Breandáin O’Shea reports from this year’s Musikfest Berlin where three Australian composers featured prominently in the ambitious 75th-anniversary program. Does this mark something significant for Australian music internationally? Or was it simply a wonderful coincidence?

Cathy Milliken. Photo © Annika Bauer

At the recent Musikfest Berlin (which ran 28 August – 23 September), the Berliner Festspiele marked its 75th anniversary with one of its most ambitious programs yet. Seventy-five years of post-war European musical history played out through the century’s defining figures. But a less expected story ran through it. Three of Australia’s most internationally respected composers – Brett Dean, Liza Lim and Cathy Milliken – featured prominently. Their work stood alongside the European canon the festival was built to honour.

“I definitely think it’s very...