We ask Ensemble Offspring’s co-AD about past bizarre experiences and what we should expect in the future.

1. What prompted you to start Ensemble Offspring 20 years ago? 

The origins were accidental and largely selfish. Matthew Shlomowitz and I were both in our fourth year of a Bachelor of Music degree and jealous that our performance major colleagues ended their studies with a final recital. We decided to organise a big concert and to write for a similar-sized large ensemble. I wrote a letter to Roger Woodward with the concert proposal and to my amazement he took us on. It went so well, with an ABC recording, that it became an ongoing project.

2. What would you like to see the ensemble achieve in another 20 years time? 

We’ve never settled into any well-worn specific model or way of doing things because we’re always in a constant state of reinvention. It’s important for me to help young composers. They deserve to be heard and it’s a leg up for them in developing their own independent careers. We are ambitious and I think we have the potential to become the new music specialists. I’m feeling curtailed in the wake of the Brandis...