Omega Ensemble has announced its intake for the 2026 CoLAB: Composer Accelerator Program.

Over a nine-month period, Robert McIntyre, Jessie Leov, Thomas Misson and Beth Roche will each develop a new work for Omega and receive mentorship from highly acclaimed Australian and international composers.

The works will be premiered by Omega at its annual New Now showcase, which will move into a larger venue in 2026 due to ticket demand.

(Clockwise from top) Beth Roche, Thomas Misson, Jessie Leov and Robert McIntyre. Photos supplied

Based in Melbourne, Robert McIntyre is a composer and flautist. He was a 2024 participant in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Cybec 21st Century Young Composers’ Program and has collaborated with ensembles including Flinders Quartet, Syzygy Ensemble and Peninsula Chamber Musicians. His song cycle Our Duty to Care earned the 2023 Dorian Le Gallienne Composition Award, and his A Sea Spray of Ash was selected to represent Australia in the 2025 ISCM World New Music Days.

A composer based in NSW and New Zealand, Jessie Leov was a 2025 composer fellow at Bang on a Can’s Summer Music Festival, where one of her compositions had its...