Announcing our AGM with Q&A and performance from Philippa Davies and Eliza Marshall
We’re so excited to be hosting the brilliant Eliza Marshall and Philippa Davies for a performance and Q&A at our AGM on June 30!
Currently principal flute for the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, Eliza Marshall has performed with orchestras, on numerous albums and on film soundtracks such as Lord of the Rings, The Great Gatsby and Sherlock Holmes. She’s also travelled the world performing with artists such as Peter Gabriel, and recorded five acclaimed albums with her alt-folk band Ranagri.
A virtuoso flautist and regular Proms soloist, Philippa Davies gives recitals and broadcasts across the world. Passionate about chamber music, she is a regular guest principal flute with London orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her recordings include Mozart's entire original concertos and quartets, and she is also Professor at the Guildhall School of Music.
They'll be performing with painist Richard Shaw, who is staff accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music and has also recorded numerous albums and broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. For more on the three performers, see the full bios below.
We can’t wait to hear them perform and share their wisdom and advice!
The AGM will be at London's Royal Academy of Music from 2-6pm, and entry is free - we'd love to see you there!
Here's the full provisional schedule:
2pm - Trio performance by Alena Walentin, Lisa Nelsen and Jonathan Rimmer
followed by AGM
3.30pm - Flute choir rehearsal and performance
4.30pm - Solo performances with Philippa Davies and and Eliza Marshall, accompanied by Richard Shaw
5-6pm - Q&A with Philippa Davies and and Eliza Marshall
Full bios
Eliza Marshall
Since graduating from The Royal Academy of Music where she studied under Michael Cox, Eliza's career has been as diverse as her musical tastes. Growing up listening to the great Russian Composers, whilst also enjoying Paul Simon and Baka Beyond, Eliza has carved a niche for herself as a cross-genre player, enjoying performing with orchestras, on film soundtracks, numerous albums and at her current chair at The Lyceum Theatre in London for The Lion King.
Featuring her unique Indian bansuri playing, she appeared in 2014 for the World Premiere of Joby Talbot's ballet “The Winter's Tale”, as the onstage soloist at The Royal Opera House with The Royal Ballet. Commercial work involves recording principal flute on numerous orchestral film scores and albums, on soundtracks for the likes of Ridley Scott and Peter Jackson, such as The Lord Of The Rings, Prometheus, Kung Fu Panda, The Great Gatsby, Robin Hood, and Sherlock Holmes, and she regularly appears as a soloist on flutes, ethnic flutes and whistles for films, video games and television at Abbey Road and Air Studios.
A great lover of travel, performances with Peter Gabriel and his New Blood Orchestra have taken Eliza all over Europe, North and South America, and tours with sarod guru Amjad Ali Khan and Britten Sinfonia have seen her play throughout India. Eliza founded alt folk band Ranagri in 2013, since then they have recorded five highly acclaimed albums, performed at major folk festivals including Cambridge, at Birmingham Symphony Hall and The Union Chapel, and appeared on radio stations all over the UK including The Terry Wogan Show in 2014. They have worked with top Indian gurus at The Bhavan Centre London, with tabla legend Kuljit Bhamra MBE, and recorded The Great Irish Songbook with Pop Icon Tony Christie.
Eliza has a deep love for crossing boundaries and bringing together musicians and music from all over the world - she believes strongly in the binding qualities that cross-cultural music-making has to offer.
Philippa Davies
Philippa is not only a regular soloist at the Proms, but has established an international reputation as one of the finest flautists currently performing; a‘first-rate virtuoso,’ with ‘exceptional eloquence’ she has been noted for an ‘almost electrical response to technique’. She gives recitals and broadcasts throughout the world and has performed concertos in the UK, Europe and North and South America with such orchestras as the BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Chamber music has always been her passion and she is a member of the Nash Ensemble, London Winds, has a duo with Jan Willem Nelleke, piano and with Maggie Cole, harpsichord. Originally Principal Flute of the National Youth Orchestra of GB, Philippa went on to train at the Royal College of Music with Douglas Whittaker and later William Bennett and won many awards.Now she is a regular guest principal flute with London orchestras:the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the BBC symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. Her current schedule includes many world premières and numerous distinguished composers have dedicated works specifically to her; she plays the premiere of Judith Weir’s flute quartet in Cheltenham festival this July.
Philippa’s numerous recordings include Mozart's entire original concertos and quartets, the Romance of the Flute and Harp with Thelma Owen, Bach Flute Sonatas with Maggie Cole, Poulenc's Flute sonata and the complete flute music of William Alwyn including his flute concerto and sonata.
Philippa has become extremely involved with improvisation over the last 3 years and has taken part in Improvisation Projects in Den Haag, Tallinn and ICON. She is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and each summer runs her own International Flute Course at Benslow, UK and in Cubertou, France. She is also a Licensed Andover Educator teaching the Art of Movement in Music.
Richard Shaw
Pianist Richard Shaw specialises in chamber music and accompaniment. In the last few years his many broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 include duo performances with violinists such as James Ehnes, Viviane Hagner, Leonidas Kavakos, So-Ock Kim, Pekka Kuusisto, Vadim Repin, Ittai Shapira and Nikolaj Znaider, cellists Matthew Barley, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Richard Harwood and Li Wei, Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Martin Fröst (clarinet) and singers Nicole Cabelle, Jennifer Smith, Ailish Tynan, Alice Coote, Ruby Philogene, Jean Rigby, AnnaLarsson, Robin Blaze, Michael Chance, Paul Agnew, Hal Cazalet, Kurt Streit, Matthew Rose, Jonathan Veira and Robert Pomakov.
He is staff accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music and assists the legendary Ludmilla Andrew’s Russian song and aria class at the Academy. He is currently writing a biography of the distinguished Russian mezzo soprano, Maria Karinskaya (1882-1942), following his discovery of an unknown 400-page Russian manuscript based on Karinskaya’s lost memoirs. His music album, Malcolm Arnold: Songs and Arias, is published by Novello & Co/Music Sales shortly.
His recent CDs for the Deux-Elles label include music by the great French flautist Phillipe Gaubert, with Kathryn Thomas (flute), the chamber works and piano solos of Sir Harrison Birtwistle, ‘Piper’s Dream’ (with Ensemble Lumière) featuring the piano solos,flute and chamber works of Cecilia McDowall, and ‘Fauré and his circle’. He has recorded many CDs for Cramer Music and for the ABRSM.