Ensemble Offspring has announced the four emerging composers selected for its 2026 Hatched Composer Intensive program.

Audrey Rouge Ormella (NSW), Jude Donahue (NSW), Hao Zhen (QLD) and Moses Mohammed Kington-Walberg (VIC) will receive mentorship and artistic development opportunities as they write a brand-new work for the new music ensemble, which will be premiered in Future Classics on 21 November, in the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room.

Clockwise: Audrey Rouge Ormella, Moses Mohammed Kington-Walberg, Hao Zhen and Jude Donahue. Photos supplied

Hao Xhen is a composer, filmmaker and pianist currently undertaking a PhD in Composition at the University of Chicago. She was selected for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s 2024 Words, Text, Voice, Music program, under which she saw the premiere of her chamber opera The Lullaby, directed by Lindy Hume. In 2023, she participated in the Flinders Quartet’s Emerge program.

Jude Donahue is an emerging composer who has been the recipient of the Future Innovators Award and the James Easton Award for Gifted Composer. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium High School, their craft involves the translation of inner and outer experiences into music.

Audrey Ormella is...