Arcadia Winds

Five music stands   

Arcadia Winds have a vast experience delivering masterclasses, education shows, and workshops to both regional communities and schools all over the country. We are particularly enthusiastic about running masterclasses and workshops focused on wind playing and chamber music. Individual lessons can also be arranged. 

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Lloyd Van’t Hoff is an award-winning clarinetist, director, educator, and recording artist. He has been lauded for his “life-affirming music making” (Limelight Magazine ) and “spectacular brilliance, charisma and sensitivity” (Tasmanian Mercury). Born in Darwin, Van’t Hoff came to prominence as the winner of the Grand Prize and Sir Charles Moses Trophy, along with the Triffitt Prize in the 2015 Symphony Australia ABC Young Performers Awards. He now performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals around the world; with many of Australia’s leading symphony orchestras; and is a founding member of Arcadia Winds. In 2021 Van’t Hoff released his solo album, Johannes Brahms: Music for Clarinet and Piano. A Yale University graduate, Van’t Hoff has served as teaching faculty at Melbourne University, at the Yale Department of Music, and has recently been appointed Head of Woodwind at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium, South Australia. He is the Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music’s Winterschool and Winterschool Outreach programs. Van’t Hoff  is a Buffet Crampon and D’Addario endorsed performing artist.

Rachel Shaw is a true musical chameleon, enjoying a prolific career across several ensembles and genres. A passionate orchestral performer, Rachel currently holds the position of Tutti Horn with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In other settings, she has performed at festivals and venues around the country with Arcadia Winds, had the privilege of playing alongside Kerry Turner and the American Horn Quartet, and was a finalist in the 42nd International Horn Symposium Competition.

Rachel Bullen discovered the oboe when she was accepted to study at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School aged 12. She went on to study with Eve Newsome at Melbourne University, where she was awarded the Lady Turner Exhibition for Excellence in Performance. Rachel continued her studies in Europe, studying with Emanuel Abbühl and François Leleux, during which time she received an Ian Potter Foundation grant. Rachel has performed as a soloist and orchestral musician in Europe and Australia, and she was a full-time member of Esbjerg Ensemble, Denmark, from 2010 to 2016. In 2016, Rachel returned to Australia and has appeared as guest principal oboe with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and acting principal with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Rachel is a regular guest oboist with Arcadia Winds and she teaches at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and with Play with a Pro. Rachel also has a strong interest in what goes on in the minds of performers, and recently completed her Honours in Psychology.

Hailed by the Daily Telegraph as “a new star…who wields his instrument with virtuosic skill and with moves you usually associate with a rock guitarist”, Matthew Kneale is one of Australia’s leading lights of the bassoon. The first bassoonist to be awarded the prestigious Freedman Classical Fellowship, Matthew used this award in 2019 to embark on an international concert tour that aimed to shatter preconceived notions by presenting the bassoon as a brilliant solo and chamber entity in its own right, with a strong emphasis on music by Australia’s leading young composers. Matthew is a founding member of Arcadia Winds, Australia’s leading wind ensemble, and Musica Viva’s inaugural FutureMakers musicians. With Arcadia Winds Matthew appears as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals and venues around Australia, including the Perth International Arts Festival with the Australian String Quartet; at the Musica Viva Festival with piano virtuoso Lambert Orkis; and at the UKARIA Cultural Centre with woodwind masters Ole Kristian Dahl and Thorsten Johanns. Matthew also performs as a casual guest with many of Australia’s leading orchestras.

“Near-faultless phrasing and golden tone gave the touch of distinction to Kiran Phatak's flute playing.” – The West Australian. “Deft, graceful...Phatak’s richly varied tonal hues created an especially serene intimacy.” – Limelight Magazine. Kiran Phatak is one of Australia’s most versatile and accomplished flautists. Winner of the Australian International Flute Competition in 2013, Kiran was also a finalist and prize-winner in the 2014–15 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Awards. He has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras around the country, and as a chamber musician at many major festivals, including the Melbourne, Adelaide, and Four Winds Festivals, the Coriole and Huntington Estate Music Festivals, and the Perth International Arts Festival. Kiran is also a prolific orchestral musician, playing regularly with Australasia’s major orchestras, both on stage and in the pit, including a contract as Principal Piccolo with Orchestra Victoria. Kiran is a founding member of Arcadia Winds, a group that has lead the way for Australian wind music as Musica Viva’s inaugural Future Makers ensemble.