Gordon Hamilton (born 1982) is an Australian composer and conductor. Since 2009, he has been the artistic director of The Australian Voices. He was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, lived and worked in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for five years as a

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and he now lives in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He studied in Australia at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium from 2000 to 2004, majoring in composition with

Nigel Butterley Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley (13 May 1935 – 19 February 2022) was an Australian composer and pianist. Life and career Butterley was born in Sydney and learned to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar School, but mus ...

and piano with Carmel Lutton. At the same time, he undertook private lessons in orchestral conducting with David Banney. In October 2003 he was invited to the city of

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

, Japan, where he performed a solo piano program of Messiaen, Butterley and Debussy. In 2004 Hamilton conducted the premiere of the opera ''The Impossible Body'' by Katrina Pring, for which he and Pring received a City of Newcastle Dramatic Award (CONDA). In January 2006, Hamilton founded Northern Spirit, a young vocal ensemble committed to contemporary choral music. In just over three years, Northern Spirit has given over fifty concerts, premiered seventeen works, and taken part in four international choral festivals. Under Hamilton's direction, Northern Spirit has performed in Germany, Spain, France, and Iceland. In September 2009, Hamilton moved back to Australia to take over as the new conductor and artistic director of one of Australia's foremost vocal ensembles, The Australian Voices, which was under the direction of respected Australian composer

Stephen Leek Stephen Leek (born 1959) is an Australian composer, conductor, educator, and publisher who specialises in choral music. Early life Leek was born in Sydney in 1959, lived in Brisbane from 1964 through 1969, and then spent the rest of his childho ...

for twelve years. Hamilton sang with this acclaimed ensemble from 2000 until 2004. Several of his compositions, including "Under the Shadow of Kileys Hill" (2000) and "Priepriggie" (2009), have been commissioned by this choir and performed in many different countries. Hamilton has also received several international compositional awards, including first prize in the Coral Gables Congregational Church Florida 2006 Composition Prize, with a work for strings (Reggaeton, which premiered in 2007 in Florida, US). Another of Hamilton's string compositions ("Sale el Sol", which had its premiere in 2008 in Raumberg, Austria) won the second prize at the International Chamber Days, Raumberg 2008 Composition Prize. Finally, Hamilton's work for chamber orchestra Sinfonietta-Concertante (which was premiered by the Luxembourg Sinfonietta in 2007 in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg) received fourth prize in the Luxembourg Sinfonietta 2007 Composition Prize.

References

External links

*
The Australian Voices

Australian Music Centre: Gordon Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Gordon Australian male composers Australian composers 1982 births Living people Artistic directors (music) Australian choral conductors 21st-century Australian conductors (music) 21st-century Australian male musicians