University of Tasmania, Australia

A UTAS Conservatorium of Music lecturer and PhD student has been honoured with two prestigious jazz music awards.

Nick Haywood, Senior Lecturer and PhD candidate at the Conservatorium, has been awarded both the APRA Art Music Award for Excellence in Jazz (2012) and the Bell Award: Best Australian Contemporary Jazz Album (2012).

Nick formed his quartet as part of his PhD research. His award-winning CD 1234 was recorded as one of the major components of his PhD Complexity Through Interaction - an Investigation into the Spontaneous Development of Collective Musical Ideas from Simple Thematic Materials, a topic that links pure research and music performance.

Over the past 30 years Nick Haywood has become one of the most in demand bassists and educators on the Australian music scene. He has impressive performance and recording credits with both Australian and international artists.

Nick has been a featured artist on approximately 100 CDs and has been nominated for numerous ARIA awards. He has performed at many major jazz festivals, both in Australia and internationally.

He has also presented master classes at universities and music colleges around the world.

Head of the UTAS Conservatorium of Music, Associate Professor Andrew Legg, congratulated Nick on his fantastic achievements.

"Nick is one of Australia's most loved and respected contemporary musicians.

"Nick's playing and compositions are absolutely world-class and we are extremely proud of his tremendous success and all that he is bringing to the Conservatorium."