Jessica Lindsay Smith is a composer based in regional Victoria on Dja Dja Wurrung land. She creates music that crosses the boundaries of genre. Last year, Jessica’s opera, supported by the Arts Council of Australia, was performed at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute and Tempo Rubato. Esoteric is an experimental opera in one act that draws together visual art, choreography, contemporary art music, and improvisation. This year Jessica participated in Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Composer Intensive, mentored by the ensemble and Damien Ricketson. Jessica has worked with ensembles within local and international contexts to create music with a focus on vivid colours and unusual sounds, creating music that is “poignant…and melancholic” (classikON).