Inspirational thinkers like Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, and even Professor Stephen Hawking, get the Twist treatment.

Work Great Minds
Composer Joe Twist
Scored for Voice, piano, chamber ensemble
Commissioned by Southern Cross Soloists
Premiere November 22, QPAC
Performers Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Jayson Gillham, Southern Cross Soloists


I’m very excited about a couple of world premieres of my work taking place in the coming months. In October, Victorian Opera will be premiering my new children’s opera The Grumpiest Boy In the World, a musical adaptation about the enchanting, magical journey of a grumpy seven year-old from playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer. And then in November, the Southern Cross Soloists will premiere a new work that I’m working on right now, called Great Minds. The work has been written for internationally successful bass-baritone, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and London-based pianist Jayson Gillham, who will be collaborating with members of the Queensland chamber ensemble.

Great Minds is a series of connected musical ‘portraits,’ inspired by significant statements, quotes, proverbs and aphorisms by a selection of renowned, admired and notorious people of recent decades. The work highlights and juxtaposes the opinions and ideas of some of the greatest minds of the 21st century. It is a musical celebration of...