as one of australia’s most active and versatile trumpet players eugene performs extensively throughout australia and around the world with groups including the hoodangers, the andrea keller quartet, the allan browne quintet, the australian art orchestra, the black arm band, the bennetts lane big band and the ball/magnusson/talia trio.

he has performed throughout europe, scandinavia, russia and the former soviet states, asia, north and south america, india and the pacific.

freelancing highlights include performances with international artists jamie cullum (uk), satoko fujii (jpn), wycliff gordon (usa) and jakob dinesen (dk) and celebrated australians paul grabowsky, mike nock, tony gould, graham lyall, bernie mcgann and don burrows. eugene has also worked with leading commercial artists including john butler, kate ceberano, david cambell, jimmy barnes, paul kelly and shane howard. his performances have opened for legends including charlie haden, branford marsalis and the revered al green.

eugene is a prolific composer and arranger, whose work has featured in films, theatre, television, recordings and live performance for artists including kate ceberano and don burrows and ensembles including the melbourne and vancouver symphony orchestras. he has received commissions from the australia council for the arts, monash and melbourne universities, mlackburn, eltham and balwyn high schools and the west end composers’ collective.

in 2008 eugene received the bell award for the best australian jazz composition of the year for the fool poet’s portion; a suite which takes cues from the pre-christian mythology of scandinavia.

since 2003 he has remained an active part of the writing team for the b# big band, arranging for julie o’hara, nina ferro, bob valentine and eugene hamilton. in recent years eugene has written for and performing with australia’s leading indigenous artists including archie roach, kutcha edwards, lou bennett, joe geia, mark atkins, shellie morris, dan sultan and emma donovan for the acclaimed black arm band shows murrundak, hidden republic and dirtsong.

eugene was awarded second place in the wangarratta jazz awards in 2003, and was a finalist in the prestigious freedman jazz fellowship in 2003 and 2006. he also holds a masters degree in performance and composition (melbourne university) for which he was awarded a melbourne research scholarship.

in addition to his outstanding record of professional achievement, eugene has sustained an acclaimed career in music education, and from 1998 to 2007 taught the trumpet, improvisation and composition as well as directed award winning ensembles at eltham high school, monash university and the victorian college of the arts. he continues to teach at the vca and in 2008 accepted a position on the faculty of nmit’s bachelor of australian popular music, lecturing in the trumpet, composition, arranging and music education. in addition, eugene has delivered workshops and master-classes at tertiary institutions throughout australia and internationally.

eugene has also been actively involved in the creation and promotion of performance opportunities for well-known and emerging artists through his work in establishing the performance space/organization lebowski’s. eugene was also a pivotal member in the creation of the melbourne jazz fringe festival. currently he is musical director for the eltham jazz festival.