In Conversation with Louis Frere-Harvey

Queensland Ballet’s Triple Bill season will premiere Jack Lister’s original work, Gemini in June 2025. We sat down with Jack’s Music Producer, Louis Frere-Harvey, to learn more about what the process of creating this groundbreaking production. 

 

Tell us a bit about your work with Jack Lister. 

I’m so lucky that Jack keeps using me for his work. We have a really cool working relationship and friendship which allows us to trust each other. Jack always has a clear aesthetic vision of his work which I think works well for ballet because it’s often telling a story. The music that I write fits the storyline and sets the tone for the world it’s set in.  

 

Can you describe the creative process behind developing the music in Gemini? 

Coming into the studio and working with the dancers in the space is such an inspiration for me. Often, a composer would send a finished product without being part of the choreography process as well. However, what matters to me is that both Jack and the dancers feel supported by the music, so I get involved from the very beginning.  

The early process feels like a Genesis of conversations, which allows me to figure out what the choreographer is thinking. From there, I develop an understanding of the world that we want to build. I’ll write on the fly in the studio with the dancers, then take it to my studio to refine before bringing it back to Jack and the dancers.  

 

What has your experience of Gemini been like from concept to completion? 

I’ve only ever worked with contemporary companies and independents before. Contemporary involves quite a different process to working with ballet, so initially it was challenging because I had to figure out where to start from. Gemini was also my first time with the orchestra, and there are a lot of limitations in classical instruments because they’re not like electronic music, which has infinite possibilities.  

Nothing I was making in the beginning sounded right, but there’s such an amazing infrastructure of support here, so I wasn’t panicked or stressed. Right off the back of those challenges, Jack and I decided that we’d make a big shift, so I came into the studio and wrote the score electronically, added the traditional instruments on top, and it really flowed from there. I think the dancers really enjoyed hearing the music evolve – all of them are amazing and really supportive of one another, so it’s been a great environment to work in. 

 

How do you hope the audience will feel when they experience Gemini? 

There’s an element of classicism to the music with references to Dvořák in it, but there’s a lot of bass, beat, groove, and club-driven ideas as well. I think some people will love it, and others will hate it, but that’s okay! I’m a proponent of art being challenging, enjoyable, and exciting, which is subjective. A polarised audience also gets people talking, which I really enjoy. Triple Bill is therefore the most exciting format for this piece, because you can decide which works you love and hate.  

 

See Gemini debut in Triple Bill from 27 June. 

Sections of Louis’ interview have been shortened and lightly edited for brevity.