​Azariah Felton has had a passion for music since the age of two, when he made a habit of pulling all the pots and pans out of the cupboard to play drums on the kitchen floor. He developed his interest in music throughout his teen years, playing drums and guitar, and began composing music for them. Upon graduating high school, he was accepted to study a Bachelor of Music at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, majoring in Composition and Music Technology. He graduated with first Class Honours in 2018, and was awarded a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship to continue his studies in the United States. He has recently completed a Masters in Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, majoring in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices.
​Felton’s practice includes a broad range of styles, ranging from instrumental concert music to sound art, with a strong focus on collaboration with other art forms. He draws influence from metal, jazz, postminimalism, acousmatic music, and many other genres. His mentors have included Anne Lebaron, Iain Grandage, Clay Chaplin, Lindsay Vickery, James Ledger, and Rebecca Erin Smith. Felton has composed for solo instruments, a large range of chamber ensembles, and orchestra, as well as combining instruments and electronics, both live and fixed media. He also composes works in a range of electroacoustic genres, particularly in collaboration with dance, ranging from popular styles to acousmatic and spatial works.
His concert works have been performed at the Kuala Lumpur International Composer’s Series in Malaysia, the United States, and Australia. Dance pieces he has collaborated on have been presented at the Biennale di Venezia Danza (IT), the Montpellier Dance Festival (FR), and in Fringe Festivals around Australia. Short films featuring his music have been presented at festivals in the US, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, and Riptide [2016] was nominated for best original score at the Little Wing Film Festival in London. In 2017, he composed the score for Michelle Aitken’s solo theatre show, Future’s Eve, which won the tour-ready award at the Perth Fringe Festival, and was toured to Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Auckland (NZ). In 2018, Rainbow Coast for guitar ensemble was awarded 1st place in the WA Classical Guitar Society Composition Competition.
Azariah is currently engaged composing works for internationally respected musicians including Jonathan Fitzgerald and Shaun Lee-Chen, and Lisa Cella. He has recently been selected for the composition development program run by Australia’s leading new music ensemble, Ensemble Offspring. After graduating, Felton will continue to compose, and aims to build a full-time career in composition and sound art.