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Judith Hamann

About this Artist

JUDITH HAMANN is a cellist from Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. She has “long been recognised as one of Australia’s foremost contemporary-music cellists” (RealTime Arts). Judith’s performance practice stretches across various genres encompassing elements of improvised, contemporary classical, experimental, and popular music. Currently her work is primarily focused on an examination of psycho-physical materials and manifestations of ‘shaking’, as well as expressions of immersion and saturation explored through durational and electroacoustic approaches to sound.

Judith has studied with cellists Charles Curtis and Séverine Ballon, as well as developing a strong practice in improvisation and sonic arts through collaborative projects both in Australia and internationally. She has worked with artists and ensembles including Australian Art Orchestra, Oren Ambarchi, ELISION ensemble, Dennis Cooper, Arnold Dreyblatt, Maya Dunietz, Jürg Frey, Graham Lambkin, Alvin Lucier, Toshimaru Nakamura, The Necks, Áine O’Dwyer, Michael Pisaro, Ilan Volkov, Tashi Wada, and La Monte Young. Judith is a member of Golden Fur, Hammers Lake, The Argonaut String Quartet, and has duo projects with Rosalind Hall, Anthea Caddy, and Lori Goldston.

She has performed widely with festivals including Tectonics (Glasgow, Adelaide, Tel Aviv, Athens), UnSound (NYC), Musikprotokoll (Graz), Vivid Festival (Sydney), The Now Now (Sydney), Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (Bendigo), Dark Mofo (Hobart), Adelaide International Arts Festial (Adelaide),  Tokyo Experimental Festival (Tokyo), SiDance Festival (Seoul), ZhDK Alvin Lucier 85th Birthday Festival (Zurich), No Idea Festival (Austin), Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle), Ojai Festival (Ojai), Supersense (Melbourne), and Liquid Architecture (AU). Other performance highlights include improvised or repertoire presentations at Cafe Oto (London), Dia Art Foundation (NYC), Steim Institute (Amsterdam), Logos Foundation (Ghent), LaSalle University (Singapore), SuperDeluxe (Tokyo), O’ Gallery (Milan) and Tempo Reale (Florence).

Judith is a champion of new and rarely performed music, immersive approaches to sound, and engages with a range of interdisciplinary and experimental projects including collaborative work with visual artists Keith Deverell, Sabina Maselli, and film makers Joshua Bonnetta and Benedetta De Alessi. She has also presented installation work in Melbourne, San Diego, and at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Judith has been an artist in residence at Tokyo Wondersite Aoyama, The Recollets (Paris), Q-02 (Brussels), GRM (Paris), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), and Syros Sounding Paths Residency (Syros). She is also a regular member of the APRA award winning regional music program and the Narli Ensemble through TURA New Music Australia working in the Kimberley region of Australia.

Judith holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from UC San Diego, majoring in contemporary cello performance.