28 Mar 2025
Meet flautist Liz Walker, long-standing member of the English Baroque Soloists.
How and when did you become involved with the English Baroque Soloists?
I first played for the English Baroque Soloists in 2009, when I joined the orchestra as 3rd flute for the Haydn Creation tour. Luckily, I doubled the 1st flute part in all the tuttis, so I wasn’t sitting waiting for part 3. We performed in stunning venues, opening in Pisa Cathedral and going on to New York’s Carnegie Hall, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salzburg, Lyon, Baden-Baden, Spain and Luxembourg.
What do you think sets the MCO apart from other ensembles you have worked with?
As soon as you hear the first notes sung by the choir you know you’re working with something very magical. The blend of voices, the direction of the music, the intonation and fabulous resonance, all inspire me to add something special myself.
Liz Walker with her collection of historical and modern flutes. Photo courtesy of Julian and Henry Walker.
What was your first experience with classical music, and how did it influence your career path?
I went to the Royal College of Music junior department from the age of 12, where I performed in the Symphony Orchestra, which included a tour of America in 1984 when I was 17. It was a remarkable experience! Before that, my very first memorable experience was a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde where I played recorder in my local West Sussex Junior School, aged 10. I was totally mesmerised by Robin Soldan, who performed the beautiful dove solo on treble recorder. Such a thrilling experience!
Could you share your journey into specialising in both historical and modern flutes?
I studied recorder and modern flute as equal first studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and because of the recorder, I was automatically included in the ‘Early Music’ department. Introducing studies with Stephen Preston and Nancy Hadden on baroque and renaissance flute felt a totally logical thing to do. Meanwhile, with the three other flute students at Guildhall, we set up a modern flute quartet which was getting outside work with a couple of agencies (including a BBC appearance on the ‘X-factor’ of the day, ‘Bob Says Opportunity Knocks’)! We celebrate our 40th Anniversary concert this September!
During my postgraduate years with Wilbert Hazelzet and Barthold Kuijken in Holland, I added classical 8–keyed flute to my baroque flute studies. I was in Holland for three precious years, and during this time I came back to England for concerts with my modern flute quartet, recordings and concerts with Nancy Hadden on renaissance flute and on recorder with the New London Consort.
I don’t think there has ever been a time when I haven’t played both modern and historical flutes in the same year, so juggling them has become quite normal. I do organise my diary quite carefully though, trying to allow time between each patch of work on different flutes and recorders.
Do you have any pre-concert rituals or routines that help you prepare for a performance?
I am a little obsessed with eating! I fill my flute case with cereal bars at the airport so that I know I can snack before the concert and during the interval. Apart from that, I try to find a moment to internalise my focus and, if necessary, control the intake and exhalation of the air for a few minutes. As a wind player, this can help a lot to settle any nerves.
Liz Walker at the Christmas market in Hamburg during the 2024 'Bach & Charpentier: Baroque Christmas' Tour. (Left to right: Rachel Chaplin, Liz Walker, Rosie Moon [top], and Annabel Knight [bottom])
Is there a particular performance or project in your career so far that stands out as especially memorable or meaningful to you?
Absolutely! I think I am bound to mention the very last project with the English Baroque Soloists. It was such a pleasure to work with Christophe Rousset and I learnt so much from him. The recording sessions were a great opportunity to really explore the style he was instilling into the music and the subsequent concerts in Hamburg and London were particularly well received. It was exhilarating to be part of this process.
If you had to recommend a piece that deeply resonates with you, what would it be and why?
Monteverdi's Vespers. I was introduced to this great work in 1990, recording it for Decca with New London Consort, playing renaissance flute, fiffara, and then on tour with them. It was probably the first piece I truly became obsessed with! I remember stopping in my tracks when I first heard Nigel Robson and Mark Tucker singing the Gloria. Absolutely sublime and still my number one desert island disc!
Another fascinating aspect about Vespers is Monteverdi’s labelling of the flutes. Dr Nancy Hadden explores this in her paper ‘From Swiss Flutes to Consorts: History, Music and Playing Techniques of the Transverse Flute in Switzerland, Germany and France ca. 1470-1640’, where she lists a number of names given to what we now collectively call the renaissance flute. She writes, “The Italian piffaro, fiffaro and fiffara are found in sources from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries… In the Vespers of 1610, Claudio Monteverdi labelled the first flute part fifaro and the second flute part pifaro; from the range and musical context it is clear that both parts were meant for the transverse flutes”. This approach to instrumentation is remarkably distinctive and forward-thinking at the time, and I think that's what has always drawn me to this piece in particular!
Outside of music, what hobbies or interests do you pursue that bring balance to your life?
I am trying to learn Italian and enjoy the classes I attend at City Lit in London. I also love to do Yoga, meditation and Pilates and I knit – a lot!
Liz Walker at the Palace of Versailles during the 2024 European Tour of Handel's Israel in Egypt, wearing a jumper she knitted herself.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring professional musician?
One piece of advice – always come back to the music and the enjoyment it brings. It’s a gift we have, but so often the technical challenges get in the way, or the critical voice becomes too loud. I always suggest to my flute students setting off to music college, to gather a group of friends as soon as possible to create an ensemble where you can have some fun!
Finally, what are you looking forward to this year with the EBS?
I am looking forward to Mozart: Double Piano Concerto concerts in April 2025. There are no flutes in the Double and Triple Piano Concertos – but how thrilling to listen to three period instruments together on stage and flutes get to play the Prague Symphony, a real treat!
