Biographies

• Lisa Nelsen
• Melanie Ragge
• Neyire Ashworth
• Stephen Stirling
• Meyrick Alexander

Lisa Nelsen

Lisa Nelsen was born and raised on a pig farm in Western Canada and enjoys an international career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator.

A past member of the Britten Pears Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestras of Holland and Canada, she began her professional career playing in the flute sections of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. Her recitals with piano have taken her to concert halls in Norway, Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Holland, Ireland, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as throughout Canada and the United States. She frequently appears at festivals and concert series in Britain, and gave her London début recital at the South Bank. She is Solo Flute of the contemporary music group Continuum Ensemble in London, England and is a founding member of the New London Chamber Ensemble. She has given a one-woman recital at the Swaledale Festival, NorthYorkshire and was also a special guest artist at the first International Flute Festival in Örebro, Sweden. She has had several pieces written for her by composers such as Kenneth Hesketh, Roderick Watkins and Paul Max Edlin, recording them for BBC Radio. In February 2006 Lisa toured across the Canadian Prairies as a Powell/Sonaré Flutes’ Artist.

Lisa was appointed Specialist Flute Teacher for Wells Cathedral School in 2001 and is a visiting instructor at several colleges in Britain. She coaches the wind players at the National Youth Chamber Orchestra and the Main Orchestra of the National Children’s Orchestra. In the summer of 2002, Lisa was appointed as Co-Artistic Director of the Harrogate International Flute Summer School along with Paul Edmund-Davies. From 1997-2001 Lisa was a member of the British Flute Society council. She also collaborated with Liz Goodwin on the highly successful “Project: Flutewise” bringing a variety of flute workshops to young players aged 7 to 17.

While working as a consultant for Boosey and Hawkes for 3 years Lisa gave masterclasses all over Europe, including the Norwegian State Conservatoire in Oslo, the Bruckner Academy in Linz, Austria, and the Dublin Conservatoire. She has given a recital and masterclass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, and classes at the Boston Conservatory and Boston University in the United States. Several of her upcoming appearances are made possible with the support of Verne Q Powell and Sonaré Flutes.