Judith Hamann performs their Humming Suite, a concert-length program focused on cello and voice in different permutations, alongside companion pieces.

“There is an intimacy and vulnerability in a close-mouthed hum that teeters on the edge of audibility,” says Hamann.

In performance, bow stroke and breath often break, disturb, and interfere as much as they meld together. And it is not always clear where the sounds are coming from, suggesting something akin to ventriloquism. The result is a collection of works marked by delicate balance and volatile fragility.

Judith Hamann (b.1983, Melbourne, Australia) is a composer and cellist, based in Berlin. Their practice incorporates improvisation, field recording, electroacoustic composition, performance, and site-specific response, and is often collaborative in nature. Trained in contemporary classical performance, Hamann pushes the limits of their instruments—whether the cello, voice, or body—exploring sonic thresholds as sites of instability and movement. Performances include Tectonics, Glasgow, Adelaide, Athens; UnSound, New York; Sonic Acts, Amsterdam; Maerzmusik, Berlin; CTM, Berlin; the Venice Biennale Musica; Tokyo Experimental Festival; and Festival Aural, Mexico City. Collaborators include Marja Ahti, Joshua Bonnetta, Pascale Criton, Charles Curtis, Sarah Hennies, Yvette Janine Jackson, and Anike Joyce Sadiq. Hamann’s work has been published by Blank Forms, Black Truffle, Another Timbre, and Longform Editions. They hold a D.M.A. from the University of California, San Diego.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation