Recipients Revealed For The Inaugural Diana Torossian Emerging Songwriter Award

Earlier this year, APRA AMCOS revealed that it would introduce the Diana Torossian Emerging Songwriter Award in honour of the artist manager who passed away last year.

Torossian was the Director of her own company, DT Talent Management. Throughout her illustrious career, Torossian was responsible for discovering, nurturing, and managing some of Australia’s most successful artists and songwriters, including David Musumeci and Anthony Egizii (DNA), Lindsay Rimes and Sarah Aarons.

Karen Don, Head of Membership at APRA AMCOS, said of paying tribute to Torossian: “Diana’s untimely passing last year was a huge loss to the Australian music community.

“Given her dedication and passion for Australia’s best and brightest new talent, it seems only fitting that this award has been established in her name, and we are delighted to be able to support it to help the next generation of songwriters get their foot on the ladder.”

Now, the recipients of the inaugural Diana Torossian Emerging Songwriter Award have been announced. The first prize went to indie-pop singer-songwriter Ama. Her prize entails $5,000, plus $20,000 worth of songwriting and mentoring sessions.

The five songwriting sessions will see Ama work with Andrew Lowden (Thrones), David Musumeci and Anthony Egizii (DNA), Evie Irie, Gary Pinto and Michael Fatkin, while the five mentoring sessions are with Lorrae McKenna (Golden Grants), Michael Parisi (management), Paul Harris (Warner Music A&R), Rachel Kelly (Unified Publishing), and Sammie Walsh (Beehive PR).

The second prize went to Wollongong-based alt-pop/R&B singer-songwriter Daisy Pring. She receives a prize of a year-long career development course called Songwriter Success Masterplan, held at the Australian Songwriters Conference and valued at $6,500.

Ama said of her win, “I honestly can’t put into words how much it means to receive this award. I feel incredibly honoured and grateful to everyone involved in this project. It’s a moment of real validation that I'm on the right career path, and it gives me the chance to fully invest in myself and pursue this artist journey with everything I’ve got.”

Pring added, “I am extremely grateful and honoured to receive recognition and support in my songwriting. To be presented this award with the name of one of the industry’s best, Diana Torossian, is a moment I will cherish forever.”

David Musumeci, who set up the award dedicated to Torossian with Andrew Lowden and David Rosenberg, explained: “We’ve been overwhelmed with the huge response to this award, which just goes to show how important recognition and support like this are for emerging songwriters. We hope that Ama and Daisy continue their incredible trajectory in the music industry and look forward to seeing and hearing what they do next!”