Josten Myburgh

Josten Myburgh is a musician based in Boorloo on Whadjuk Noongar country. He performs using a mixture of electro-acoustic material, woodwinds, field recordings and percussion, and composes scores for ensembles and electronic works. He is fascinated by situations where the unexpected harmony between seemingly disparate materials or ways of making leads to rich and generative experiences for performances and listeners alike.

He is part of the team behind the label Tone List, and curates their Audible Edge Festival as well as collaborative presentations with SymbioticA, Propel Youth Arts, Tura New Music and Flock. In 2018, Tone List initiated the Sounding Together project, a workshop program mentored by Jim Denley which explored collective learning, listening and improvising in regional Western Australia. Josten has also been involved as a curator for Tura's iMprov program and within their Totally Huge New Music Festival. He makes extensive audio documentation of these events, and frequently interviews local artists about their work.

Notable performances include High Tide/Fremantle Festival, Supersense Festival of the Ecstatic (Melbourne), Festival Cable#8 (Nantes), KLEX Festival (Kuala Lumpur), Klangraum Festival (Düsseldorf), Inland (Melbourne) and the Totally Huge New Music Festival. He has released music on Shame File Music, Edition Wandelweiser, Flaming Pines and Tone List, and had work commissioned by Catherine Ashley, Kaylie Melville, Jameson Feakes and the Department of Parks and Wildlife (Narrogin). Close collaborators include musicians Djuna Lee, Michael McNab, Simon Charles, Emilio Gordoa, Sage Pbbbt and Jameson Feakes, and dancers Joshua Pether and Daisy Sanders.

As the Schenberg Fellow for 2019, he has embarked on a six month study tour working with renowned artists in electro-acoustic music making and creative sound recording in Australia and overseas. His study tour begins in June at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) with a month long mentorship with guitarist and composer Michael Pisaro. During his time in North America he will perform in concerts in New York and Montreal before heading to Arles in France to participate in the Phonurgia Nova radio art school directed by Alessandro Bosetti. Later in the year, Josten will fulfil his dream of studying with Yolngu musicians when he participates in the Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive in Tasmania. His final trip will be to South Africa to participate in the Sonic Mmabolela workshop to develop his skills and knowledge as a field recordist under the guidance of Barbara Ellison and Francisco Lopez.