Tarik O’Regan, frequently described as one of the leading British composers of his generation, has over 100 compositions to his name. He is the recipient of two Grammy nominations and his music has been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and many other organisations of international reknown. He has been in Sydney of late reworking his choral work Scattered Rhymes with fellow composer Nick Wales to create an intriguing new musical experience for the Sydney Dance Company’s upcoming production Louder Than Words.

A quick glance through O’Regan’s CV paints the portrait of an artist well travelled. While he now splits his time between New York and Cambridge, England, he has served on the faculties of Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, as well as Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. “If your interested in other people hearing your work, you have to travel with it,” explains O’Regan. “It reminds me of the very early ages of the troubadours or something, wandering around. But each territory is very, very narrow in its vision. If you take the United States and the UK, who are relatively closer together in terms of their geography and culture, there is...