Jessica Chapnik Kahn is an

Argentine Australian Argentine Australians () are Australian citizens of Argentine descent or birth. According to the Census there were 9,879 Australians who claimed full or partial Argentine ancestry and 20,940 Argentina-born citizens who were residing in Australia ...

singer-songwriter, actress and writer. Her solo music is released under the moniker Appleonia. She is also known for her role as Sam Tolhurst/Holden in the Australian television drama ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

'' (2006–08).

Early life

Chapnik Kahn was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, but immigrated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia with her family when she was five years old. On arriving to Australia, speaking no English, they lived in an immigrant hostel for one year. She has a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parent of Polish descent and a Catholic Italian parent, and was brought up in an Argentine Spanish-speaking home (she is fluent in Spanish). Both religions were a strong influence in her life. After high school, Chapnik Kahn attended the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

in Sydney and graduated with a degree in sociology, theatre and film.

Career

Music career

Chapnik Kahn formed her first band at the age of 17. After one year, the band dismantled and she toured nationally and internationally playing keyboards and singing in the bands of artists and bands such as

Sarah Blasko Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow (born 23 September 1976), known professionally as Sarah Blasko, is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. From April 2002, Blasko developed her solo career after fronting Sydney-based band Acquie ...

, Old Man River,and the Kahn Brothers. While touring, Chapnik Kahn met musician

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He app ...

and the two later began collaborating on music projects. In 2008 Chapnik Kahn recorded the soundtrack for the Australian film '' The Square'', directed by

Nash Edgerton Nash Edgerton (born 19 January 1973) is an Australian film director, stuntman and actor, and a principal member of the movie-making collective Blue-Tongue Films. Early life Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales and grew up in Dural ...

. All songs were written and produced by Ben Lee, and sung by Chapnik Kahn. The album was nominated for both an

AFI Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

and an Australian Recording Industry Association (

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

) Fine Arts Award for "Best Original Soundtrack". Following this album, Chapnik Kahn re-invented her solo persona as Appleonia, a character inspired by mythology. In 2013, Chapnik Kahn teamed with musician Nadav Kahn and scored the film ''Despite the Gods'', a documentary directed by Penny Vozniak which closely follows the journey of director Jennifer Chambers Lynch as she makes her film ''

Hisss ''Hisss'' (also known as ''Nagin: The Snake Woman'') is a 2010 adventure-horror film, directed by Jennifer Lynch. Indian film actress Mallika Sherawat plays the lead role. Plot The story begins in Natchi, a small town in the Indian state of K ...

'' in India. The soundtrack was released in 2013 and features the song "She is the Sun" which Chapnik Kahn sang with

Craig Nicholls Craig Robert Nicholls (born 31 August 1977) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines (band), The Vines, of which he is the sole continuous member. Earl ...

from The Vines. Chapnik Kahn again collaborated with Ben Lee, co-writing and co-producing his album '' Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work'',Lojinx – Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work
/ref> released in April 2013. The album is a sonic documentation of her and Lee's experiences with the South American healing medicine,

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

. In 2014 she released her album ''OH'', which was recorded over a few continents and over several years. It features the handiwork of several collaborators including

Dntel James Scott Tamborello, (born 1975) also known by his stage name Dntel , is an American electronic music artist and DJ. Aside from his main solo project, Tamborello is also known as a member of the groups The Postal Service, Headset, Strictl ...

Ian Ball Ian Thomas Ball (born 19 October 1975) is an English musician, most notable for being part of the indie rock band Gomez, sharing lead vocals and guitars. He has also performed and released two solo albums (as of June 2017). He is also a member ...

and Nadav Kahn.

Acting career

Chapnik Kahn trained as an actress in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for two years at the

Atlantic Theater Company The Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater company based in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1985 by playwright David Mamet, actor William H. Macy, and a group of acting students, the compan ...

Acting School, which was founded by playwright

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

. While living in New York, she acted in a string of plays, and on returning to Sydney she continued working in theatre. In 2006 she joined Australian TV drama ''

'', playing Sam Tolhurst/Holden. The role was originally a three-month contract, but was extended to almost two years due to the storyline's popularity. Chapnik Kahn later had a guest role in the American adventure/fantasy series ''

Legend of the Seeker ''Legend of the Seeker'' is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based on the fantasy novel series ''The Sword of Truth'' by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series fo ...

'', playing Anna Brighton. The episodes (episode 12: "Home" and episode 14: "Hartland") were broadcast in early 2009 on

Disney-ABC Domestic Television Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that ove ...

. In 2009 she also starred in the Spanish-speaking short film '' Amanecer'' (''Daybreak''), directed by Alvaro D. Ruiz, a film that won several awards in Latin film festivals worldwide.

Writing career

Chapnik Kahn published her first children's book in 2018 called ''Lenny and the Ants''. It was illustrated by Australian artist Matthew Martin. In 2019, she released a collection of poems and drawings called ''MADRE'', inspired by the birth of her son. In 2020, she co-wrote the biography A Repurposed Life which was longlisted for an ABIA Award for Biography Book of the Year in 2021. Jessica has directed and co-directed music videos for her Appleonia albums. In 2013 she directed a music video for Ben Lee's song "On My Knees".

Personal life

In 2011 Chapnik Kahn married musician Nadav Kahn, formerly of art rock band Gelbison. In 2016 their son Lev Vishnu was born, followed by their daughter Shemi Jayasri in 2020.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony held by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

ARIA Music Awards of 2008 The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...

, '' The Square'' (with

) , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References

External links

appleoniamusic
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapnik Kahn, Jessica Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent Argentine emigrants to Australia Australian people of Italian descent Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent Australian soap opera actresses Actresses from Buenos Aires Actresses from Sydney Australian women singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)