The winners of the Spellbound Best of 2006 Awards were announced on the December 31 episode of Spellbound, a brief program of music for theremin.
Best Classical Performance: Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" by Masami Takeuchi
Also nominated: J. S. Bach's "Ricercare" by Kevin Kissinger; Shostakovich's "Romance Theme" from "The Gadfly" suite by Peter Pringle; Liszt's "Funeraille" by Kip Rosser; "Ashkar" by Armen Ra
Best Neo-Classical Performance: "Meteor Mallets" by Kevin Kissinger.
Also nominated: "Divertimento" by Kip Rosser & Howard Moscovitz; "The Portrait" by Barbez; "Flor de Azalea con Theremin" by Ernesto Mendoza; "Waltz for Clara (new theremin version" by Rob Schwimmer
Best Electronic Performance: "A Burst of Colour" by Kevin Sinnott.
Also nominated: "Autumn Freaks" by Guiye Frayo; "Le Chat Noir" by Black Saint; "Flying With Our Eyes Closed" by Ninki V
Best Rock Performance: "Omnipotent Reprise" by The Inactivists (Victoria Lundy)
Also nominated: "2325262729" by ZenTherStick (Matthew Hepworth); "Scrilla" by Here Comes a Big Black Cloud (Benjamin Applebaum); "Song of the Moldau" by Barbez (Pamelia Kurstin)
Best Ambient/Avantgarde Performance: "Four Mantras" by Kip Rosser
Also nominated: "Last Conversation Piece" by Rupert Chappelle; "Nadir" by Camarilla (Steve Backus); "Night Rain" by Ann Cantelow; "Improvisation #2" by Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel (Scott Burland)
Honorable Mention recognition is also given to promising up-and-coming thereminists who were not nominated in other categories. This year's Honorable Mention theremin artists are: Monsignor SpaceMoore; Beat Frequency; and Sean McMillan (Le Chambre Nautili, Subterranean Bleu Minds, Miss Chocolate Cake).
The Spellbound Awards are selected from performances that were produced during the year of 2006 and had clearance to be played on the program. A total of 96 performances were eligible this year.
I see quite a few familiar names in this list including many Theremin World members. Congratulations to everyone! Your work is an inspiration to us all!
