Grayson Gilmour, who completed a Master’s in Film Composition at Victoria University of Wellington’s music school last month, is “completely surprised, but encouraged” to win the coveted composition award.
“This win is special because the award is for musicians, by musicians. It’s encouraging to get that nod of approval from my peers,” he says.
“A lot of this work is very solitary, and film scores are a bit of a phantom art form because they’re in the background. So to stand in front of a people [and be acknowledged] is surreal.”
Grayson composed the score to the feature-length film Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story as part of his Master’s degree. The score includes cues ranging from full string orchestra to minimalist electronic sounds.
Grayson has been composing music for 16 years, released numerous solo tracks and was a member of the electronic/post-punk band So So Modern. Consent was his fifth film score.
NZSM Programme Leader for Composition Michael Norris says: “Consent is one of the most sensitive, genuine and ultimately uplifting scores I have heard in a long time”. He has since used one of the film’s scenes in an NZSM first-year composition course to demonstrate the power of film music.
Michael says the Silver Scrolls was a big night for NZSM with many of its alumni walking away with awards. NZSM PhD graduate Chris Watson won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for his piano concerto sing songs self, which was performed on the night by jazz maestro Paul Dyne who taught at the music school for nearly 30 years until his retirement earlier this year.
The other two category finalists, music student Reuben Jelleyman and former lecturer of 33 years Ross Harris, also have NZSM connections.
Tom McLeod, also an NZSM graduate, won the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award for his score to the TV series Girl vs. Boy.