Samuel Penderbayne in an Australian composer based in Hamburg, Germany.
His music aims for a fluid combination of moments of accessibility that appeal to a broad range of listeners (for example, those drawing on recognisable elements of various commercial genres and/or film music) and those of experimentalism that challenge and extend well-known aesthetics. In this vein, hybridisation, musico-multiculturality and cross-cultural discourse have become primary goals of his approach. This includes combining elements of modern music genres with the traditional space of classical music as well as hybridising elements of non-Western music in a 'third space' manner, a term relating to the anthropological work of Homi K. Bhabha. These ideas formed the basis of a Dissertation (Dr. Sc. Mus.) at the University for Music and Theatre, Hamburg, which was awarded summa cum laude in 2018.
In recent years he has focussed on opera, including two full-length operas for the Hamburg State Opera (I.th.Ak.A. - 2018 and Unser kleines Scheißkaff aka. Fucking Åmål - 2020), one for the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Die Schneekönigin - 2019) and a string of half-length operas for the Neuköllner Oper (Subotnik - 2021), Kampnagel (Trialog - 2019 im Klangfest von KinderKinder e.V.), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (May - 2020) and the Prinzregententheater (Alice im Wunderland - 2014). He has worked with directors such as Brigitte Dethier, Paul-Georg Dittrich, Alexander Riemenschneider, Tilman Knabe, Ron Zimmering, Theresa von Halle, Levin Handschuh and Ersan Mondtag.
He was the recipient of the Opernstipendium from the Claussen-Simon-Stiftung (2015), the Bach-Preis-Stipendium (2018) from the Senate of the City of Hamburg and the Berliner Opernpreis (2020). Since 2018, he lectures on artistic research at the University for Music and Theatre, Hamburg.