Ben Hoadley - composer

Ben Hoadley works internationally as a composer, teacher and bassoonist on both modern and historical instruments, During 2026, Ben has been teaching at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music. He has previously held positions at the University of Auckland, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National University. Ben is principal bassoonist with the Canberra Symphony and has performed with all the major orchestras in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Ben’s performing and teaching engagements regularly take him to North America and Europe, and he recently became the first Australasian-based musician to be elected to the Board of Directors of the International Double Reed Society.

Ben’s recent compositions include commissions from the Australian National Academy of Music, Auckland Youth Orchestra, Chamber Music New Zealand, the Australasian Double Reed Society, Sydney Omega Ensemble, L’élephant bleu (Berlin), Teach to Learn Foundation (Boston) and the Ronen Ensemble (Indianapolis). Ben was a composition fellow with the Melbourne-based Flinders String Quartet in 2025, with his work recorded for the Hush Foundation. Also in 2025, Ben was Artist-in-Focus with the National Capital Orchestra, who commissioned his work “Riparian”. During 2026/7, Ben is a fellow in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s highly selective Australian Composer School. 

Ben has received first prize in the Philip Neill Memorial Award from the University of Otago (2021), the New South Wales Flute Society Composition Competition (2020) and the SOUNZ/Brass Band Association Composition Prize (2020). Ben’s compositions have been performed and recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Auckland Chamber Orchestra. They have been recorded for ABC Classic FM, Radio NZ Concert and for CD on the Atoll label.