The Australia Ensemble UNSW aims to foster greater engagement in and recognition of composition and chamber music activities at UNSW. Support from Emeritus Professor Roger Layton AM and Merrilyn Layton has facilitated a UNSW composition fellowship to again be offered valued at $10,000 for one year, for an Emerging Composer to write chamber music works as part of the Australia Ensemble’s artistic development program.
ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP
The winner will receive $10,000 to write one 8-10 minute chamber work for the Australia Ensemble UNSW across the course of a 12-month period, through a competitive selection process determined by UNSW. The Emerging Composer will also be eligible for mentoring sessions leading composers and members of the Australia Ensemble UNSW, and their work will feature in at least one public workshop.
Previous winners of the Prize include Natalie Nicolas, Alex Turley, Angus Davison, Nicole Murphy, Harry Sdraulig, Ian Whitney and Elizabeth Younan, who have spring-boarded from the program into Australia's largest concert halls and around the world.
The Layton Emerging Composer Fellowship is open to all Australian citizens and permanent residents, and still in an early career stage.
The definition of an Emerging Composer has slightly changed to previous years. Applicants must be within the first 5 – 7 years of creative practice. Those with numerous commissions from major national or international organisations, or permanent academic positions will be considered established composers.
Applications will consist of three previous chamber works from the composer's portfolio. The works will require recordings to support the submission, of which a minimum of two are required to be live recordings, and one may be a midi realisation.
The 2026 winner has been chosen, and applications are closed.
Applications for 2027 will open mid 2026, and will be announced on our social channels.
Enquiries: australia.ensemble@unsw.edu.au
2026 Layton Fellow
Felix Wallis is the 2026 Layton
Emerging Composer Fellow.
Felix Wallis graduated with First Class Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium in 2021, where he studied under Carl Vine. Since then, he has pursued a full-time career in composition spanning contemporary classical, film, and popular music.
In 2024, he wrote Rewilding for Omega Ensemble’s CoLAB program, premiered at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Centre. He also leads Miniflora, an ensemble of jazz musicians performing his works that fuse structures of American minimalism with improvisation and an electro-acoustic palette. Their debut EP, recorded at Golden Retriever Studios, is slated for release in late 2025.
Felix has arranged strings for releases by The Kid LAROI and Cap Carter, and in 2023 released his electroacoustic single First Rites, the chamber work Reconstruction, and Four Preludes for piano. He also contributed to Music of the Sails, an immersive installation for the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary.
In 2025, he has been orchestrating for the Ministry of Sound Classical tour while scoring the liminal horror audio drama F.A.B.R.I.C. and upcoming TV miniseries Mammals. His screen credits also include Stella and Ruth, which premiered at the Sydney Women’s International Film Festival in 2023, and More Than Human, a documentary exploring the politics of the natural world, which debuted at Antenna Documentary Festival in 2025.
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