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Photo: Bridget Elliot

James Ledger is an Australian composer who began compositional life working as an arranger and music editor in the mid-1990s. During this time he began writing music for theatre and television as well as chamber music. His orchestral work from this period, Indian Pacific, is regularly performed around Australia.

From 2007 to 2009, Ledger was composer in residence with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. His Trumpet Concerto was premiered in April, 2007 by the orchestra's principal trumpet player, David Elton under Sachio Fujioka. The orchestra has since gone on to perform Arcs and Planes and Chronicles, both under their chief conductor, Paul Daniel. In 2003-04, he was the composer attached to the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, a result of this was Peeling, conducted by Hannu Lintu, who took it in further performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2007.

In 2008, Ledger was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to Europe to research contemporary compositional practice with a particular focus on new classical music in Estonia. Currently, he is a lecturer in composition at the University of Western Australia.

Recently commissioned work includes Rashomon Confessions, a clarinet quintet for the Sydney Opera House and Neon for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Future commissions include a new bassoon concerto for Matthew Wilkie and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and a large-scale orchestral work for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in 2011.

James Ledger — current to May 2010