Every month, my publisher, Faber Music, sends me a list of future performances of my music. 

I have noticed that the vast majority of my performances are occurring outside of Australia. I don’t mind this – it’s exciting to read of people playing what I have written. It signals a broader trend that is really worth celebrating: Australian composers are quietly, brilliantly, having huge success outside their own country. 

I wonder whether enough people know about it. Would such achievements be more celebrated if these were Australian authors, actors or even… sportspeople? 

Let’s start with the most successful Australian classical composer of all time, outside of Percy Grainger: Brett Dean. His opera Hamlet received seasons at Glynebourne, Adelaide, Cologne, Munich, Sydney and even the The Met in New York! I’ll say that again – an Australian composer had their opera performed at The Met!