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Aeolus Wind Trio

Amelia Tyler-Skinner Flute
Lis Hoorweg Clarinet
David Whitbread Bassoon

Based in Canberra, Aeolus Wind Trio was formed in 1983 and performs widely at weddings, parties, conventions, dinners, fashion parades and festivals—as well as recitals and concerts. It’s even noted as an attraction in Canberra: The Guide!

Talk with Amy, Lis and David of Aeolus Wind Trio to help you create that special atmosphere with music. Email: hoorweg@webone.com.au

Your wedding music checklist.

There are seven music points in most weddings.

1. While guests arrive in the garden. At the church, at the hotel or under the marquee. We usually start 15 minutes before the bride is due to arrive then stop a couple of minutes before the bride is to start walking in, so there is an air of hushed expectation.

2. The arrival of the bride (or the bridal processional). While you can walk in to any music you like, the four traditional options are:
- 'The Bridal March' from Wagner's Lohengrin ('Here comes the bride...' -- lots of brides prefer something else.)
- 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' from Handel's Solomon
- Purcell's 'Trumpet Tune'
- Jeremiah Clarke's 'Trumpet Voluntary'

3. During the signing of the register while the bride and groom, celebrant/minister/priest and witnesses are signing. Again, this can be any music you like, but some of the more traditional options are:
- Pachelbel's Canon (the number one wedding hit in Australia!)
- Bach's Air on a G String
- Handel's 'Air' from The Water Music
- Delibes' 'Flower Duet' from Lakme (which is perfect for outdoors in spring and summer!)

4. The wedding 'processional' at the end of the ceremony -- we call this the 'kissing music' and keep it bright and happy. Some traditional options are:
- 'The Wedding March' from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Handel's 'Alla Danza' from The Water Music
You can hear many of these tunes on the soundtrack album of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

5. While guests mingle, enjoying drinks and canapes after the wedding ceremony or arriving at the reception. We are happy to finish here, which is often an hour or 90-minute booking.

6. During dinner. We are happy to play a variety of music that will please your young nephew, your nanna and everyone in between.

7. The bridal waltz. While this is often performed to a CD of a favourite song, it can also be performed live to some traditional options like:
- Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers
- Lehar's The Merry Widow waltzes
- Strauss waltzes
- 'Your' song -- a song that is a part of your life together.

We are happy to arrange special songs for your day if you give us enough time.
Live music can help create a special atmosphere and, with over 25 years' experience in gardens, venues and churches around Canberra and Queanbeyan, Aeolus Wind Trio know how to time our performance perfectly to enhance your ceremony.

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Aeolus has prepared recitals for ArtSong Canberra, the Canberra Chamber Music Festival, Pro Musica, the Canberra New Music Society, the National Gallery of Australia and the Arts Council. Aeolus has presented seasons at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra Tea Rooms and Dorette’s Bistro, and supported Cleo Laine and Stephane Grapelli in their Canberra performances.
The trio also headlined at the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan and the music theatre work that opened the Street Theatre (Pentagram with music by Canberra composer Jim Cotter) was written for Aeolus and five actors.
Aeolus has been heard in broadcasts on Artsound FM and 2CN and national broadcasts on ABC FM, including live broadcasts from Floriade.

Amelia Tyler-Skinner has played flute and piccolo for the New York City Ballet, the New Zealand and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. Until 1990, she was principal flute with the Elizabethan Philharmonic Orchestra and then the principal piccolo with the Sydney Opera House Orchestra until 1998. In addition to solo work, she has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australia Ensemble, the Concertante Ensemble and Flute Plus, in orchestras for musicals like Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, and the film soundtracks for Crocodile Dundee II and The Delinquents. She has taught at her studio and conducted for Canberra Youth Music and performed with Aeolus since 1998.

Lis Hoorweg toured with the Australian Youth Orchestra to Asia and, after graduating from the Canberra School of Music, taught clarinet at the American High School in The Hague. On returning to Canberra, she performed with a number of clarinet and wind ensembles, notably with the Canberra Wind Players sextet and Aeolus. She has been teaching the clarinet and performing in Canberra since the early 1970s. In addition to her work with Aeolus, she has presented a solo recital for Pro Musica. Lis teaches in her studio in Campbell and St Clare's College.

David Whitbread performed on bassoon with the Canberra and Melbourne youth orchestras and the Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra. Returning to Canberra, he could be heard with Windpower, a wind quintet, and as a founding member of Aeolus. He accompanied on piano and produced vocal arrangements for the Woden Valley Youth Choir for many years and toured with them to Japan and Brisbane. He performed on piano with numerous artists at the School of Arts Café and was the musical director for the acclaimed 1992 Canberra production of Noël and Gertie. He has been a judge for the Canberra Area Theatre Awards for 15 years. He was Artistic Director and General Manager of Canberra Youth Music in 2003 and 2004. His Rumpole-esque bassoon solos are heard in the National Archives of Australia permanent exhibition on the Centenary of the High Court of Australia.