9 November 2026
When two waters meet
Image: Jessie Leov © Photo by Flora Driessen
AMC Associate Artist
Jessie Leov
is an award-winning composer of Australian and New Zealand
heritage. She has worked with organisations
across
Australasia and beyond including the New Jersey Symphony, Bang
on a Can, Flinders Quartet, Omega Ensemble, NZTrio, New
Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian National Academy
of Music (ANAM) whose flautist Emica Taylor will be
performing Jessie's
2026 work when two waters meet at the 2026 Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address on Monday
16 November 2026.
Ahead of the event, we spoke to Jessie about the work and her
path to becoming a composer.
How did you first come to composition?
I dabbled in composing in high school as many music students do but songwriting was my first love! I was doing the Popular Music program at the University of Auckland and in my second year I changed my major to Composition because at the time I was fascinated by the idea of composing for TV and film. Once I started studying composition, and encountered contemporary classical music properly for the first time, I fell in love with the challenges and the rewards of writing concert music and I've been exploring this world ever since.
What role has the AMC played in supporting your career so far?
As an Associate Artist with the AMC I had the opportunity to submit a work for the Call for Scores for the 2026 ISCM World New Music Days Festival in Romania. After my piano trio, convergency, was shortlisted by the AMC, it was selected by the Romanian ISCM committee as the official Australian selection and was performed by Trio Larson in Bucharest at the festival back in May of this year. The ISCM festival is such an incredible platform to showcase Australian music each year alongside music from around the world, and to have my work programmed was a huge privilege. I have a fantastic recording of the performance which is a real thrill and to be able to reach European audiences with my music for the first time was a special milestone as well.
What do you see as some of the challenges for emerging composers right now?
As a composer at the start of my career, with a lot that I want to explore musically, one challenge is having the freedom to experiment while also considering the importance that some ensembles place on accessibility, in consideration of their audiences. This is something I've experienced alongside my peers over the past couple of years while I've participated in composer development programs with various ensembles.
Another challenge is having the time to pursue meaningful creative work while maintaining a reliable income. This may seem like an obvious one, but I feel it's especially relevant to emerging and early-career composers as there can sometimes be an expectation that we should be willing to write music for little or no compensation in order to build our portfolios and have our work performed. This makes it even trickier to achieve financial sustainability at this early stage of our careers.
The Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address is an annual event in honour of one of Australia's great composers - someone who made a name for herself internationally and also championed other composers. What does her legacy mean to you?
I think Peggy's
legacy is so special not
only because of her global impact as an Australian
composer but because of the impact she had at a time when
the field was overwhelmingly dominated by men. As a young
female
composer I'm
sometimes amazed
that I still find myself in spaces where I am the only
non-male composer, or one of very few. For example, in my
PhD program [at Stony Brook University in New York] there
are currently nine graduate composers and only two are
women. Having women like Peggy to look up to, who made
such a meaningful contribution to the new music
scene
that went far beyond her work as a composer, continues to
inspire me as I forge my own path. I'm
humbled
that my music
is able to be shared with
audiences at this year's Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address
which
honours her
legacy.
Can you tell us about your work when two waters meet?
when two waters meet explores the concept of water as a powerful entity which connects people and place, the fluid nature of home and identity, and the experience of navigating connection to different lands and peoples. It was such a rewarding process to spend several months working with Emica Taylor (ANAM flautist); experimenting with different ideas and exploring the role that water could have in this piece in both a literal and musical sense. From the start Emica brought the idea of incorporating singing glasses, and we talked about whether we could use fixed media and have a track with water sounds to integrate with the flute material. I remember we talked about Tan Dun's Water Concerto at one point, and ultimately we landed on the idea of amplifying a single bowl of water with a contact mic that would produce different sounds as she moved her hand through the water in a variety of ways.
How did this commission come about and what was your first conversation with Emica like?
I was thrilled to be one of 12 composers across Australia and New Zealand to be commissioned to write a piece for the 2026 ANAM Set. Each composer was paired with a third-year musician from the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) who they would collaborate with during the development of the work. My first conversation with Emica was via Zoom back in January this year and that kicked off a three-month process of collaboration and exploration. From the moment we started talking I was struck by her generosity, creative spirit, and willingness to take creative risks to create something special together.
How does creating a work with a musician change your approach to composing a piece?
This was actually the first time I've had the opportunity to work so closely with a musician from start to finish during the development of a work - perhaps partly because this is the first solo piece I've written in my professional life! I think one of the wonderful things about writing a piece for, or with, a specific performer is that you can draw directly on their strengths, and also find the areas where your interests intersect. In the case of our collaboration, this led us to integrating improvisatory materials into the work as this was something Emica and I were both really excited about. This allowed us to explore more deeply the concept of fluidity that this work speaks to in different ways.
What would you like audiences to take away from this piece?
Water is the force that connects the different strands of this piece and when I listen back to Emica's premiere performance at ANAM in May, I'm reminded of how at peace I feel when I'm close to a body of water like the ocean. I often feel myself breathing more deeply and able to release tension from my body and feel more centered. I hope that audience members can feel a similar sensation when experiencing this piece; a moment to become more grounded, to reflect, and be able to breathe deeply.
2026 Peggy Glanville-Hicks
Address
A CULTURE OF
CONFIDENCE
6pm (AEDT) Monday 16
November
Iwaki Auditorium, 130
Southbank Blvd, Melbourne
(Naarm)
Presented by the Australian Music Centre, with the address by Professor Benjamin Northey and performances by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).
Tickets $15
Bookings events.humanitix.com/2026pghaddress
With thanks to our Broadcast Partner ABC Classic, and ANAM
for supporting this event
© Australian Music Centre (2026) — Permission must be obtained from the AMC if you wish to reproduce this article either online or in print.
Subjects discussed by this article:
- Jessie Leov (Interviewee)
Jessie Leov is an award-winning composer of Australian and New Zealand heritage. Her diverse practice traverses classical and popular music, as well as cross-disciplinary collaboration across the arts. Jessie's music explores awe of the natural world, curiosity about the human condition, and her roots as a songwriter, as well as responding to other art forms such as poetry and visual art.
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