Congratulations to Imogen Ferdinando, Camerata’s 2026 Emerging Composer-in-Residence!

Imogen Ferdinando (she/her) is a composer, performer and conductor based in Meanjin/Brisbane. Her music has been performed internationally, featuring in the Osaka World Expo 2025 (Japan), the Cortona Sessions for New Music 2024 (Netherlands), the World Saxophone Congress 2023 (Spain), and has received performances in Sweden, Vanuatu, New Zealand, and across Australia. Influenced by impressionism, 20^th-21^st century new music and traditional Sinhala music, Imogen’s compositional practice draws inspiration from narratives that explore themes within the human condition and the world around us, presenting in the form of solo, chamber, orchestral works for the concert hall.

Imogen has composed for the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, the Young Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Guitar Ensemble, Griffith Film School, and the Noosa Orchestra. Regularly collaborating in chamber music contexts, she has recently been commissioned by artists and ensembles such as Dialogue of Minds, Red Room Chamber Ensemble, and Eden Annesley from Duo Aki. In 2024, she was a recipient of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust’s Emerging Artist Grant, which enabled her to travel to the Netherlands to further her study in chamber music. Aside from composing, Imogen is also an avid performer. Some of her recent session work includes recording cello for Joff Bush Music on the Bluey album ‘Rug Island’, and for Brian Cachia at BCMuse Studios for the upcoming U.S documentary ‘Black Sunday’.

Additionally, she has embarked on a journey to learn the traditional Sri Lankan drum known as the thammattama as part of her Honours research. Imogen holds a Bachelor of Music (Honours), majoring in composition at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University under the tutelage of Dr. Gerardo Dirié and Dr. Nicole Murphy. Supervised by Professor Catherine Grant, her Honours research explores hybrid music practices as a method of approaching intercultural composition, drawing from her own Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Western cultural heritage.

We are looking forward to working with Imogen and supporting her work, which will premiere on our regional Queensland tour in May/June 2026.

Welcome, Imogen!