Adelaide born Michael Ierace has been cited as having an ‘exceptional gift’ and his playing

described as ‘revelatory’. He completed his university education at the Elder Conservatorium with teachers Stefan Ammer and Lucinda Collins.

Michael received the coveted Elder Overseas Scholarship which enabled him to move to

London and study at the Royal College of Music with Professor Andrew Ball. He was selected as an RCM Rising Star and was later on staff as a Junior Fellow in piano accompaniment.

In the UK, he won several competitions including the Keyboard and the Accompanist Prizein the Royal Over-Seas League Competition – the first pianist in the competition's distinguished history to have received both awards. Michael performed extensively throughout London and the UK, and twice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Much sought after as an associate artist for national and international guests, he is also the regular repetiteur for the State Opera of South Australia and the Adelaide Festival.

Alongside his ‘classical’ duties, Michael is also the keyboard player for the Tributes in Concert Band, consistently praised as one of the best in the business after making their US debut in 2019.

Michael is currently teaching at the Elder Conservatorium.

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mierace@hotmail.com 

Celia Craig is a multi-award-winning oboist, synesthete and creative leader known for bold

collaborations and colour-rich approach to music. Formerly Principal Oboe of Adelaide Symphony

Orchestra and Principal Cor Anglais/ Chairman of BBC Symphony London, she is South Australian

Biennial Artist 2025–26 and 2024 Creative Arts Fellow at National Library of Australia.

Winner of 2023 Australian Women in Music Award for Excellence in Classical Music, Celia is now a jury member for AWMA, oboe coach for the Australian Youth Orchestra, an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) since 1997. Dame Judith Weir CBE, Master of the King’s

Music, composed and dedicated her Oboe Concerto to Celia in 2018, co-commissioned by threeAustralian Symphony Orchestras.

A lifelong synesthete—someone who perceives sound as colour—Celia’s creative vision is deeply

informed by this neurodivergent trait. Her ongoing research focuses on fellow synesthete Dr.Miriam Hyde, a pioneering South Australian composer and Royal College of Music Scholar (1932–36).

Her orchestral career has spanned six continents, and her educational program Colours of Home

introduced thousands of young Australians to synesthesia through Musica Viva in Schools. She now focuses on chamber music, on developing her coaching practice, and on cross genre collaborative projects.

Celia’s discography includes Sonatas by Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and York Bowen with Russian pianist

Konstantin Shamray, and Weir’s Oboe Concerto with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. She has

performed with Two Set Violin as guest Principal Oboe, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, as Cor

Anglais soloist under conductors John Adams, Sir Andrew Davis and Richard Hickox OBE, and has

recorded at Abbey Road.

Celia is founder of Artaria (est. 2017), a globally distributed label and YouTube channel, and is

currently the recipient of CreateSA’s top grant for her 2025–26 synesthesia-inspired projects.

Upcoming releases include Collectif Arc en Ciel, a fully improvised album recorded in nature with

Caspar Hawksley (electric guitar), Harrison Smith (flugelhorn), and Thomas Marlin (cello).

In 2026, she will premiere the Oboe Sonata by Carl Vine AO in a new album with pianist Michael

Ierace, launching live in London.

Formative influences include personal training with Leonard Bernstein and violinist Béla de

Csillery—student of both Kodály and Hindemith. A former violinist and Scholar at The Purcell

School, Celia studied oboe with Nicholas Daniel OBE.

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 “Celia Craig creates a mesmerising, unworldly sound with the oboe, transporting the

listener into a state of receptivity...”

— Barefoot Review, As the Universe Expands by Glyn Lehman, June 2025

Ben Hoadley works throughout Australia and New Zealand as a bassoonist and composer. He currently teaches at the Melbourne Conservatorium, Australian National Academy of Music and for AYO programmes, having previously lectured at the Sydney Conservatorium and the University of Auckland School of Music. He is principal bassoonist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and regularly appears as guest principal bassoonist with the Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Opera Australia, Orchestra Victoria, Adelaide Symphony and the Auckland

Philharmonia. Further afield, he has performed with the Boston Symphony, The Hallé, Royal

Seville Symphony and the Hong Kong and Malaysian Philharmonics.

Ben’s solo and chamber music engagements have taken him around the world. In 2025, Ben was

Artist-in-Focus with the National Capital Orchestra, ACT, and appeared as soloist in the ElgarRomance for bassoon with the Elgar Sinfonia of London. He has been featured at the Adelaide, Four Winds, Canberra, Akaroa (NZ), Danish Chamber Players, Cape Cod (USA) and OK Mozart (USA) Festivals.

His CD’s include Six Quartets for bassoon and strings by Josef Michl (Naxos) Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the Omega Ensemble (ABC Classics) and eight albums of new music on the Atoll Label, several which have been finalists in the New Zealand Music Awards.

He has received fellowships from the Tanglewood Music Center, Weill Music Academy at Carnegie Hall, and the Australian National Academy of Music.

Ben has recently been elected to Director at

Large (Bassoon) for the International Double Reed Society, the first Australian-based player to

serve on the IDRS Board of Directors.