This two-year initiative offered a unique opportunity for four selected students to create new works that explore the intersection between words and music.
The program, initially conceived by聽Associate Professor 聽and led by聽Associate Professor ,听will see selected students supervised by some of Australia's most accomplished composers, including聽Professor ,听Associate Professor ,听 AO, and聽Professor .
Over the two-year period, students created a range of pieces, including art songs, a scene from a musical, a choral work, and more, culminating in the composition and performance of a new Chamber Opera in collaboration with NIDA in November 2024.
This program is open to applicants with an undergraduate degree in music composition who are interested in pursuing a聽Master of Music (Composition)听辞谤听Doctor of Musical Arts.
Unafraid to tackle any genre, Oliver John Cameron's compositions are informed by music theatre, pop and modern classical aesthetics. He completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) with Honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2015 and is currently the composer-in-residence at Meriden School. Oliver's musical, 'The Colour Orange', received awards at the Sydney and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, he placed third in the Willoughby Symphony Young Composer Award 2022 and his work 'five lullabies for uncertain times' won the Willgoss Choral Prize in 2021.
Aija Draguns is a composer and conductor from Sydney, with a special passion聽for聽vocal聽music. Her compositions are inspired by her Latvian heritage, specifically from the folk and choral genres. Aija holds a bachelor and honours degree in composition from the Sydney Conservatorium of聽Music. In 2022, Aija鈥檚聽music聽premiered in the Sydney Opera House with her children's opera 鈥淢ax and Moritz鈥, and in Sydney Town Hall with her orchestral work聽鈥淟avender Paper Cranes鈥, performed by Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra. As well as composing, Aija regularly conducts community choirs and orchestras, and is the 2022-23 Create NSW conducting fellow with Sydney Youth Orchestras
Jessica is a performer, composer and new聽music聽advocate. An APRA/AMCOS Art聽Music聽award winner and recipient of a Fellowship from AIM聽for聽鈥極utstanding Achievements & Services to the Australian聽Music聽& Performing Arts Industry鈥, Jessica鈥檚聽musical career has traversed opera, pop, early聽music, jazz and聽musical theatre and has seen her perform at all major Australian venues as well as multiple festivals throughout Europe and Asia. Having released two solo experimental pop albums to critical acclaim and several art聽music聽commissions, Jessica aims to explore cross-genre compositional practices that incorporate contemporary pop production techniques into new classical compositions to invigorate the element of storytelling, particularly within the operatic genre.
Hao Zhen is a composer, media artist, and pianist. As a Chinese-born聽musician, her creativity draws inspiration from Eastern and Western aesthetics. Her聽musicoften explores the interplay between fragmentation and unraveling, highlighting the non-linearity of time. Her media practices focus on experimental documentaries and stop-motion.
