WASO’s Composition Project offers young and emerging Western Australian composers the opportunity to develop their skills in a professional environment. Through a series of individual lessons, workshops and rehearsals, participants will compose a new work for a 14-piece chamber ensemble, performed by WASO musicians in front of a live audience at Perth Concert Hall. Participants are mentored both by James Ledger (Artistic Director), Olivia Davies (WASO Composer-in-Residence) and WASO musicians.
This project has helped previous participants successfully gain placement in national and international composition programs, post-graduate studies and secure professional commissions and residencies.
The program offers emerging composers currently studying at a tertiary institution or recently graduated (2021/2022) the opportunity to write a chamber work for WASO musicians. Throughout the project composers will develop their work in close collaboration with a WASO musicians, building knowledge of the professional commissioning process of working with a chamber ensemble and building skills in the live compositional workshop process.
"When you work with people of such high quality and professionalism you can’t help but be brought up to their level.”
– Brendan Boyle, 2021 participant
"Working with Josh has proved to be the most enjoyable part of the composition project for myself, with his incredibly expansive knowledge of the instrument, interesting repertoire, and compositional processes, proving invaluable in the formation of the piece that I have produced, and in the expansion of my capacity as a composer."
- Charles Barblett, 2020 participant
The winner will get the opportunity to compose a new 3-minute piece of music for WASO’s mainstage education concert in 2024.
Applications for Composition Project 2023 (14-piece chamber ensemble) are now closed.