BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the entire nature of our industry has shifted — seemingly overnight — with artists forced to abandon their live events and projects.
But despite such mass cancellations, musicians are proving they have the power to take some control over what can only be described as a horrendous situation — and adapt with ingenuity, determination, and creativity.
In this interview series, we document the COVID-19 impact on the Australian arts industry while facilitating a candid discussion about what it is like to work during this difficult time. We hope this series will bring hope and solidarity to our creative community – things we need now more than ever.
Here, we interview Lloyd Van’t Hoff, who plays clarinet with Arcadia Winds. As a solo artist, Lloyd won the 2015 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year award, but his work with Arcadia has since taken over much of his music career. The ensemble was named Musica Viva’s inaugural FutureMakers from 2015-17, and has performed in Australia and beyond.
Of course, Arcadia’s performance and touring programs have needed to stop during the 2020 lockdowns — so Lloyd tells us how his group is still making things work.
Lloyd, Arcadia has lost an enormous 90 per cent of its income due to the lockdowns. You can’t undertake your regional touring or schools projects. But still, Arcadia survives. What have been some of the big discussions you’ve been having among your group about how to adapt to this massive change and keep your ensemble alive?
It’s a tricky position to be in, mainly due to the constantly evolving nature of this current situation. Along with all of the activity that we manage, Arcadia is involved with many presenters and touring companies around the country. We’ve watched helplessly as the musical activities that we’ve been looking forward to for so long are being cancelled each and every day. In that sense, the last few weeks have been utterly deflating; seeing something you’ve poured all of your heart into become incapacitated, and coming to terms with the fragility of our industry has been confronting.
But these are ultimately results of many things that are out of our control.
That has been a really important thing to reflect on and accept. It’s something that’s propelled us forward, and really challenged us to ask ourselves: ‘What can we do?’
The brief answer to this question has resulted in a series of thought-provoking ideas and conversations, the two main ideas we are currently considering are: How can we keep creating and sharing what we do? And how can we keep stimulating our business?
Finding new ways to continue sharing and making music during this time has been very exciting for me, and fundamentally motivating for the entire group. It’s an opportunity for us to learn different skills, and think outside of the box in terms of how we function not only artistically but financially as well.
It’s a blessing in disguise in many ways, because it’s forcing us to take steps that are arguably necessary to be relevant within this current digital age. I’m really looking forward to seeing how we grow through this!
Incredibly, through all this, you’ve still maintained a great presence — in particular, I believe you were the first group to perform in the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall! That’s a huge achievement. How did this collaboration come about?
What a fantastic initiative the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall has become, and an even greater sense of leadership shown by Adele Schonhardt and Chris Howlett to set it up. They are looking to support artists who have lost opportunities, and we were lucky enough to be one of the first artists they approached to be a part of this venture.
Arcadia has previously worked with both Adele and Chris in their respective roles in other arts organisations. There’s a great deal of mutual respect between us, and we’ve enjoyed many years of collaboration together.
This just seemed like the next chapter in many ways, and we are super thankful they asked us to be a part of this journey.
What would you say about the need for musicians to be collaborating during this time? What opportunities can come from this, even when we’re in lockdown?
One thing I’ve personally been doing during this time is reaching out to my musical friends all across the globe, and asking them if they’d like to play and record a virtual duet with me. It’s a project under the tag #duetwithme, and I’ve been sharing the results on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I wanted to do this because the thing I miss most about the situation we are in is the fun of making music with others.
The process has been really cathartic so far. It’s given me a chance to catch up with many friends from all over, and check in with how they are going. Hearing their musical ideas and bringing the duets to life has been a tremendously stimulating and rewarding process.
There’s a certain amount of comfort in knowing that we are all in this together. Being able to grow through it, whilst sharing ideas and making music, has brought me a lot of joy and reminded me how lucky I am to be a musician.
I was reading an Arcadia newsletter in which you offered some great tips for people to continue supporting you — such as buying your EP and making a donation. Have you felt strong community support during this time?
It’s been so amazing! We had so many people tune in to our livestream on Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, a steady growth of supporters on our new Patreon page, several CDs flying off the shelf, and many donations being made directly to Arcadia.
We initially had a lot of doubt putting ourselves out there and asking for support. I think for many musicians, that’s a really difficult thing to do, and we are no exception. Coming to terms with the fact that people really do want to help seems so weird, and being proactive about creating ways people can support us is actually what those who are most invested in us like to see!
We’ve felt extremely loved, and it’s nice to know that so many people care about what we do. Thanks so much, everyone!
So, how have you navigated your rehearsals during your periods of social distancing?
With great care. We’ve moved our activity all online now, and working more as individuals rather than a group.
What do you hope Arcadia can achieve through this challenge, and be proud of on the other side?
It’s funny, I feel this situation of isolation has brought us together a whole lot more. Because we don’t have the ability to just meet up and talk things through, we’ve needed to be more structured about our communication and goal setting for each week. I’m really proud of the steps we’ve already taken, and how well we are working together as a team.
It’s my hope that we can use this time to connect with people in new ways. Using this opportunity to develop projects that can be delivered to people with greater simplicity, but that are still artistically fulfilling, is certainly a challenge.
If we can do this, and integrate it into all of the current ways we have with connecting people, then that would be a super exciting achievement for us.
Any parting words of advice to Australia’s musicians?
Stay safe, be smart, and keep doing what you love!
Visit the Arcadia Winds website to keep updated on the ensemble’s career during COVID-19. You can also find the group on Patreon, and Bandcamp.
What does this story mean to you?
If you like, you can shout us a coffee as we volunteer our time for Australian arts journalism during the COVID-19 crisis. No amount too much or little, and any amount appreciated.
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