jazz-news
Tyaan Singh Wins the 2026 APRA Best Jazz Composition Award for 'Lunar Sparks'
Wellington multi-instrumentalist Tyaan Singh has won the 2026 APRA Best Jazz Composition Award for 'Lunar Sparks,' from his album Imaginary Friends. The prize was presented on the final day of the Wellington Jazz Festival.
Tyaan Singh, a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Wellington, New Zealand, has won the 2026 APRA Best Jazz Composition Award for his piece "Lunar Sparks." APRA AMCOS, the songwriters' and composers' rights organization, said the award was presented at a private event in Wellington on Sunday evening, Oct. 18, local time, the final day of the Wellington Jazz Festival. Singh was a first-time finalist.
"Lunar Sparks" comes from Singh's album Imaginary Friends. The recording features Singh with Louisa Williamson, Hayden Afele Nickel, Callum Allardice, Seth Boy and Shaun Anderson. In its announcement, APRA AMCOS said that across the album Singh steps outside traditional structures "to create a heightened sense of surreality," and described the winning track as "a frantic, frenzied burst of sound" that channels "the dizzying, almost delirious rush of uninhibited joy."
The other finalists were "Delta Works," composed by Alex van den Broek and performed by the Symposium Dectet, and "Mr. Spirit," composed by Alex Keatley and performed by Keatley and ensemble.
The award was handed to Singh by musicologist, writer and jazz pianist Norman Meehan. Afterward, guests attended Te Ao Kōhatu: Hikurangi Schaverian-Kaa, the festival's 2026 commissioned performance, in which Singh played saxophone. APRA AMCOS thanked Tāwhiri Warehouse and the Wellington Jazz Festival for hosting the presentation.
According to the organization, Singh grew up on the Kāpiti Coast and developed interests across jazz, rock, reggae and classical music as a teenager. As a saxophonist he has worked in jazz with Louisa Williamson and Umar Zakaria, and in a more pop-oriented direction with artists including Dallas Tamaira; as a bassist he has focused on R&B and hip-hop. APRA AMCOS says he nonetheless considers himself primarily a jazz musician, with a focus on emotional authenticity, intensity and connection between players.
The APRA Best Jazz Composition Award has been presented annually for 11 years and recognizes new work that adds to the repertoire of jazz in Aotearoa New Zealand. Past winners named by APRA AMCOS include Cory Champion, Louisa Williamson, Lauren Ellis, Lucien Johnson, Jake Baxendale, Anita Schwabe and Callum Allardice, two of whom, Williamson and Allardice, play on the winning track this year.