One of Australia's leading conductors on pressure, purpose, and the music that shaped her. Jessica Gethin has led orchestras from Sydney to Singapore to Dallas — here she shares four pieces that marked her life and her leadership, in the final conversation of Season One.

A conductor holds a hundred musicians in the movement of her hands, in a performance that happens once and can never be taken back. In this episode, concert pianist Zen Zeng sits down with her friend and fellow WAAPA musician Jessica Gethin to trace a life in music: listening under pressure, leading through change, and staying steady when everyone is watching.

The four pieces Jessica chose:

1. Max Bruch — Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 (I. Allegro moderato)
2. Igor Stravinsky — Symphonies of Wind Instruments (discussed in the episode; hear the full recording: [link])
3. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Waltz of the Flowers, from The Nutcracker
4. Giuseppe Verdi — La forza del destino

About Jessica Gethin

Principal Conductor of West Australian Ballet, Head of Orchestral Studies and Conducting at WAAPA, and founding Chief Conductor of the Perth Symphony Orchestra. A Churchill Fellow and a Fellow of the Dallas Opera's Hart Institute for Women Conductors, inducted into the 2024 Western Australian Women's Hall of Fame and named among the AFR's 100 Most Influential Women.

About the show

Crescendo Conversations is a series where leaders from high-stakes worlds share four pieces of music that shaped their lives, identities and careers — and how they navigate pressure, change, ethics and purpose. Hosted by concert pianist and author Zen Zeng. Where high achievement meets unfiltered humanity.

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Rick Brennan spent two decades inside the world's worst humanitarian crises — including managing the response to Ebola outbreaks — later serving as a Regional Director of Emergency Operations at the World Health Organization. He's met Mother Teresa. He once called a 350-year-old house in France home. And later in life, he found love — a self-described "late bloomer", building a personal practice around travel to the world's most remote places, spirituality, and mindfulness.

In this episode of Crescendo Conversations, Rick shares the pieces of music that trace his journey — where his sense of purpose was first formed, the weight of decisions made under pressure, what remains unchanged beneath systems, policies, and global complexity, and what he hopes still matters, and endures, beyond him.

Three of his four songs are heard here as original piano interpretations by host Zen Zeng. The fourth belongs to the full conversation on YouTube — a moment better watched than described.

Crescendo Conversations is an interview series where senior leaders in high-stakes, high-pressure careers reveal the human being behind the title, through the music that shaped their identity, career and life.

Hosted by Dr. Zen Zeng, concert pianist, conference interpreter, and Amazon best-selling author.

Watch the full episode, including the piece not featured here, on

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@crescendowithzen

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He represented Australia in Paris and Seoul. But the four songs he chose reveal something the résumé never could.

Brendan Berne spent decades as one of Australia's most distinguished diplomats — serving as Ambassador to France and South Korea, operating in rooms where history was quietly being made. In this conversation, he leaves the résumé at the door.

Through four pieces of music, Brendan traces a life lived with unusual intentionality — from a childhood in Western Sydney, to coming of age as a gay teenager navigating a society that wasn't ready for him, to a career defined by one rare quality: always knowing when to stop.

The music that guides the journey:

— Chopin, Nocturne No. 10 in C♯ minor
— The Smiths, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
— Purcell, When I Am Laid in Earth
— Rameau, Les Indes Galantes

What stayed with me long after we finished recording was this: so many of us keep going, without ever stopping to ask what else is left. Brendan has asked that question at every significant turn. And his answers are quietly extraordinary.

A conversation about identity, mortality, vitality, and the courage to live authentically.

🎹🎹🎹

Crescendo Conversations is hosted by concert pianist and author Zen Zeng. Season One lands every fortnight.

Connect with Zen: zenzeng.net/connect