Pictures from previous BFS workshops
We’re delighted to be hosting an Adult Players' Workshop at our Competitions 2026 in February for the third year running.
This will be a fantastic opportunity for members to play and learn together in a welcoming environment, explore new pieces, and receive advice from our knowledgeable workshop leaders, Carolyn Kelly and Mel Orriss.
Both highly experienced teachers, Carolyn is Director of the Just Flutes Orchestra and Mel is Woodwind Coach of the Devon Youth Orchestras, musical director of Flute Cocktail, and founder of flute ensemble music publisher Wonderful Winds. Find out more about them below!
There’ll also be a chance during the day to watch performances from talented Competitions entrants, and browse trade stands with an array of flutes, accessories and sheet music - a chance to find your next flute, upgrade your kit or discover some fab new repertoire!
How to sign up
The workshop is £30. All participants must also be a BFS member at the time of entry and on the day of the workshop. Individual membership is from £25 a year - to become a member, sign up via our Join Us page.
There’s a discounted rate of £25 for Flute Ensemble Class competitors, who are are invited to combine the competitions and workshop for a full day of fluting.
Please sign up via the entry form below.
Our Workshop Leaders
Carolyn Kelly
Carolyn studied Piano and Flute at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama before teaching for the Croydon Music Service in most schools in Croydon, playing in a wind quintet, demonstrating instruments and giving concerts.
She also directed the Croydon Schools Fluteharmonic with Simon Desorgher for 20 years, taking part in concerts at Fairfield Halls & other venues (she says: ‘One year, James Galway requested we play in the foyer when he was conducting and performing with the London Mozart Players, and to the delight of players and audience, he came and played with us!’)
She has tutored for Liz Goodwin on numerous courses for Flutewise, including playing at the Barbican with hundreds of other flautists, and spent a decade playing with the Flute Orchestra of London under Julie Wright and visiting Atarah Ben-Tovim in the Dordogne, where they played a series of concerts with visiting musicians. She currently directs the Just Flutes Orchestra in Croydon. Her other interests include travel, singing in two choirs, and wildlife photography.
Mel Orriss
Mel studied flute at Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Peter Lloyd. She then undertook the Guildhall’s postgraduate Orchestral Training course, winning the Philip Jones Prize for orchestral playing. As a student, she was a semi-finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and toured with the European Community Youth Orchestra.
Following an extensive and successful career as a flautist, Mel’s passion for arranging and composing led to the founding of Wonderful Winds in 2010, which quickly gained a global reputation for excellence, providing inspiring ensemble music for wind players of all levels. Its publications have won major prizes in the National Flute Association (USA) Newly Published Music competition.
Career highlights include working with the Flute Bands of Derry/Londonderry on Shaun Davey’s The Relief of Derry Symphony, which Mel arranged and conducted, and leading over 100 flautists in a massed performance of her award-winning arrangement of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin at the Just Flutes Festival 2025.
Mel continues to teach flautists of all ages and coaches flute ensembles and woodwind groups. She is the musical director of Flute Cocktail, Tavistock, and Assistant Conductor and Woodwind Coach of the Devon Youth Orchestras. She also enjoys travelling the country with the Wonderful Winds Flute Roadshow, and wearing her narrator’s hat in concerts with long-time collaborators, Festive Flutes.
