Matthew Stephen Hockaday

Matthew Hockaday considers himself a multi-instrumentalist. He plays the clarinet, recorder and piano. He is the winner of the 2021 Zlatý oříšek competition. He started playing the clarinet at the age of 8 and has studied under Zdeňka Andreášová at the Iša Krejčí Arts Primary School in Olomouc since 2019. He has been a student at the City of Prague Grammar School and Music School under Milan Polák since September 2023. Matthew received a MenART Academy scholarship under the guidance of Irvin Venyš, thanks to which he performed with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Radek Baborák at Smetana’s Litomyšl in 2024. His greatest successes include a Platinum Prize from the London Young Musician competition (2022/23) and the 1st prize from the International Mozart Competition Vienna (2023), the London Classical Music Competition (2023) and the OPUS International Music Competition (2023, Poland). He is the holder of the 1st prize and laureate title from Pro Bohemia Ostrava 2023. He has played with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc (2021), performed as a soloist at a concert with the Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava (2023) and performed recital concerts in Olomouc (2023) and Šumperk (2024). In 2024, he will perform as a soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra at the Municipal House in Prague, with the Western Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in Mariánské Lázně and at Smetana’s Litomyšl 2024.