This year’s nominations for the AIR Awards’ best independent classical album have been announced, with guitarist Slava Grigoryan picking up two nods. Acknowledging Australia’s finest independent recordings, the Australian Independent Record Labels Association has included a classical category in its annual awards for the past six years.

Slava Grigoryan. Photo © Simon Shiff

Slava Grigoryan won last year for his bestselling Bach Cello Suites Vol I. This time he’s nominated alongside his brother, Leonard, for Songs Without Words, an album featuring arrangements by their father Edward. Grigoryan is also nominated this year for the follow up to his AIR-winning release, Bach Cello Suites Volume II.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s collaboration with Jonny Greenwood has paid dividends, with its vinyl release Water/Night Music – the first Australian-produced classical vinyl for two decades – also nominated. Water was composed following Greenwood’s time as the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence in 2012, receiving its world-premiere recording here. It’s paired with Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik.

Paul Stanhope’s Lux Aeterna with the Sydney Chamber Choir has also picked up a nomination. Featuring eight of Stanhope’s choral works, composed between 1999 and 2014, the recording represents his long...