Festive Flutes have been raising money for the NSPCC at charity concerts since 2003, and we've also produced two very successful CD’s: “Christmas Crackers” and, more recently, “Overnight Sensations”, which we sell at charity events and concerts throughout Great Britain, and via our website, to the world!

Liz says : “the NSPCC is a charity that works to create a society in which all children are loved, valued and able to fulfil their potential. Many of us have children and are really pleased to be able to contribute”.

So far, we have raised over £5,000 for the NSPCC!

More information about Elizabeth's work can be found at: www.lizwalker.co.uk

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Centres that influenced Alison’s decision to qualify as a music therapist. She has worked for many years with people with learning disabilities and, more recently, within Hospices working with adults with palliative care needs. Providing the opportunity for self-expression through music has been a passion for Alison for nearly seventeen years. She recently gained an MA in counselling and a PHD in music therapy. She is now back at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a lecturer in music therapy. Playing with Festive Flutes gives Alison the opportunity to get away from the classroom and therapy room, dress up for the night and play fast and furious semi-quavers with friends. What could be better?! Just don’t tell her students she was a bumble bee on TV!!

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Quartert and at the other end of the scale the Fabulous Good Time Party Boys, and also arranges music for flutes and other chamber ensembles.

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Sarah studied at the Guildhall School of Music with Philippa Davies, Kathryn Lukas and Edward Beckett. She has had a wide and varied musical life as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and teacher. She has performed at many festivals and venues around Europe with leading musicians. Some of her personal musical

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Why me???

Well, I was to hand, training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a composer at the same time as Alison, Sarah, Mel and Liz were studying flute (even going so far as to share student housing with Alison), and I later became a neighbour of Mel's in Crouch End for many years. They'd also discovered that I'd learned the flute at school (though never to anything like their professional level) and so might have some sympathy with the instrument.

Despite the 5 octave range covered by piccolo, flute, alto and bass flutes, arranging for a flutes-only ensemble presents a few obviously tricky challenges: most especially, even with the bass flute, there's only a limited amount of support available 'down below'. Almost inevitably, the ensemble lends itself to 'novelty' items rather than more 'serious', and the girls always seem to come to me with their most unlikely, impossible-sounding assignments!

First there was a swinging Cole Porter medley, then a ‘Carmen’ suite, followed by more challenging requests for ‘Young Person’s Guide to the (all flute) Orchestra’ and a ‘Jupiter’ Fantasy (combining Mozart and Holst in what the group described to the audience at the premier as being ‘like an ice cream sundae – a scoop of this, a scoop of that’). Reforming after some years, a relatively ‘soft’ request for a Christmas piece (I supplied some Variations on ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’) was swiftly followed by an insane-sounding suggestion of a James Bond suite! How to re-imagine music composed for screaming trumpets and wailing electric guitars?

Thankfully, I always knew I could exploit the instrument’s full potential, as all the ladies are fine exponents of all the trills and tweets possible on transverse tooters…

So why do I break out in a sweat even trying to imagine their next brainwave?

www.jasoncarr.org.uk

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So what is so fantastic about a flute ensemble? Surely ONLY having flutes (even including the higher and lower members of the family) is a hindrance not an advantage? Well, certainly it has its limitations … you are never going to hear a soaring cello solo or brass section at full tilt! And, of course the amount of music originally written for a group of flutes is fairly small … there are some wonderful pieces … but enough to keep an audience enthralled and entertained for a whole evening? Maybe not!...

But playing with a group of musicians on the same instrument has its advantages! As a flautist playing with other flautists you have a unique understanding of each other that you would not completely have in, say, an orchestra or even a wind quintet. Knowing when to ‘pipe down’ because the important part may be in a weak register for a fellow flautist, knowing which notes are likely to be a little sharp or a little flat and adjusting accordingly, knowing when someone’s line might need more support because they are playing a part originally conceived for an instrument that didn’t need to take a breath! But above all, relishing the opportunity to blend the sound of a group of instruments that are in reality singing with the same voice.

I first started arranging for Festive Flutes as a necessity! We wanted to play things that just weren’t available as flute ensemble pieces … or sometimes we would get requests for certain pieces for a particular occasion. With this expanding repertoire and the addition of the alto and bass flutes in the early days, we as a group became more ambitious about what we could achieve as a flute ensemble … Enigma Variations? Wizard of Oz? Why not?! By accepting the limitations and working to the strengths of a group with identical instruments but diverse personalities we have matured into a chamber ensemble with a unique perspective on everything we perform.

Arranging music for Festive Flutes (and playing it) is infinitely challenging and hugely rewarding! Unwrapping a new piece in rehearsal is better than Christmas! From beautiful, simple melodies to the theatrical or virtuosic I always know that Festive Flutes will bring a special magic to each piece, and that every note, flourish, whistle or kiss will be expertly and beautifully performed.

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