I took everything that was taught me about music by teachers and mentors far greater than myself, and held it with reverence in my heart as one would place a white dove in a gilded cage. I cared for my dove. I observed its every movement. I studied the incline of its neck as it tucked its head snuggly under wing so as not to face the fall of night. I measured the expanse of spirit sails; the fluttering of silver feathers. I listened to the intonation and inflection of its song. Once my learning was complete, I opened the cage door and I set my white dove free. I watched it soar. Would it come back to me? It was not long before my white dove returned. No longer white, it was splashed with the colours of every rainbow through which it had flown. It came back to me, this beautiful thing, so quickened with the breath of live to make its song my own and set free what I had been shown. My dove, my love, the symbol of peace and divinity.

I find great satisfaction in the fact that we - Australia - have one composer who can succeed in a medium of sensitivity in spite of the ugliness and violence predominating in so many countries.