Three University of Tasmania music students will take their debut album on a free five-show tour of the state this week after winning the 2026 Ossa Music Prize.
Folk trio PALENCIA will open the tour in Queenstown on Tuesday and finish in Hobart on November 9, performing songs from its album Westerly.
Amity Hutton, Emily Oates and Christian Palencia are Bachelor of Music students at the university’s Conservatorium of Music, where they met and formed the band 18 months ago.
The university described it as a “fairytale folk album” featuring the group’s harmonies and arrangements.
The trio won the prize last month. It is valued at $14,500, including the fully funded tour they are about to embark on.
“Our music draws a lot of inspiration from place so we’re very excited to see how the band is influenced by our travel around the state,” said Hutton, who is from Wynyard in the state’s north-west.
“I’m also keen to bring this music back home to show my friends and family what I’ve been working on.”
Oates said the album had a broader purpose.
“Each song is a chapter of a larger story with the intention of spreading awareness of neurodivergence, inclusion and culture,” she said.
For Palencia, the tour is also preparation for the band’s next record.
“I’m preparing to write our next album, Southerly, which is inspired by my time in Tasmania,” he said. “This tour will give me an edge with actual lived experience to inform the songs so I’m elated at this opportunity.”
Named after Tasmania’s highest peak, the prize was established in 2018 by university alumnus Rod Roberts and Cecile Roberts to help students pursue excellence in musicianship.
The Queenstown show at the Paragon Theatre will be held in memory of Margaret Stoermer, with support from her family.
After Queenstown, the trio will play Burnie’s Makers Workshop on November 4, the university’s Annexe Theatre in Launceston on November 5 and Swansea Town Hall on November 6. The tour ends at The Hedberg’s Ian Potter Recital Hall in Hobart. All shows start at 6pm.
Westerly will be released on Bandcamp on November 6 and on other streaming platforms on November 27.
Tickets are free, but bookings are essential because seating is limited.
Last year’s prize, valued at $13,000, went to pianist Miffy Wang, then an Honours student at the Conservatorium. Wang toured the state performing works by Tasmanian composers Don Kay and Maria Grenfell alongside paintings commissioned from university art student Audrey Carter.
