A confluence is the point where two rivers meet or, more broadly, where two forces merge to become something new. 

In the second half of last year, Eugene Ughetti, Artistic Director of the Canberra International Music Festival, reached out to me to ask if I’d like to be composer-in-residence for 2025. This would mean a new commission as well as programming a few of my existing pieces. It’s always nice to have the opportunity to write a new work; it’s equally nice for existing works to receive another performance, so it feels particularly exciting.

Olivia Bettina Davies. Photo © Hannah Jones

Among the ideas floated for the new commission was a piece for piano four hands. Eugene was putting together a program featuring two incredible pianists – Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen (Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music) and Russian-born, Australian-based Konstantin Shamray – and he liked the thought of rounding out the concert with the two of them at one piano. I could see it as well, and the challenge of writing for four hands appealed to me – it was new territory.

I often like to sit at the piano...