Composing the Rolls-Royce: A Composer’s Adventures in Orchestral Composition

This chapter is a self-reflection of a composer’s adventures in writing orchestral music in Australia. Upon completing my undergraduate education in composition at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, I ventured to the United States and found myself studying at the Eastman School of Music. Finishing a Master’s degree with an orchestra piece as my thesis, I moved to Los Angeles and took up a place in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Southern California. The chapter reflects on composing for orchestra as having the keys to the “Rolls-Royce” of ensembles. It traces my “journey” from my first orchestral commission for massed beginner orchestras in Christchurch, to 2006 when I was asked to initiate a composer development program for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Hobart, Tasmania. In addition to having excellent teachers, the key element in my training was exposure to a wide range of repertoire and having access to student ensembles. I moved to Tasmania in 1998 and have since been established as one of Australia’s most prominent composers and mentors in orchestral composition. The chapter also describes three different types of orchestral commissions I have undertaken, and my approach to these compositions.