Kevin Gowland
Kevin Gowland was an Exhibition Scholar at The Royal College of Music where he studied the flute with Susan Milan.
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During his time there he won all the major prizes for his instrument and in 1988 was awarded the RCM's top prize, the prestigious President's Rosebowl for outstanding achievement. In the same year and at the age of only 22, Kevin was appointed as Flute Section Leader with The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra by Sir Simon Rattle, a position he held for 17 years.
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Kevin has appeared as a concerto soloist on many occasions, collaborating with Valery Gergiev, Sir Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramo, Paavo Jarvi, Sir Mark Elder, Christian Gansch, Nicholas McGegan, Nicholas Kraemer and Richard Farnes, covering a wide spectrum of the flute concerto repertoire.
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He has appeared as Guest Principal Flute with the LSO, RPO, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia, Halle, RLPO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and BBC NOW.
Kevin made his BBC Radio 3 debut in a recital broadcast live in 1992 and has appeared as a recitalist at the Purcell Room; Symphony Hall, Birmingham; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Dewsbury Town Hall; The Cheltenham Festival; The Warwick Arts Festival and gave the first solo recital in the inaugrual week of events at The Howard Assembly Room, Leeds.
In 2005, Kevin left the CBSO to take up his current position as Principal Flute with The Orchestra of Opera North.
In addition to his busy orchestral and solo career, Kevin has a keen interest in teaching and has hosted masterclasses at The Royal College of Music, RNCM, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire and Leeds College of Music where he is a Post-Graduate Practitioner. He has been invited to become a flute tutor at the RNCM and will start teaching there in 2017.
In 2011, Kevin was invited to become a UK Artist for the Japanese flute maker, Altus and he also plays on a 1982 Brannen-Cooper flute.
Fiona Slominska
A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied with Peter Lloyd and Karen Jones, Fiona performs regularly with many of the UK's leading orchestras. These include The Halle, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the BBC Philharmonic to name a few.
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Additionally, Fiona has been Guest Principal Flute with Camerata Salzburg, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, European Union Chamber Orchestra, The Halle, Northern Ballet, RTE Concert Orchestra, The Orchestra of Opera North and BBC National Orchestra of Wales - with whom she has performed many times live on BBC Radio 3, as well as at 'Proms in the Park' on the Last Night of the Proms.
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Alongside her performing, Fiona is a committed teacher - she has held positions at Oundle School (2005- 15) and the Junior Department of the Birmingham Conservatoire (2006- 10). Currently she teaches at The Universities of Liverpool and Salford, as well as local schools.
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Fiona's enjoyment of solo performance was first ignited whilst a music scholar at Uppingham School and consolidated when she was made a 'Young Artist' of The Tillett Trust in 2007. Through this organisation, Fiona and pianist, Jeremy Young, gave recitals at The Wigmore Hall, Fairfield Halls, Croydon, and Beaumaris, Harrogate, Honiton and Buxton Festivals. Additional venues with other artists included St George's, Bristol and Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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An opportunity in 2011, saw Fiona take to the stage as the 'Blind Flute Player' in the UK premier of Weinberg's Opera, The Portrait with Opera North. This involved performing on stage in full costume! Fiona was also involved in Opera North's project of Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle) and most recently, Billy Budd.
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In 2012, Fiona was joint soloist with the former Royal Harpist, Catrin Finch, performing the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with the European Union Chamber Orchestra in a tour of the UK. A repeat of this concert happened in February 2016, early April 2017 and will hopefully occur again in 2018. A wonderful tour followed in 2014, again with EUCO, with performances of Brandenburg 5, Bach Suite in B Minor and Handel Water Music Suite.
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A real highlight of last year was performing in 'Cream Classics' at the O2 Academy, Brixton. The same show was brought home to Liverpool in late April 2017.
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Earlier this year, Fiona was invited to perform at New Paths Music Festival in Beverley. This very special festival brought together musicians from all over the country and was a huge celebration of chamber music from every genre.
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Jennifer George
Jennifer George has played with various orchestras in the UK and USA, including the Orchestra of Opera North, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Halle, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Oregon Symphony Orchestra.
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She has a keen interest in contemporary music and has performed as soloist and Principal Flute with Remix Ensemble (Portugal) and contemporary music ensemble, Radius.
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Jennifer grew up in Oregon, on the west coast of the United States. She studied at Indiana University, before coming to the UK to complete a Masters degree at the Royal Northern College of Music. Jennifer is flute tutor at the University of Leeds.
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David Moseley
David started flute lessons at the age of 11. He later became a member of the National Youth Orchestra; remaining so for 4 years and as Principal Flute for his final year. This was followed by full-time study at the Guildhall School of Music with Peter Lloyd, Trevor Wye and Edward Beckett. Further study, with William Bennett, was assisted by an award from the Harold Craxton Trust.
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Freelance professional experience was acquired with the Academy of the BBC, Welsh National Opera and Ulster Orchestra. During this period he also taught at the Wycombe Abbey School and the London College of Music. David became a founder member of the Opera North Orchestra in 1978 – where, in addition to the Second Flute position, he has also undertaken many Principal Flute parts in operas, concerts and recordings (including Walton: Troilus and Cressida, Gerhard: La Duena and Mozart: Idomeneo for Chandos Records). David has extensively explored the chamber music repertoire; performing with Music Serenade and also with his own Empyrean Ensemble.
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David has taught at the universities of York and Leeds and plays on a Louis Lot flute made in 1882.
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Luke O'Toole
Luke is the principal flautist of the Orchestra of Opera North. He has worked as guest principal flute with many orchestras across the UK, including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has also recorded for many film and video game scores, including Star Wars, The Shape of Water, The Mummy and Asterix.
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As a teen, Luke was principal flautist of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He attended Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, before moving to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won the Academy's flute prize in his first year. He then went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for a year and subsequently studied privately in Cologne, Germany with professor Robert Winn.
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As a soloist, Luke has performed concerti with orchestras, including the Northern Chamber Orchestra and was the 1st prize winner of the British Flute Society's Young Artist Competition in 2014. He has also performed as soloist for Her Majesty the Queen, BBC Proms Extra and in the Royal Concertgebouw's Recital Hall.
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Luke has also enjoyed much outreach work at Opera North, with the Opera North Orchestra Academy and has worked with students from the RNCM and Leeds College of Music.
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