About Golden Fur
Golden Fur is a trio comprising Samuel Dunscombe (clarinet/laptop) Judith Hamann (violoncello) and James Rushford (keyboard/viola), with an ongoing and dedicated interest in classical, experimental and improvised music. Focusing on more obscure contemporary and 20th century music, Golden Fur's quest is to bring a refreshing sonic palette to chamber music, adding volume and volatility by means of amplification, built instruments, electronics, film and dramaturgy. As an ensemble, they have been the recipients of the Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship (2009), the Alan C. Rose Memorial Fund (2009), the Marion Isobel Thomas Prize (2008) and the Athenaeum Ensemble Prize (2007). Golden Fur has quickly made a name for itself as a vibrant new ensemble that fearlessly crosses musical boundaries to create compelling and complex, yet inclusive, concert experiences. The trio completed their debut concert series in 2008/2009, commissioning and premiering works by Australian composers Anthony Pateras, Marco Fusinato, Alexander Garsden and Kate Neal. The series also featured world premieres of works by Jaap Blonk (Netherlands) and Phill Niblock (USA), as well as Australian premieres of works by Klaus Lang (Austria), Thomas Meadowcroft (Germany), Sam Hayden (UK), Alvin Lucier (USA) and Jani Christou (Greece). Golden Fur has collaborated with performers such as Deb Kayser (Elision), Brigid Burke, Erkki Veltheim (Australian Chamber orchestra, Elision), Scott Tinkler (Australian Art Orchestra), Anthony Pateras, Thembi Soddell, Sophie Brous, Marco Fusinato, Francis Plagne, Joe Talia, Matthias Schack-Arnott (Speak Percussion) and Kim Tan.
In 2010, Golden Fur launches a concert series at the Melbourne Recital Centre, commissioning and premiering new music by Australian composers Cat Hope, David Chisholm, Robert Dahm and Natasha Anderson. The members of Golden Fur have performed nationally for the Melbourne International Arts Festival (2006, 2007, 2008), Liquid Architecture, Chamber Music Australia, and the Melbourne International Film Festival (premiering a work by David Shea). Internationally, they have performed for Steim Institute (Amsterdam), Cave 12 (Geneva), WORM (Rotterdam), Soopa (Porto/Lisbon), Cruce (Madrid), Data (Marseilles), Amann (Vienna) and NK (Berlin). Golden Fur has also performed and recorded works by Helmut Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Morton Feldman, Anestis Logothetis, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Giacinto Scelsi, Olga Neuwirth, Luc Ferrari, Liza Lim, Salvatore Sciarrino and Iannis Xenakis. They have studied chamber music with Dr Donna Coleman, Peter Neville (Elision Ensemble), John McCaughey (Astra Chamber Music Socirty), and have performed in masterclasses for Wu Han (Lincoln Center) and Julian Smiles (Australian Chamber Orchestra) as part of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Festival. They also feature in a new CD release on experimental sound label Cajid Media.
JAMES RUSHFORD
James Rushford is a young Melbourne-based composer/performer, interested in a diverse range of contemporary music. Alongside concert music, a focus lies in inter-media, installation and recorded mediums. Earlier this year, James was the recipient of the Eric & Margot Cooper Travel Scholarship and the Dowd Foundation Award, enabling him to tour overseas and work with musicians including Robert Ashley, Phill Niblock, Marcus Schmickler, Fred Frith and Michael Pisaro. James has had music commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, ELISION (UK), Ear Massage (Netherlands), Speak! Percussion, Decibel, the Song Company, the Melbourne International Arts Festival (2006), and the 21:100:100 project (a collaboration with Oren Ambarchi and Marco Fusinato). A multi-instrumentalist, James performs mostly with piano, viola and electronics, and has studied with teachers such as Anthony Pateras, Brett Dean, Kate Neal and Donna Coleman. His regular ensembles include the avant-classical/improv trio Golden Fur, Ned Collette & Wirewalker, and the Francis Plagne Band. His debut solo record, Vellus, was released on Cajid Media in 2008, and his collaborative album with Joe Talia, Palisades, was released on Sabbatical Records in 2009. James is 24 years old.
JUDITH HAMANN
Judith Hamann is a Melbourne-based musician whose main instrument is violoncello. Her performance practice stretches across various genres encompassing elements of improvised, art, experimental and popular music. Judith performs with both acoustic cello and semi-acoustic cello and explores the timbral and sonic possibilities of the instrument through preparations, alterations and alternative methods of physical engagement with the instrument.
Judith has performed as both a soloist and a chamber musician for the Melbourne International Arts Festival (2005, 2006, 2007), the Melba Festival (2008), the Port Fairy Spring Festival (2009), Team of Pianists and Chamber Music Australia. She has performed Australian premieres by Sofia Gudbaidulina, Jaap Blonk, Shostakovich/Fleischman and Klaus Lang, as well as commissioning and performing world premieres by Marco Fusinato, Anthony Pateras and Kate Neal (with Golden Fur) as well as works by James Rushford and Alexander Garsden. Judith has been the recipient of the Peers Coetmore Scholarship for Cellists (2004) The Kate Flowers Scholarship (2006), the Gwen Nisbet Prize (2006), the Marion Isobel Thomas Scholarship (2008), and an Australian Postgraduate Award (2008) to complete a Master of Music Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts. She is currently studying cello with Christian Wojotowicz and Zoe Knighton, and chamber music with Dr Donna Coleman. Judith is also a member the Golden Fur avant/improv/new music trio, Trio di Belladonna (with Dr. Donna Coleman and Monica Curro), Francis Plagne band, indie popsters the Tequila Mockingbirds, noise grunge trio The Lands, Georgia Fields trio and also performs solo as Paper Tiger.
SAMUEL DUNSCOMBE
Samuel Dunscombe's artistic practise explores the tension between western traditions of new music, sound art, and electronic music performance. He uses clarinets and the graphic programming environment MaxMSP, as well as abstracted real world sounds (field recordings).
Samuel's work is highly exploratory in nature, not only in sonic, but also in conceptual content. Real-world, real-instrument, and electronically generated sounds twist and morph into each other, creating an unstable sonic terrain, which attempts to challenge traditional boundaries between ‘music', the real world, and the electronic interference that has become so ubiquitous in the modern age (noise).
He has premiered works by Anthony Pateras, Kate Neal, Klaus Lang, Jani Christou, Cat Hope, Jaap Blonk, David Shea, Olga Neuwirth, and countless others, as well as collaborated with artists such as Anthony Pateras, Sean Baxter, Thembi Soddell, Natasha Anderson, Erkki Veltheim, Scott Tinkler, and Deb Kayser to name a few.
He has toured Australia five times, performing multiple times at the Melbourne and Adelaide International Arts Festivals, the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, and Brisbane Cabaret Festivals, the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, and toured Europe twice.
Samuel is 24 years old.