Tall Poppies Records
Tall Poppies Records is an Australian record label founded in September 1991 to present Australian music and musicians by musician and recording producer Belinda Webster. It records art music, both classical or jazz, and focuses on Australian music. Since inauguration Tall Poppies has released almost 200 CDs featuring performances by the Australian artists and has created an archive of performances of Australian music. Tall Poppies is a not-for-profit label. The composers often attend recording sessions, making for a sense of authenticity of the recordings which in future times might provide useful reference points for performers. Tall Poppies also releases recordings by Australian composers from the past, such as Margaret Sutherland, Katharine Parker, Arthur Benjamin, Raymond Hanson, Don Banks and Peggy Glanville-Hicks.
Australian composers
Tall Poppies presents the work of Australian composers. Single-composer chamber music collections include music spanning a number of years. The composer is always involved in the preparation of the CD, from the choice of repertoire and artists to participation in recording, editing and presentation. Composers recorded include Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Nigel Westlake, Georges Lentz, Carl Vine, David Stanhope, Andrew Ford, Andrew Schultz, Anne Boyd, Nigel Butterley, Tristram Cary, Elena Kats-Chernin, Anne Ghandar, Graeme Koehne, Martin Wesley-Smith and Bruce Cale.
Performer-based multi-composer collections present performers or ensembles, highlighting the performers' involvement with Australian music. Frequently the recorded works have been commissioned and premiered by the performer. Sometimes they are the result of one performing group presenting many composers' work on a single theme. Other such collections have been recorded by
- Ian Munro
- David Pereira
- Lisa Moore
- Timothy Kain
- Merlyn Quaife
- The Tall Poppies Ensemble
- Georg Pedersen
- Patricia Pollett
- Geoffrey Collins
- Larry Sitsky
- Queensland Philharmonic
- Australia Ensemble
Australian performers
Performers who have appeared regularly on Tall Poppies include the Australia Ensemble, the Song Company, the Australian Youth Orchestra, David Pereira (cello), Ian Munro (piano), Merlyn Quaife (soprano), Lisa Moore (piano), Michael Kieran Harvey (piano), Stephanie McCallum (piano), David Stanhope (piano); Geoffrey Lancaster; Timothy Kain (guitar), Riley Lee (shakuhachi), Roy Howat (piano), David Bollard (piano), Sydney Chamber Choir, the Goldner String Quartet and many more.
Commissioning
Tall Poppies commissions works for recording. Tall Poppies has commissioned 47 new works.