Elisabeth Walker (GB)

Flûte Louis Lot

Elisabeth’s Louis Lot flute no. 435 was made in 1859 and is a rare early example of what has become the modern flute. However, this flute is wooden, conically bored, ring keyed, and uses the Boehm system with a Dorus G#. It is in immaculate condition, suffering no adjustments or modifications. With the pianist Richard Shaw we have performed at Hatchlands, Surrey, using Chopin’s original Pleyel piano, recording a film for Creative TV and performed a lecture recital at the British Flute Convention in 2012.

Elisabeth Walker and Richard Shaw’s recent programme entitled ‘Morceaux de Salon’ Paris 1859 contains musical gems directly connected to this flute, including a composition by the flute’s inventor, Theobald Boehm, the flute’s first owner, Jean Francois Nauwelaers and the creator of one of the keys and the champion of the flute in Paris, Louis Dorus.

Richard and Elizabeth appeared on In Tune (photo above) before their appearance at the BFS convention in 2012 to talk about their plans to produce a full-length film about the history of this particular period in the development of both the flute and pianoforte. They would welcome any support in this endeavor.

Elisabeth Walker, flute

website

“[A]s perfect a demonstration of the modern wood flute’s capabilities as one could wish to hear”
Review from BFS for Elizabeth’s recording of Telemann’s Fantasias.

Elizabeth Walker studied at the Royal College of Music as a Junior Exhibitioner (where she was awarded the Sally Wainwright woodwind prize in 1985) and as a graduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying renaissance flute with Nancy Hadden, baroque and eight – keyed classical flute with Stephen Preston and modern flute with Kathryn Lukas. She went on to do a postgraduate study of Early Music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague, studying with Wilbert Hazelzet and receiving masterclasses from Barthold Kuijken. During this time as a student, she was involved in a number of recordings for the New London Consort under the Decca label (recorded using my maiden name – Elizabeth Stanbridge) including; Susato Danserye 1551, The Sylvan and Oceanic Delights of Posilipo, Monteverdi Vespers 1610, Locke Psyche, Blow Venus and Adonis and Telemann Water Music.

In 1992, Elizabeth returned to London and continues to perform in a number of period orchestras including the English Baroque Soloists, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the Classical Opera Company.

Elizabeth currently teaches flute and recorder at Wells Cathedral School and at the City of London School for Girls in London and is a regular examiner at graduate and postgraduate level at the music colleges in Great Britain.

In 2008, Elizabeth recorded a solo CD of Telemann’s Fantasias on a modern wooden flute, followed in 2011 with a recording of the J.S.Bach Flute Sonatas with her group ‘Continuum’. To promote these recordings, she has appeared live at the British Flute Society Convention and performed in Festivals throughout England. In 2012, Elizabeth formed a partnership with the pianist Richard Shaw, exploring repertoire from the mid nineteenth century composed specifically for her original Louis Lot Boehm-system flute, dated 1859. They have recorded a promotional video with ‘First Creative’ using Chopin’s original Ignace Pleyel piano from 1848, currently housed at Hatchlands as part of the Cobbe Collection, and given a solo lecture recital as part of the 2012 British Flute Society convention. Elizabeth and Richard were guests on the live arts programme ‘In Tune’ for BBC Radio 3 and plan to continue to bring this rare flute to audiences in France, Holland and America.
Elizabeth lives in London and Somerset with her husband and two children.
“…you have a wonderful tone and musical sensibility.“
Chris Abell – The Abell Flute Asheville, NC
“…if you like her sound as much as I do, you will want to listen to …Elizabeth’s recent recording of Telemann Fantasias… over and over again.“

Richard Shaw, piano

Richard Shaw specialises in chamber music and accompaniment and has performed extensively in Britain and abroad. In the last few years his many broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 have included live duo performances with violinists James Ehnes, Viviane Hagner, Leonidas Kavakos, So-Ock Kim, Pekka Kuusisto, Andrew McGee, Vadim Repin, Ittai Shapira, Nikolaj Znaider, cellists Narek Hakhnazaryan, Richard Harwood and Li Wei, flautists Jean Ferrand is, Kathryn Thomas and Laura Lucas, clarinettists Martin Fröst and Sarah Williamson, Hannah Marcinowicz (saxophone), Karen Geoghegan (bassoon), Christopher Orton (recorder), sopranos Elizabeth Atherton, Elizabeth Byrne, Nicole Cabelle (winner of Cardiff Si nger of the Year 2005), Majella Cullagh, Eva Kallberg, Jennifer Smith and Ailish Tynan, mezzo-sopranos Alice Coote, Catherine Griffith and Jean Rigby, Anna Larsson (contralto), counter-tenors Robin Blaze and Michael Chance, tenors Paul Agnew, Hal Cazalet, John Hudson, Richard Margison and Kurt Streit, Matthew Rose and Jonathan Veira (bass-baritone) and Robert Pomakov (bass). He is also Staff Accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music.

He has given recitals for the Double Reed Society, Lionel Tertis International Viola Festival, British Horn Society, British Flute Society, Barbirolli International Oboe Festival & Competition, and the British Clarinet and Saxophone Society. He regularly performs at the Dartington Festival, partnering musicians such as Sally Burgess (mezzo soprano), Michael George (bass), Neil Jenkins (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (bass baritone), Sarah Francis (oboe), and the Dante String Quartet, among others.

Richard takes a keen interest in music of our day. The many composers with whom he has worked include Malcolm Arnold, Elena Firsova, Karl Jenkins, Patrick Nunn, Vladislav Shoot and Dmitri Smirnov. He has performed Firsova’s music with Patricia Rozario (soprano), Alexander Ivashkin (cello), Yuko Inoue (viola), and Julian Sperry (flute), among others. His music album, Malcolm Arnold: Songs and Arias, is published by Novello & Co/Music Sales very shortly. His series of Wigmore Hall concerts featured Malcolm Arnold’s chamber music, which he performed with Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Karen Jones (flute), Ian Partridge (tenor), Paul Watkins (cello), Roger Chase (viola), Ensemble Lumière, and many others. These included premieres of works by Sir Malcolm, performed in his presence.

The composer and artist Edward Cowie is currently writing a series of piano works for him. His current CDs include music by the great French flautist Phillipe Gaubert, with Kathryn Thomas (flute), on the Deux-Elles label (DXL 923), and a critically acclaimed CD of chamber works (with the Galliard Ensemble) and piano solos by Sir Harrison Birtwistle (DXL 1019). His ‘Piper’s Dream’ CD (with Ensemble Lumière) features the piano solos and chamber works of the British composer Cecilia McDowall (DXL 1033). His latest CD is of the music of Fauré and his circle (DXL 1125). He has recorded 26 CDs for Cramer Music. Forthcoming recordings include CDs for Toccata Classics with the Ashton Piano Trio.