Leah Curtis

Leah Curtis

Fulbright Postgraduate Award

Media Profile

“[The Fulbright Scholarship] will be an active professional experience that will allow the further advancing of my skills as a composer and musician, and enable incredible creative collaborations as well as mentoring from leaders of the profession.”

Leah Curtis has won the 2005 Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award to take up the position of Visiting Researcher in Music at the University of Southern California Los Angeles (USC) studying music composition. Leah holds Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of New South Wales and also holds a Graduate Diploma in Film and Television Scoring from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). An established composer, Leah has worked on many commissions including an orchestral work for the Australia Council for the Arts, as well as many concert works, drama, animation and documentary film.

Leah’s research will focus on music composition, orchestration, conducting as well as composing for cinema, allowing a comparison in styles, techniques and processes of the two countries. The Fulbright Award will also enable her to advance and extend her composition skills into new styles and formats through the Masters of Arts Honours Program at the Australian Film Television and Radio School and as Visiting Researcher at USC. The skills that Leah learns at USC will form part of her MA (Hons) at AFTRS.

Upon returning to Australia, Leah will impart her knowledge and experiences through guest lecturing at a university level, and through the development of scores for the concert hall and cinema. She will also incorporate selected US scoring techniques into her concert and film works, recording sessions and performances.  Her achievements will present Australian music to the international stage, and her skills, training and education will enhance the Australian music industry.

Leah hopes her study will significantly contribute to Australia’s music culture.  She intends to expose American audiences to Australian music and therefore encourage intercultural collaborations between Australia and the U.S., as well as showcasing the best of Australian culture.

Achievements in Leah’s portfolio include the Queens Trust Award, the Reg Waite Award for Young Australian Achievers, winning the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Composer Dialogue Competition, the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop and the BMI Jerry Goldsmith Film Scoring Scholarship. Leah’s debut Symphony premiered in 2004 at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra landscape photography book Australia: Facing the South, confirming Leah’s potential as a leading Australian composer.