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Sep 08, 2025
Harriet Cunningham

Untold Stories: Lloyd Van't Hoff

Behind the Music Concerts FutureMakers Strike A Chord

Lloyd Van’t Hoff wears many hats. He’s a virtuoso clarinettist. He’s a teacher. He’s a digital content creator and an artistic curator. He’s even an occasional food blogger. When we speak in August 2025, he’s travelling every weekend to perform at chamber music festivals and then, at the end of the month, he heads to Melbourne to join the Judging Panel of the National Final of Strike A Chord 2025.

It’s a long way from the rural community of Charters Towers, 130km west of Townsville, where Lloyd grew up. His first instrument was a saxophone, not through choice, but because that was what was available. Then, at the age of 12, a clarinet became available and he leaped at the opportunity.

‘I loved the challenge of both of the instruments,’ says Lloyd. ‘They have different spirits and identities and their own challenges. I was really drawn to the sound I was making on each of these instruments. It felt like I was really able to express myself.

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

When Lloyd was 15 his family made the decision to move to Brisbane to allow Lloyd to pursue music more seriously, and from there his playing took off: first at the Queensland Conservatorium, then at Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne. In 2015, he won the Symphony Australia’s ABC Young Performer Award. The pathway seemed clear: he would set his sights on a prized principal role in an orchestra. 

That same year, Lloyd’s wind ensemble, Arcadia Winds, were invited to be Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural FutureMakers. The program, designed to enable emerging artists to become cultural leaders, challenged the ensemble to create a project from scratch.   

We were handed a blank page and asked, “What do you want to achieve?"

'We were handed a blank page and asked, “What do you want to achieve? It put a spanner in the works, because no one had ever asked us that before! It expanded our view of the world and opened our minds to the possibilities... It really rewired us.’

Arcadia Winds’ time as FutureMakers led to a stream of different opportunities: residencies, Musica Viva Australia In Schools, international touring. That and, for Lloyd, two years spent in the US studying with the legendary David Shifrin at Yale School of Music.

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

Ten years on from ABC Younger Performers and FutureMakers, what does Lloyd’s rewired world look like? 

‘I have a position at the University of Adelaide, the Elder Conservatorium of Music, as Head of Woodwind. I wear many hats within that role itself. I'm also the program director of the Pathways program at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which you can think of as a mini FutureMakers.

‘What else? I'm performing. I'm travelling every weekend for chamber music festivals and recitals. There's touring and there's also artistic curatorship.

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

Lloyd Van't Hoff with Arcadia Winds

Lloyd admits he loves creating new projects and considers himself a music nerd.

‘I go down late-night rabbit holes where I’ll be listening to this playlist of super duper niche music from the 60s in Italy. Why don’t we play that? That’s so cool!’

One of his late-night rabbit holes led him to a new work, Alchymia, for basset clarinet and string quartet, by English composer Thomas Adès.

‘I remember hearing it in 2021, when it was first written, and I thought this is the next big thing.’

It has taken several years for the stars to align but in 2026 Lloyd will collaborate with London’s Doric String Quartet in a national tour to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Newcastle. He can’t wait.  

Alchymia is a triumph, an astounding work

‘Alchymia is a triumph, an astounding work,’ says Lloyd. ‘It extends beyond the core repertoire of the of the string quartet. It's not Beethoven, it's not Haydn, it's not even Bartok. It has its own aesthetic and its own technical challenges. I'm looking forward to meeting some new friends, working with new colleagues. It's going to be fun.’

And with that, he’s off again, to email the publisher, investigate commissioning a new basset clarinet, book some flights and juggle some hats... The possibilities are endless. 

This is part of a series of Untold Stories, about the people behind the music at Musica Viva Australia. Play your part in the future story of Musica Viva Australia by making a gift in our 80th anniversary year. To discuss making a gift, please contact Zoë Cobden-Jewitt: zcobden-jewitt@musicaviva.com.au