COMPOSER INITIATIVES
LISTEN TO THE LAND
Curated by Chris Sainsbury (composer, academic, Dharug person, and founder of the Ngarra-Burria First Peoples Composers Initiative), Listen to the Land is a living, breathing exploration of the bond between music and place.
As bushwalkers and lifelong lovers of the natural world, we dream of music that can carry someone back to a windswept ridge, a quiet riverbend, a stretch of desert sky - or lead them there for the first time. Over the coming years, this growing collection of works will ripple outward: performed, recorded, and shared so that music lovers may find nature, and nature lovers may find music. Listen to the Land is only at its dawn, and the journey ahead is as expansive as the horizon.
COMPOSER PROGRAM: ASCEND
Providing composers with a career-enhancing commission and ongoing industry advocacy. Composers receive a $6,000 commission fee to write a 12-minute piece for string quartet which is workshopped, developed, performed, studio-recorded and filmed by Flinders Quartet, and promoted on FQ Digital.
Submissions for the next Ascend program will open in 2026. To keep informed of the program, subscribe to FQ’s e-news or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
COMPOSER PROGRAM: EMERGE
Providing composers with a year-long program of string quartet score study, workshops, development and ongoing industry advocacy, culminating in six minutes of music performed, studio-recorded and filmed by Flinders Quartet and promoted on FQ Digital.
For the 2025 Emerge program, the works created were shaped by a brief as part of a partnership with the renowned Hush Foundation.
Applications for the next Emerge program will open in 2027.
“The Ascend program is remarkably thoughtful. Every element of the program seems to have been calibrated towards creating an environment where composers will flourish, which speaks to their many years of experience in nurturing composers, but also their forward-thinking world-view.”