Dylan Lardelli Wins The 2026 SOUNZ Contemporary Award Te Tohu Auaha
by SOUNZ · SCOOPSOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music Toi te Arapūoru, in collaboration with APRA AMCOS Te Tautāwhinga is delighted to announce Dylan Lardelli (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tūhoe) as the winner of the 2026 SOUNZ Contemporary Award Te Tohu Auaha. Dylan’s winning work, Light Lines is a work for string trio that builds emerging fragile lines out of ever-shifting and invisible foundations.
Light Lines is inspired by a quote from Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, “The fairest order in the world (the most beautiful kosmos) is a heap of random sweepings.” In the work, unity is finally created as a sum of the continuously changing parts presented by the three musicians. With support from the APRA Art Music Fund 2025, the work was commissioned by the Switzerland-based Mondrian Ensemble (Ivana Pristašová-Zaugg, violin; Petra Ackermann, viola; and Martin Jaggi, cello) who premiered the work at a concert in April at the New Zealand School of Music’s Adam Concert Room. The premiere of Light Lines was captured here by SOUNZ Films: listen to Light Lines by Dylan Lardelli.
Composer and guitarist Dylan Lardelli is originally from Wellington, and has studied in Aotearoa, Italy, and Germany. An active performer and advocate for contemporary New Zealand music, Dylan has commissioned more than 40 new works and presented concerts and recordings throughout New Zealand and internationally. Dylan was the 2018-2019 Mozart Fellow and Otago University in Dunedin, and has been awarded research residencies, scholarships, and prizes on three continents. On being awarded this prize, Dylan said:
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"I feel very humbled to receive this year's SOUNZ Contemporary Award, especially amongst such worthy finalists. I was very privileged to have such an accomplished and sensitive group of musicians bring my music to life - the Mondrian Ensemble - who captured my music with such elegance, in so many performances around the world."
The 2026 SOUNZ Contemporary Award finalists were Samuel Holloway (for his solo piano work, Soft Logic), Dylan Lardelli (for Light Lines), Ihlara McIndoe (for curio, a work for voice and chamber orchestra), and Michael Norris and Nicholas Denton Protsack (for their work for cello and live and pre-recorded electronics, Partial Forms). The four works were selected from 55 entries from 41 New Zealand composers by an independent panel of music industry professionals; New Zealanders Bridget Douglas, Chris Gendall, Hermione Johnson, and Riki Pirihi, as well as international representative Andrew Norman (United States), Professor of Composition at the USC Thornton School of Music. The entries represented a diverse range of musical styles in the broader art music genres, ranging from contemporary classical pieces for large and small ensembles, to jazz and sonic art works.
SOUNZ’s Chief Executive Hannah Darroch also conveyed her congratulations to Dylan on this important achievement:
“A huge congratulations to Dylan for winning the 2026 SOUNZ Contemporary Award Te Tohu Auaha, with his very innovative Light Lines. Dylan is a highly-skilled composer leading a fulfilling creative life on an international scale, and we can all be very proud of his success.
I extend my congratulations to all of our finalists this year - it was an extremely diverse and talented pool of applicants this year, and our organisation is proud to be able to celebrate our composers in the context of the broader music industry through our long-standing association with the APRA Silver Scrolls.”
The award was accepted on Dylan’s behalf at the 2026 APRA Silver Scroll Awards Kaitito Kaiaka, held at Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Kiri Te Kanawa theatre on Wednesday 14 October. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in songwriting and composition across all genres in Aotearoa.
The SOUNZ Contemporary Award Te Tohu Auaha recognises New Zealand compositions demonstrating outstanding levels of creativity and inspiration, and has been presented in collaboration with APRA AMCOS NZ since 1998.
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