Crescendo Conversations

"Can we do that again?"
In this teaser for Crescendo Conversations, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Paul Kelly, steps away from the podium to share the moments that define his vitality. From the birth of his children to a breathless, high-speed cycling descent through the Alps with his wife, Jenny, Paul discusses the power of being present.

Full episode launches April 21, 2026.

What is Crescendo Conversations?

Titles describe, music reveals.
Crescendo Conversations is an interview series hosted by concert pianist and space-curator Zen Zeng, in which senior leaders share four pieces of music that shaped their identity, career, and life. In choosing four pieces, guests reveal something no CV or keynote ever could: the fear behind a decision, the doubt before a breakthrough, the ordinary humanity inside an extraordinary life. Each conversation moves through four territories: origins, interior moments of change, core values, and present direction. What emerges is not a leadership masterclass. It is something rarer: honest, unhurried conversation that reduces the distance between people and inspires listeners to step forward in their own lives.

Season One features a former Chief Medical Officer, a Global Senior Partner at KPMG, a former Australian Ambassador, a former WHO Director, a leader of global energy sector, and an award-winning Australian conductor. For high-functioning professionals who value depth, joy, and purpose, and who have outgrown ordinary content.

Zen Zeng:

The second piece is about the moment in your life you felt most alive. There's been very many moments in my life where I felt very alive. The birth of both of my children, the amazing cycling trip I did with my wife when we were in our late twenties, my wife Jenny. Particular day where we were got to the top of one of the bypasses in the Alps, which had taken us two days to get there, and there was snow around and so forth. And Mont Blanc on the left, blue sky above, and this gorgeous hairpin bend Tour de France style 70 kilometer per hour descent, which only took forty minutes and got to the bottom, and I said, can we do that again?

Zen Zeng:

So that was a peak moment.