28/07/2026
Jude did what?!
Before the farm, I lived a completely different life.
It didn’t involve mushrooms, chicken p**p on the porch and early morning markets. My world was study, auditions, rehearsals, and performances on four steel strings.
Long before founding Ohau Gourmet Mushrooms with Brent, I spent my 20s as a professional cellist.
My musical journey started in Christchurch at the Christchurch School of Music. By my late teens, I was teaching and performing around New Zealand while finishing my degree at Canterbury University. At age 21, I won a scholarship to study Postgraduate Performance Cello overseas.
That step launched a whirlwind six years playing professionally with different orchestras, living out of a case, and pouring hours of daily focus into an instrument crafted in London back in 1912. 🎻 I called her ‘Grace’.
Eventually, the time came to 'hang up my bow' and step into my next chapter. Selling that beautiful 1912 cello a few years ago was bittersweet, but music never really leaves, it just shifts form, and Grace needed to be played.
People often ask how a former classical musician ends up running an organic mushroom farm. I really don’t know, and I would never have imagined this.
However, playing the cello at that level taught me discipline, respect for fine detail, and the understanding that mastery takes time, care, and absolute dedication. And much of this translates to building and running a small business on the land.
Read more about my background here: https://mycobio.co.nz/about-us/jude-horrill/
Now for a cuppa and pondering what I’m going to do when I grow up!
