Tim van der Kuil 1988 Winner
More than twenty years ago, the Mundaring Arts Scholarship Trust awarded young guitarist Tim Van Der Kuil of Darlington a scholarship to help him launch a career in the super-competitive world of music. Two decades on, and now based in London, Tim is playing guitar for Adele, the Grammy award-winning British singer who, with album sales of more than 10 million, is currently the world’s highest selling artist in her field. Click here to see Adele and her backing in action at the Royal Albert Hall. The song is ‘If it hadn’t been for love’ and Tim is recognisable with the banjo to the right of screen .
Over the past 20 years, Tim has performed or recorded with such big names as Robbie Williams, The Script, Daniel Merriweather, Jason Mraz, Taylor Swift, Moby, Ray Davies, Sugababes, Delta Goodrem, and Tina Turner. He has toured the US, appeared on the David Letterman show, and last December played at a Royal Variety performance in London.
‘It’s hard forging a career in the arts, let alone doing it while living in the Perth hills.’ recalls Tim. ‘The scholarship enabled me to buy equipment that I wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. This helped me to play professionally and make the move into playing gigs in the city, as until then I had only been playing locally.’
Gaining that essential experience in Perth encouraged Tim to move to Sydney and eventually London. “So you could say that the scholarship kick-started my whole career. I think everyone needs a kick-start in the music business, and in the arts in general. I feel extremely fortunate that I had that start.”