The finalists for the 2026 APRA Professional Development Awards (PDAs) have been announced, shining a spotlight on 61 Australian songwriters and composers working across classical, contemporary, screen, jazz, music theatre and more.

Thea Rossen. Photo © Andrew J. Clarke/Edify Media

Presented by APRA AMCOS, the PDAs are designed to create career-accelerating opportunities for musical artists at all stages of their professional lives. Thirteen recipients will each receive $10,000 to invest directly in their creative and professional development, with funds able to be used for workshops, courses, composer seminars, co-writing sessions and other development opportunities, both in Australia and overseas.

“The music was of such high calibre, and the level of creativity and thought put into how the funds could be used to support artistic and professional development was exciting to hear about,” judge Danny Harley said. “It speaks to a music community that is ambitious, considered and full of potential.”

The Classical/Experimental finalists are Eduardo Cossio, Gabriella Smart, Jasmin Wing-Yin Leung, Lizzy Welsh and Thea Rossen.

Eduardo Cossio is a musician and visual artist who works across songwriting, notated chamber pieces, experimental composition and sound improvisation. In 2025, he released his debut solo album Citadels and he composed the soundtrack for TERRA, a dance work commissioned by Dance WAAPA.

Pianist Gabriella Smart has been a recipient of the Paris Residency from The Australia Council for the Arts, a South Australian Government Creative Fellowship, and an APRA AMCOS Art Music Award for Excellence by an Individual in 2019. She was awarded a 2017 Prelude Composer Residency and a UNESCO City of Music residency in Katowice, Poland.

Jasmin Wing-Yin Leung’s work as a composer and improviser has been presented by festivals/presenters including the Australian NOWNow, Sound Out, Tone List,BIFEM and Liquid Architechture, and international festivals including impuls Festival, Organhaus, Spectrum and Ostrava Days.

Lizzy Welsh is an internationally renowned Baroque and modern violinist who released her debut album The Target Has Disappeared in 2023. Her compositions have been presented by Australian Art Orchestra, Punctum, The Letter String Quartet, Sacred Realism and Vahideh Eisaei.

Thea Rossen is a percussionist and the composer behind Music for our Changing Climate (Metropolis Festival, 2018), Carnival of Dangerous Creatures and Walking with the Wilderness, acclaimed for innovative, community-focused contemporary music.

Australia’s Jazz/Improvised Music finalists are Hamed Sadeghi, Hayley Chan, Jacques Emery, Mina Yu, Yutaro Okuda similarly highlight innovation grounded in deep musical craft.

Jacques Emery performing SUMMONING. Photo supplied

Tar player and composer Hamed Sadeghi is recognised for his richly textured work bridging Persian musical traditions with jazz and contemporary composition. Hamed has been collaborating with Belvoir St Theatre since 2018 and has also appeared on ABC Kids TV programs.

Hayley Chan is a performer, improviser and composer. Her musical practice spans from jazz to experimental post-punk and free improvisations. She has performed at the Sydney Opera House, Vivid LIVE and at festivals such as Woodford Folk Festival, Bigsound, Kiama Jazz and Blues. In 2024,  she was a Dots+Loops Performance Fellow.

Jacques Emery is a Sydney-based jazz and improvisational artist known for ensemble performance and collaborative compositions. He has toured Europe with the Australian Art Orchestra and plays regularly around Sydney with many groups including the Zela Margossian Quintet and HEKKA.

Mina Yu is a Melbourne-based jazz pianist and composer, performing original and collaborative works in improvisation and contemporary jazz settings. Mina has toured internationally, performing at the Jazzaar festival in Switzerland with Adam Rogers, Helen sung and Terri Lyne Carrington. She has also toured England, performing at the Guil Fest.

Yutaro Okuda is a guitarist working in jazz, contemporary and improvised music with national and international touring experience, based in Sydney, Australia. Okuda has performed and recorded with a wide intersection of artists and groups, as well as being a bandleader/composer with two self-released albums of original music: Marigold (2023) and Rafflesia (2021).

This year’s Screen Composition finalists are Cassie Parke, Carla Dobbie, Darren Lim, Josie Mann and Paul Nicolaou.

Cassie Parke is a Melbourne-based composer and sound artist specialising in experimental music for film, theatre and contemporary dance. Parke’s work has been presented at festivals includingthe Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Metropolis and she has written music for television shows Stranded on Honeymoon Island and The Summit. 

Paul Nicolaou performing at the Orange Chamber Music Festival. Photo © Peter Hislop

Darren Lim is a Sydney-based composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work spans feature films, shorts and interactive media. His work includes the award-winning opening title theme for SBS’s Night Bloomers, You’ll Never Find Me and his debut album Songs of the Nightingale. 

Carla Dobbie is an Australian composer and orchestrator whose music for screen and media spans independent films, documentaries and online content. Their work has premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, the Sydney Opera House and internationally at festivals across the world.

Josie Mann is a Sydney-based composer and performer whose work for screen, theatre and new media explores narrative-driven and emotionally resonant soundscapes. Mann composed the theme song to the podcast Flirties (selected as a finalist for the BBC Audio Drama Awards, 2024) as well as Bump and Inconceivable. 

Paul Nicolaou is a composer and harpist whose work spans television, digital media and interactive projects. His original soundtrack Seeds of Gold accompanies a 2023 short film, and his score for the short film Yannis earned a Best Original Score nomination.

The Music Theatre category celebrates composers and songwriters expanding the scope of Australian storytelling on stage. Finalists include Jules Orcullo (My Dad Never Saw The Beatles), Lincoln Elliott (Artefact), Lucy O’Brien (Adventurers), (Creating Ivy) and Tim Hansen (Murder Horse). Their nominated works range from intimate personal narratives to ambitious new Australian stories, reflecting the growing confidence and diversity of locally created music theatre.

Max Mckenna and Nadine Garner in Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Almighty Sometimes. Photo © Pia Johnson

This year’s finalists also include rising stars and established names alike, from pop songwriter Eliza Hull to country favourite Queenie and psych-rock artist Zeppelin Hamilton of Velvet Trip fame.

The recipients of the 2026 APRA Professional Development Awards will be announced on Thursday 12 February.

For more information, visit apraamcos.com.au/professionaldevelopmentawards. 

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