“...a superbly judged musical vernacular from Hamilton, blending traditionally conceived orchestral textures with more hard-edged gestures... wildly entertaining, innovative and brilliantly unconventional...”
“Thum Prints, a world-first concerto for beatboxer and orchestra, is one of the most successful new large-scale Australian works of recent decades...”
(Photo: Pat O'Neill)
Gordon Hamilton is an Australian composer and conductor based in Berlin.
Hamilton is the chief conductor of the #IGNITION concert series with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker (Tonhalle Düsseldorf). From the 2022/23 season he is Composer and Conductor in Residence at the Nürnberger Symphoniker (and their U-Turn Festival). He is a regular guest conductor of orchestras throughout Germany.
Hamilton’s compositions often subvert expectations of classical formats and include electronic elements. 'Thum Prints' (created with beatboxer Tom Thum in 2015) pairs a beatboxer with orchestra and has been performed dozens of times internationally by many leading orchestras. 'Loop Guts' (composed with and for violinist Hannah Solveij in 2021) combines the violin concerto format with sampling, loops, electronic effects and vocalisations. His composition 'Action Hero' (2016) delights in the musical qualities of the iconic voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a recording of which plays along with the orchestra. In December 2018 he traveled to Casey Station, Antarctica to compose ‘Far South’ which was premiered in 2020 by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has since seen numerous repeat performances. His ‘Requiem-Recomposed’ (2018) is a hyper-modern realisation of Mozart’s unfinished Requiem.
Hamilton has a strong affinity for choral music. Recently he has created compositions for the WDR Rundfunkchor, Bachchor Salzburg the Swiss Youth Choir and the Landesjugendchor NRW. Between 2009 and 2021 he was Artistic Director and Conductor of The Australian Voices, an elite vocal ensemble with a special emphasis on new Australian work.
A “chronic collaborator”, Hamilton has worked with many artists including Jorja Smith, Parkway Drive, Nura, L’Impératrice, ÄTNA, Marialy Pacheco and Jónsi & Alex. Since 2020 Gordon has led the Machiavelli Sessions for WDR COSMO, reinterpreting Deutschrap songs with orchestra. This series of music videos has received millions of views on YouTube.
Hamilton grew up in Newcastle and studied composition (2000-2004) under the legendary Australian composer Nigel Butterley.
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