Samantha Fonti (born 12 February 1973) is an Australian

film composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

and classically trained

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist. Fonti was raised and born in Sydney, Australia. She started her classical music training at the age of 3 and completed her Bachelor of Music degree as a violin major at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

in 2000. She also attended the

Australian Film, Television and Radio School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establishe ...

(AFTRS) graduate screen composition course in Sydney. She is best known for her emotive orchestral film scoring and, as a former session musician and multi-instrumentalist, performs on most of her scores. She was nominated for Best Original Score for the short film ''Moving Day'' at the St Kilda International Film Festival 2011 and was a finalist for APRA's Professional Development Awards in 2009. Her feature films credits include composing the score for ''Brush'', ''The 7th Hunt'', which screened at the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2008, and '' You Can't Stop the Murders'' as additional score composer. Currently signed to Perfect Pitch Publishing as a commissioned composer, she has worked on television series for

Endemol Southern Star Endemol Southern Star (also known as Southern Star Endemol until February 2004) was an Australian television production company made up of a joint venture between Australian production company Southern Star Group and its Dutch production compa ...

and Cordell Jigsaw including ''

Big Brother Australia ''Big Brother Australia'' (also known simply as ''Big Brother'') is an Australian reality show based on the international '' Big Brother'' format created by John de Mol. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show feature ...

'' (2008), ''Download'' (2008), ''Friday Night Live'' (2008), ''Gladiators'', ''Battlefronts'', '' Bondi Rescue Bali'', ''

Bondi Rescue ''Bondi Rescue'' is an Australian factual television program which was originally broadcast on Network 10 between 2006-2021 and will be broadcast on Paramount from 2023. The program follows the daily lives and routines of the Waverley Council p ...

'', ''

Kenny's World ''Kenny's World'' is an Australian television mockumentary on Network Ten that is a spin-off from the 2006 mockumentary film ''Kenny''. The series stars Shane Jacobson Shane Jacobson (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian actor, director, w ...

'', ABC's ''

Message Stick A message stick is a graphic communication device traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians. The objects were carried by messengers over long distances and were used for reinforcing a verbal message. Although styles vary, they are generally ...

'', ''Black Olive'' and ''

Burke's Backyard ''Burke's Backyard'' was an Australian gardening and lifestyle series presented by horticulturist Don Burke, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the Nine Network from 12 September 1987 to 26 ...

''. She has worked on several

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

documentaries including ''Boxing for Palm Island'', ''Desperate Times'', ''Desperate Measures'' and ''Sisters in the Black Movement'' and Channel 7's ''Hardliners''. She has scored many television commercials including Mercedes Venger, Sony,

Nurofen Nurofen is a brand name range of pain-relief medication containing ibuprofen made by the British multinational Reckitt. Introduced in 1983, the Nurofen brand was acquired following Reckitt Benckiser's acquisition of Boots in 2005. The brand is ...

, St Vinnies Christmas Appeal,

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

, Asthma Foundation,

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

and Soothers. She has scored over 20 short films including ''Dark Horse'' (winner for Best Short at Byron Bay International Film Festival), ''Spoonman'' (winner of

Flickerfest Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers. History The festival originated ...

2003), ABC's ''The Farm'', and ''Death's Requiem'' (winning awards at 2007 Method Fest in Los Angeles,

St Kilda Film Festival St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19 ...

, 2007 Shriekfest Los Angeles International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, Big Island Film Festival (Hawaii), Swansea Bay Film Festival (Wales) & Staten Island Film Festival). Other shorts include ''Wrong Answer'', winner of the 2005 Frankly Film Festival and 2007 Red Rock Film Festival. As a performer she is most known as the violinist from Vicious Hairy Mary and as a session player and string arranger including

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Le ...

The Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the l ...

, Caligula,

Def FX Def FX was an Australian band created by Sean Lowry (keyboards) in 1990 and included Fiona Horne on lead vocals, Blake Gardiner on guitar and Martyn Basha on bass - the band had no drummer. They released four albums, ''Light Speed Collision'' (D ...

, Vicious Hairy Mary, Primary and Circus Monoxide. She has toured nationally and internationally throughout Europe and Asia and at various festivals and events including the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

(2006),

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne (Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve ...

, Byron Bay Arts and Music Festival, Peats Ridge Festival and

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...

Screen credits

Feature films

Brush (2011),

The 7th Hunt ''The 7th Hunt'' is an independent horror film from Australia, directed by J.D. Cohen, co-directed by Darren K Hawkins for Cinegear Productions/Coherent Productions in 2008 and first screened in 2009. It is widely considered to be of the Ozploi ...

(2008), (Miramax) You Cant Stop the Murders (2002)

Advertising

Venger (2011) Nurofen Zavance (2009), Australian Geographic (2009), St Vinnies Christmas Appeal - Clemengers BBDO (2007), Volvo Cars - Chase (2007), Asthma Foundation - Escape (2007), The Heat is On - Friends of the Earth (2006)& Soothers theme song (2004)

Series

City Chic (2011), Big Brother 2008 (commissioned composer), Battlefronts (2008 - commissioned composer), Gladiators (2008 - commissioned composer), Download (2008 - commissioned composer), Bondi Rescue Bali (2008 - commissioned composer), Black Olive (2003 - commissioned composer), Burke's Backyard -'Tropical Tree Make Over' (2002 - commissioned composer)

Documentaries

(ABC) Boxing for Palm Island (2010), (ABC) Sisters in the Black Movement(2002) & (ABC) Desperate Times, Desperate Measures (2002)

Short films

Dark Horse (2009), Daysleeper (2009), The Farm (2009), Best Enemies (2009), Deaths Requiem (2007), Wrong Answer (2005), Control (2005), Pookie (2004), Language of Love (2004), Rendezvous (2003), Spoonman (2002), Echoes in the Mountains (2002)

Other media

ABC Message Stick compilation album(2002), Book - Post Me to the Prime Minister (2004), Mokal Music Sound Libraries (2001), Soundtrax Sound Libraries (2000/1)

Arranging and recording

Commonwealth Games 2006- Fly By Night, Circus Monoxide - Crash and Burn (2005), Tracy Redhead (2004 & 2008), Darren Hanlon (2002 - Hello Stranger album), Silverchair (2000 -Neon Ballroom), The Whitlams (1999 -'Melbourne), Wendy Matthews (1999 & 2000), Vicious Hairy Mary (1999 - Orchestra Phantasma), Primary (1998 & 2000), Robyn Loau (1998 - Love Addiction), Eva Trout (1997 - album), Def FX (1997 - Majick), Caligula (1996 - Rubanesque), Karma Zoo (1995 - Karma Zoo), Godstar (1994 - Godstar), Beathaven (1991, 1992 & 1993 - album & singles)

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonti, Samantha Australian violinists Australian women violinists Australian film score composers Australian women film score composers Australian women composers Australian composers 1973 births Living people Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni 21st-century women musicians 21st-century violinists