Nathan Haines, and Kevin Field reimagining a collection of de Castro-Robinson's solo works.

The album, made with Steve Garden of Rattle Records, features the composer herself playing a toy piano, kalimba and music box on the final, two minute track.

“It opened up a way of working that was highly collaborative, not just a straight reading of my detailed scores, which has been the norm for my previous recordings,” says de Castro-Robinson. “Steve and I handpicked the musicians together, and it was an utter pleasure to work with such a wide spectrum of New Zealand’s best, hearing their various interpretations and improvisations.”
 

De Castro-Robinson is one of New Zealand’s foremost composers and performers. She has received numerous awards during her career including the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 1998, 2006, (and finalist in 2007). She has been commissioned and performed by a wide variety of performers, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia, with whom she was Composer-in-Residence in 1991, Chamber Music New Zealand, the New Zealand String Quartet, NZ Trio, New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, the Nash Ensemble of London. She has three solo albums on the Atoll label and two with Rattle, including a vinyl photobook collaboration.

To find out more about The Gristle of Knuckles visit https://rattle.co.nz/catalogue/releases/the-gristle-of-knuckles