Lauded by Limelight Magazine for his “Life-affirming music making,” and the Tasmanian Mercury for exhibiting “Spectacular brilliance, charisma and sensitivity,” Lloyd Van’t Hoff is an Australian clarinetist, director, educator, recording artist and founding member of Arcadia Winds.
Born in Darwin, Australia, 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 made his concerto debut in 2014, performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Orchestra Victoria and has since featured as a concerto soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. A regular performer at chamber music festivals in Australia and around the world, Van’t Hoff has appeared as a chamber musician at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Musica Viva Festival and the Huntington Estate Music Festival in Australia, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in the USA, the International Festival of Modern Music in Beijing, the Menhuin Festival in Switzerland, the Young Euro Classic in Germany, the Grafenegg Summer Music Festival in Austria, and the Banff Centre in Canada.
Van’t Hoff is a founding member of the award-winning Australian wind quintet, Arcadia Winds. In 2015, the ensemble was announced as Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural FutureMakers, performing at major chamber music festivals all around Australia, touring mainland China and making an appearance at the BBC Proms Australia Chamber Music series. The ensemble have demonstrated their commitment to fostering new music by Australian composers, establishing the Arcadia Winds Composition Prize, whilst commissioning and premiering dozens of new works by Australian composers such as Andrew Ford, Lachlan Skipworth, Elizabeth Younan and Kate Neal. In 2017 the ensemble released their debut eponymous EP, Arcadia Winds, in collaboration with ABC Classic.
As a recitalist, Van’t Hoff has performed at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, City Recital Hall, Elder Hall and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in 2023. He collaborates regularly with some of Australia and the world’s leading chamber music ensembles and musicians, including the Australian String Quartet, Goldner String Quartet, Flinders Quartet, Omega Ensemble, accordion virtuoso James Crabb, pianists Tamara Anna Cislowska, Dejan Lazic and Lambert Orkis, principal flutist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Emily Beynon and the clarinet virtuoso Michael Collins.
He has appeared as principal clarinet with several Australian Orchestras, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, as well as performing as principal bass clarinetist of the Opera Australia Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
In 2022 Van’t Hoff was appointed as the Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music’s Winterschool where he oversees the development and running of the Festival’s Winterschool and Winterschool Outreach programs. He has served as causal teaching faculty at Melbourne University and the Yale School of Music, has been a guest artist in residence at the Karlstad Universitet Muikhogskolan Ingesund in Sweden, and has conducted masterclasses and teaching residencies in the USA, Canada and throughout Australia. Currently, Van’t Hoff serves as Head of Woodwind at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium.
As a recording artist, Van’t Hoff has appeared on the ARIA Award winning album Conversations with Ghosts alongside Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey, composer James Ledger and the students of the Australian National Academy of Music. In 2021, Van’t Hoff self released his debut solo album, Johannes Brahms: Music for Clarinet and Piano, in which his performance of the Clarinet Sonatas by Brahms were described as “Interpretations [that] live in the memory for their verve and deep musicianship.”
Van’t Hoff completed his undergraduate education with Honours at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, studying under the tutelage of Paul Dean and Floyd Williams, and was a winner of the university’s Postgraduate Award. He furthered his study at the Australian National Academy of Music, learning from principal clarinetist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, David Thomas and winning the institution’s Director’s Prize for Most Outstanding Student. In 2021 Van’t Hoff commenced a Masters of Music degree at the prestigious Yale School of Music studying under the mentorship of David Shifrin. Whilst studying at Yale he was a recipient of the university’s Keith Wilson Scholarship.
Lloyd Van’t Hoff is a Buffet Crampon endorsed artist.