Cobar’s Sound Chapel was announced among the winners of this year’s Heritage Trust Awards.
It is the second Heritage Trust Award win for Cobar in as many years, with The Great Cobar Museum restoration taking out the Built Heritage and Judges’ Choice Awards last year.
At this year’s awards, presented on Friday at Doltone House in Sydney, the Cobar Sound Chapel was announced as the winner of the 2023 National Trust Heritage Awards Adaptive Re-Use Category.
The permanent sound art installation was completed in early 2022 and is a creation by composer and sound artist Georges Lentz in collaboration with architect Glenn Murcutt.
The Cobar Sound Chapel is an intimate sound space, a marriage of music, architecture, art, poetry, light and nature.
The atmosphere of the Sound Chapel changes from serene during the day, to much more intense at night.
The adaptation of the Sound Chapel from a 1901 water tank into an immersive sound installation and arts venue, along with a six-metre high sculpture by Aboriginal artist Judy Watson and the restoration of Sydney’s Bondi Pavilion, were among the 17 winners this year recognised across nine categories.
The Sound Chapel impressed this year’s judging panel headed up by Chair Matthew Devine along with Barrina South, Caitlin Allen, Charles Pickett, David Burdon, Kathryn Pitkin AM and Lisa Harrold.
The judges commented: “Strong regional heritage projects coming from Cobar which is fantastic” and “Absolutely amazing. An interesting and cutting-edge regional project loved by all judges. A fascinating reimagining of a dis-used 1901 water tank brought to life by a magical collaboration that was inspired by the Outback landscape which resulted in an incredibly unique permanent sound installation and musical venue.”
The National Trust Heritage Awards is an annual celebration of outstanding practice in the field of heritage, awarding excellence in conservation, protection, and interpretation of Aboriginal, built, natural and cultural heritage over the past year.
Heritage NSW’s Executive Director, Sam Kidman said so much skill and time goes into heritage conservation.
“These Awards offer due recognition to the architects, planners, designers, councils and curators, to name a few, who make this work possible,” Mr Kidman said.
“These projects will be enjoyed by many communities across New South Wales.”
The creator of Cobar’s Sound Chapel, composer and sound artist, Georges Lentz, said winning the award had been “very exciting”.
“It’s confirmation of the big effort, the huge amount of commitment and work but, also the fun, that went into the project,” Mr Lentz told The Cobar Weekly.
“And the fact that it is being recognised.
“It wasn’t just something that we did and then that’s forgotten, but it has actually been recognised as having some sort of meaning to other people. It’s an affirmation,” he said.
Mr Lentz said he was happy to hear reports that the Sound Chapel had been receiving lots of visits from people from all around the world.
He said he’s very keen to be returning to Cobar and the Sound Chapel site in October for a concert with the fellows of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the string quartet.
Cobar’s Sound Chapel is also in the running for two more awards having been nominated for the Australian Art Music Awards in both the ‘Sound Art’ and ‘Excellence in Regional Areas’ categories.
Winners will be announced in August.
