James Ledger (b. 1966) is one of Australia’s leading composers of contemporary classical music, working across solo, chamber, electronic and orchestral forms. He trained at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music as a French horn player, spent four years in England as an arranger and copyist, and on returning home turned solely to composition. His orchestral piece Habits of Creatures won the 2004 3MBS National Composers Award. He has since held residencies with the West Australian, Adelaide and Christchurch symphony orchestras, the Australian National Academy of Music and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, and been commissioned by the Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. His acclaimed song-cycle collaborations with Paul Kelly, Conversations with Ghosts (2012) and Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds (2019), both won ARIA Awards. He is chair of orchestral composition at the University of Western Australia.