David Scott Hamnes was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1971. He began learning the piano and violin/viola at the age of ten in Adelaide. In 1985 he began organ studies in Launceston, Tasmania with William B. S. Pierce, and later studied organ performance for six years with John Mallinson, Lindsey O'Neill and H. June Nixon at the University of Melbourne, completing the degree of Bachelor of Music in 1991. In July 1994 he moved to Namsos, Norway.

Hamnes recently completed a dissertation on Australian organ music for the degree of Master of Music, majoring in organ performance and musicology at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. As part of this degree Hamnes has compiled a history and catalogue of Australian organ music, with particular reference to Australian organ music written and performed during the past thirty years.

Between 1994 and 1997 Hamnes studied with David Sanger in England. Hamnes has given first performances of a number of new organ compositions by Australian, Danish and Norwegian composers, amongst others Philip Nunn, Andrew Charles Newcombe and Jakob Vejslev, and has himself composed a small number of works for the organ.

David Scott Hamnes now works as a consultant for church music and hymnody at the Liturgical Centre, Church of Norway, and is the Organist at Ilen church, Trondheim. He is currently working on a PhD degree on Australian organ music.

You can visit Hamnes' comprehensive website by clicking here.