Hamish Gullick is a double bassist born and raised in Sydney. He has had a broad musical upbringing, ranging from the St James and St Andrews’ Baroque Bands on period instruments, to the Sydney based Mythra Ensemble, performing a range of Kurdish, Armenian, Persian as well as modern fusion works.
Hamish had his first double bass lesson when he was 12 with late jazz great Ed Gaston. From 2013-16 he studied on Scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium with Kees Boersma and later Alex Henery. During his studies he played in masterclasses for Domenic Seldis, (former Principal Double Bass, Royal Concertgebouw) Owen Lee, (Principal Double Bass, Cincinnati Symphony) and Hiroshi Ikematsu, (Former Principal New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony).
A voracious appetite for new sounds has influenced Hamish’s regular listening, ranging from the lopsided beats of J-Dilla, to the new Appalachian sounds of Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer, on top of a wide range of western art music culminating in a pursuit of unconventional repertoire and interpretation.
Hamish has premiered a number of solo and accompanied bass works for Australian composer Jim Coyle. Last year he was involved in the Australian premiere of Gemma Peacocke’s song cycle Waves and Lines with the Rubiks Collective at the Metropolis Festival.
Over the last few years he has performed as a casual musician with the Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras as well as the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Before commencing at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in 2019, Hamish taught at the International Grammar School in Ultimo, Symphony for Life Foundation Parramatta, Methodist Ladies College Burwood, St Aloysius College Milson’s Point, Sydney Conservatorium’s Open Academy.