Rachel Hocking

Rachel Hocking originates from Sydney, Australia. Her father, a rock 'n' roll pianist with an apprenticeship in pipe organ building, introduced her to various music from a young age, from opera to jazz. As a child, she studied classical and jazz piano, organ and theory, eventually gaining a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of New South Wales as well as studying Kodály methodology at NSW Conservatorium of Music under Doreen Bridges. Rachel has also had lessons and lectures with composers such as Miriam Hyde, Peter Sculthorpe and Eric Gross. Rachel has performed extensively, including works for solo piano and piano duos. She has also worked collaboratively on piano, as a ballet repetiteur, and performed with choirs/orchestras on piano, chamber and pipe organ, and celesta. In 2007, Rachel was awarded a PhD in Musicology for her research on music for the dance in Australia, 1960-2000, supervised by Jill Stubington.

Rachel has lectured in Music and Music Education at the University of New South Wales, Australian Catholic University, and currently teaches in the tertiary and Young Con programmes at Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University. As a piano teacher, adjudicator and AMEB piano/theory examiner, Rachel has worked with aspiring young musicians in the ACT, NSW and Queensland. She has also been commissioned to undertake industry research in music education, supporting music education advocacy in Australia and collaborating with researchers such as Anita Collins. Rachel is currently the President of the Accompanists’ Guild of Queensland.

Rachel’s compositional style draws upon classical idioms, combined with jazz and contemporary harmonic and rhythmic influences. She enjoys writing for piano as well as choral/sacred styles and some of her sacred works have been performed and recorded in the UK, USA and Australia. Rachel loves exploring texture and colour within a piece as well as using harmonic language to evoke imagery and emotion. Since expanding into composition, Rachel has been mentored by Australian composer Gerard Brophy.

Rachel lives in Brisbane with her family.