London’s Royal Albert Hall or the Sydney Opera House may seem a far cry from the NSW Supreme Court, but for corporate lawyer Mathisha Panagoda all have been a professional home.

The Colin Biggers & Paisley litigator started playing cello at just four years old. “I had a one-eighth-size cello, it was more like a violin held vertically,” he tells The Australian Financial Review. This was followed by youth orchestras, artist residencies overseas, and an honour’s degree in music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.