There’s Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Mozart’s Champagne Aria, but Tasmanian composer Thomas Misson might have uncorked something new with a chamber work inspired by beer. It raises the obvious question – out of the four brews he’s writing about, which one is his favourite?

“I think Hefeweizen’s the more versatile beer; it’s probably the one I would feel like more often,” he tells Limelight. “But when I really want an American IPA, you know, nothing hits the spot better. It is Irish ale weather down here at the moment, though. “

Thomas Misson. Photo supplied

Misson’s Cicerone Suite will have its world premiere on 14 August, as part of Omega Ensemble’s New Now program (a cicerone is the beer equivalent of a sommelier). Misson is a bit of a foodie; the idea struck him at a time when he was exploring as many beer styles as he could.

“I guess during the process, I started to think there was a bit of a parallel between beer and contemporary classical music. Both of them had sort of been defined by their bitterness, or at least some kind of universally off-putting quality, but I didn’t think that was accurate in either case. I think they’re both underrated for diversity and their wealth of entry points for newcomers. When the opportunity came up with Omega Ensemble, I decided to hit go on that idea ,” Misson explains.

“I also feel like, with the particular cultural moment we’re in, people are a bit disconnected from their senses and what they have to tell them. In classical music, where attentive and deep listening makes the experience a lot more rewarding, that’s not a great thing. So, I thought it might be prudent to invite people in through other senses.”

His Cicero Suite is a “musical tasting flight”, featuring four different miniatures, each inspired by a different kind of beer – a hazy German Hefeweizen, a Belgian blonde, a dark Irish ale and a bitter American IPA. Omega’s instrumentation is the perfect palette to create those sounds, says Misson.

“The beers manifest musically through how I’ve used the instruments. The beers with higher carbonation have a little bit more of that sort of bubbly writing you get from clarinet and pizzicato strings. The more coffee, liquorice, chocolatey taste you can find in an Irish ale manifests through violas playing sul tasto, knotted together with low clarinet. There’s all these sort of hints to the experience of smelling, looking at the beer and tasting it – the texture, the carbonation, the aftertaste.”

Thomas Misson in a workshop for New Now, next to mentor Matthew Hindson. Photo © Gxbriellemxry

Misson has also hand-picked the harmony for each flavour profile. To convey the brightness of Hefeweizen, he invokes the circle of fifths, open perfect fiths and a “double Lydian” twist; for the American IPA, he introduces “something kind of fermented” into the harmony.

“First sip of an American IPA, you can’t really ignore that. There’s something intriguing and familiar with every sip, but it’s very strident in its bitterness. I was using lots of major ninths to govern that one, but also constructs like major and minor triads and subtly spoiling them.”

Misson is one of Omega Ensemble’s four CoLAB participants this year, alongside Jessie Leov, Robert McIntyre and Beth Roche. Over nine months, the emerging composers were given the opportunity to develop a new composition, working closely with the ensemble and a roster of renowned Australian and international composers.

“With CoLAB, there’s room for genuine experimentation and the kind of requisite failure that comes with that. It’s not this one-shot situation that you might get with an orchestra. I’ve been able to take some swings and some misses,” explains Misson.

Omega Ensemble’s 2026 CoLAB cohort: Robert McIntrye, Jessie Leov, Beth Roche and Thomas Misson. Photo © Gxbriellemxry

“The best music comes from this sort of process, where you’re working closely with performers and you’re getting input as to what does or doesn’t suit them.”

New Now isn’t all for Misson this year. In September, the Melbourne-based Affinity Quartet will release its debut album, A Listening Air. Alongside works by Alice Chance, Brett Dean and Peter Sculthorpe, the tracklist also features Misson’s Infinite Affinities. He’s also currently working on a piece about clowns for piano and clarinet – a topic that sounds just as intriguing as beer.

“I’m really interested in little fascinating bits about how the human mechanism works, and how we’re wired psychologically. I’m interested in those universal experiences and cultural touchstones.  It could be a particular pattern of thought, or focusing in on a particular sense, like taste. [These compositions] give me opportunities to learn a little bit more about what makes us tick,” says Misson.

“To me, composition is the best thing you can do with music. I’m a pianist and I like performing, but with composition, I feel like you’re thinking of such a large part of the pie chart of what trains a classical musician. You’re thinking about conducting, orchestration theory … it’s so holistic and wide-ranging.”

“I’ve had composition lessons where it’s gone for an hour and I’ve been scribbling for the whole time, and by the 20-minute mark, I’m just desperate to write; I’m so pent up and, and so full of ideas by that point. I just think it’s the most incredibly rich and stimulating thing you can do.”

Omega Ensemble‘s New Now will be presented at ACO on the Pier on 14 August.