Ben Hoadley

Ben Hoadley holds degrees in bassoon performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston. He received a Master of Music in composition with First Class Honours from the University of Waikato where he was awarded the Lilburn Composition Prize, and has held fellowships to the Australian National Academy of Music, Tanglewood Music Centre and the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Since returning from the USA, Ben has divided his time between Australia and New Zealand. He lectured at the University of Auckland from 2007 to 2022. Since 2019 he has tutored at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and since 2022 at the School of Music of the Australian National University where he also serves as principal bassoonist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. He is regularly invited to teach at institutions throughout Australasia and abroad, including a residency at the University of Louisville, USA in 2017.

Ben's compositions include: the chamber opera “Miss Brill”, written in collaboration with Sydney playwright Craig Brush, and premiered at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2018 as part of the Resonate series; “Huia” for organ and orchestra, premiered by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra; “Turakirae” for clarinet and orchestra, premiered by Peter Scholes and the Auckland Chamber Orchestra in 2018 and recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2020; works commissioned by the Sydney Omega Ensemble, Professor Jack C. Richards, and a bassoon quartet commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's bassoon section that has been performed worldwide.

In 2020 he completed a string quartet (written with assistance from a Creative NZ grant) that was premiered by the Jade Quartet in Auckland; a work for solo oboe for Camille Wells (NZ/USA) and Shaiq Ahmad Noori (Afghanistan) through the Teach to Learn foundation in Boston; and the sextet “Cave Dances”, commissioned by Chamber Music NZ and performed at ten centres across New Zealand by principal players from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Also in 2020, Ben was the winner of the NSW Flute Society Composition Grant for “involute” (flute and piano), and the SOUNZ Brass Composition Prize with “Haratua” for trombone and piano, which was premiered at the NZ Brass Band National Championships by David Bremner and David Barnard. Ben has most recently received commissions from the Australian National Academy of Music and the Australasian Double Reed Society. In 2021 he won the Philip Neill Memorial Award from the University of Otago with “Four Preludes” for cello and piano.

One of Australasia's most versatile bassoonists, Ben appears regularly as an orchestral player, recital and concerto soloist and chamber musician on modern and historical bassoons. His special interest in Australian and New Zealand repertoire has led to a number of new works for bassoon. These include a collection of pieces by Gillian Whitehead which he has recorded on the Atoll CD "Arapātiki", a finalist in the 2014 NZ Music Awards. Ben has also recorded the CD "Southern Invention" featuring Australasian music for bassoon and piano. Ben premiered Alex Taylor's critically acclaimed bassoon concerto in 2014, subsequently performing and recording it with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 2017 Ben gave the Australasian premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's "Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings" with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra.