James Ledger

James Ledger (born 1966) is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music, and senior lecturer in composition at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Western Australia, where he is chair of orchestral composition. Ledger first rose to prominence with his first orchestral composition Indian Pacific in 1996, which is still regularly performed in Australia. Ledger is also known for his compositions Devils in the Underground for solo trumpet, the violin concerto Golden Years, Chronicles for orchestra, War Music for choir and orchestra, and the song cycle Conversations with Ghosts in collaboration with the musician Paul Kelly, for which he won an ARIA award.From 2007 to 2009 he was the composer-in-residence for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 he was named composer-in-residence for the Australian National Academy of Music.In 2019 Ledger won the ARIA Award for Best Classical Album for Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds, another collaboration with Paul Kelly.In 2020, he earned a Doctorate of Music from the University of Western Australia. His Viola Concerto, premiered by Brett Dean and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, won the APRA AMCOS Art Music award in the "Work of the Year – Large Ensemble" category.