The nominations for the 2020 AIR Awards’ Best Independent Classical Album have been announced. Presented by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association, the AIR Awards recognise, promote and celebrate Australia’s independent music sector.

This year the five classical nominations acknowledge albums by Amy Dickson, Joseph Tawadros, Katie Noonan with the Australian String Quartet, Richard Tognetti and Erin Helyard, and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch, with heldentenor Stuart Skelton.

Saxophonist Amy Dickson has been nominated for her album In Circles in which she pays homage to Australian and European folk traditions. Released by ABC Classic, the recording features music by Sculthorpe, Grainger, Brahms and Vaughan Williams among others. Pianist Daniel de Borah joins Dickson for Manuel de Falla’s Jota.

Oud player Joseph Tawadros is nominated for his self-produced album Betrayal of a Sacred Sunflower. Described as “a reflective, meditative and emotional journey in music”, the dreamy, melancholic recording features music written by Tawadros himself. For the recording he teams the oud with violin and 6-string violin (Veronique Serret), piano (Luke Howard), electric guitar (Damian de Boos-Smith), trombone (James Greening) and Egyptian percussion (James Tawadros).

“For this album I wanted to explore...