Newcastle Flute Day with Laura Jellicoe

Supported by Alessandra Amorino and Sandy Hay

Sunday 28 February 2027, 10am - 4pm
The Northern Rock Foundation Hall, The Glasshouse, St Mary's Square, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 2JR, England

Join us in Newcastle for the next in our series of regional Flute Days, with Guest Artist Laura Jellicoe! A leading flute player and teacher, Laura is the principal flautist of the English Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Royal Northern College of Music. She’ll be joined by prize-winning performer Alessandra Amorino and expert teacher Sandy Hay.

Join us for an enjoyable day of music-making, learning, and connection!

The day will include:

  • A warm-up session,

  • technique workshop,

  • masterclass,

  • ensemble and flute choir session,

  • and we’ll cap off the day with an informal concert at 3:30pm.


We will be joined by All Flutes Plus

This event is generously supported by the Glasshouse International Centre for Music.


Suitable for players aged 16 and over, of Grade 5 standard and above.

Price: £40 for BFS members, £50 for non-members (booking form below)

 

About Laura Jellicoe

Laura Jellicoe grew up in Lancashire and studied at the RNCM with Clare Southworth, Richard Davis and Peter Lloyd; in Florence with Marzio Conti; and later enjoying private lessons with Michael Cox and Kate Hill. She was a finalist in both the BBC TV and Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year competitions, and in 1992 she won 1st prize in the British Flute Society’s International Young Artist competition, chaired by James Galway, performing Jolivet’s Flute Concerto with the City of London Sinfonia. 

Just before completing her studies at the RNCM, she became Sub-Principal Flute with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, playing 2nd flute to the legendary Colin Chambers, as well as playing 1st flute for many concerts and recordings. She went on to perform several solo concertos with the orchestra, including CPE Bach D minor conducted by Roy Goodwin, and with the inspirational conductor Vernon Handley as her mentor, together with the encouragement of the orchestral members themselves, she conducted them on 3 recordings and around 40 Educational concerts at Philharmonic Hall. 

She left the RLPO in 2002 in order to pursue a freelance career, combining flute playing, teaching and conducting. She now plays both 1st and 2nd Flute with many of the UK orchestras including BBC Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, London Mozart Players, Halle and the English Symphony Orchestra, where she has been Principal Flute since 2004. With the ESO, she has played as soloist on many occasions including Bach Brandenburg Concerti, Bach B minor Suite, and a recent performance of Weinberg’s 1st Flute Concerto at Kings Place, London.

Laura is also one of the most sought-after flute teachers in the UK – she taught at Chethams School of Music for 10 years, and is now Professor of Flute at both the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music, where she led the flute department for several years. With so many of her former students now playing in the profession, one of her biggest joys is turning up to a gig to find she is sitting alongside one! 

Her favourite hobby away from music is spending time with friends, but she also loves playing piano, hill walking, especially  in the Lake District, playing tennis and trying to learn Italian. She is also Chair of Tattenhall Music Society, which was set up by her late partner Ken Griffin in 2004.


Alessandra Amorino

About Alessandra Amorino

Alessandra is an Italian flautist based in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she is also the BFS Area Representative. She holds an MMus in Flute from the Conservatory of Cagliari, and completed her postgraduate studies in Rome, where she focussed on flute and piccolo performance. In 2002, she was awarded the Berio Prize for the best performance of Sequenza I at the Severino Gazzelloni Fellowship competition.

While working towards her Chamber Music degree at the Conservatory of Rome, she fell in love with playing classical and contemporary music in ensembles. She co-founded the Pierrot ensemble Piccola Accademia degli Specchi (PAdS), which was for several years the ensemble in residence for the composition class at the Conservatory of Rome, and participated in major contemporary music festivals across Europe, giving several world premieres of dedicated scores. As a member of PAdS, she also recorded three albums (Minimamachta, Centaur Record, USA, 2009; House of Mirrors, Zefir Records, The Netherlands, 2011; and Collision Point, Belarca Records, USA, 2019).

She has also served as principal flute/piccolo and second flute in several symphonic orchestras playing classical repertoire (such as Spoleto’s Teatro Lirico and the Royal Northern Sinfonia), as well as recording film soundtracks with the likes of Ennio Morricone, and accompanying famed artists and bands from a broad range of genres, from rock-prog to operatic pop such as Andrea Bocelli. Since moving to the Northeast, she has fostered interest in the flute through her concert and teaching activity, particularly at the Glasshouse International Music Centre in Gateshead. She plays in two duos (with pianist Kate Halsall, and with harpist Sarah Paterson), and founded the A Tre Voci trio with soprano Rachel Dyson and pianist Yoshie Kawamura.

About Sandy Hay

Sandy is a respected flute teacher, conductor and music educator based in Birmingham. Originally from Ayrshire on Scotland's west coast, he studied flute with Sheena Gordon at  University in Glasgow  before undertaking postgraduate studies with Kevin Gowland at Birmingham Conservatoire. Since settling in Birmingham, Sandy has held senior educational roles, including serving as Head of Woodwind for Birmingham Music Service and teaching flute in the Junior Department of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He has been Musical Director of the Birmingham Flute Choir since 2002. Sandy is a trustee of the British Flute Society, he is passionate about bringing flute players together in events across the country. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

If you need any more information, please contact us at events@bfs.org.uk.

More about the BFS Flute Day Series 2025-27

BFS Flute Days give you the chance to connect with like-minded people, enjoy listening to great flute players, and make music together. Each day will focus on ensemble and flute choir playing, technique and a masterclass, as well as a short concert to celebrate what we have achieved across the day, and will feature a guest artist with strong links to your particular area.

Other events in the series include: