At Omega’s CoLAB showcase, you’re not watching the fledgling steps of early career composers into the space of contemporary classical music. You’re watching young, proficient musicians given rare space to spread wings and pour formidable talent into writing for some of Australia’s most accomplished modern performers.

In the ensemble’s 2023 performance in the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room, titled New Now, there was no lack in quality that the word ‘emerging’ sometimes implies. 

Naomi Dodd, Ben Robinson, Andrew Howes and Natalie Nicolas. Photo © Jay Patel

For those doing the ’emerging’, the opportunity is incredible: to write a 15-minute work for one of the country’s largest chamber ensembles, under the mentorship of modern music legends such as Carl Vine, Elena Kats-Chernin, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli and Christopher Cerrone.

This year’s participants were Andrew Howes, Naomi Dodd, Natalie Nicolas and Ben Robinson. Each had a deft handle on the ensemble they were given to command, and each took a very different approach for their 15 minutes, which made for an engaging program.

The evening began with Andrew Howes’