Adam Walker was born in

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterf ...

, Nottinghamshire in 1987. He is an English flautist.

Early life

Walker taught himself to play the flute at the age of 9. In 1996, he went to study at Chetham's School of Music, with Gitte Sorensen. In 2002, at the age of 14, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Flute Society Competition. In 2003 he won the Royal Over-Seas League prize for the woodwind player with the most promise and in 2004 was a Concerto Finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition (performing Nielsen's Flute Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh). In September 2005, Walker won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Michael Cox.

Orchestral and solo performances

Walker made many appearances on BBC Radio before making his Proms debut in 2008 at the age of 21. That year he was appointed principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), and in 2009 received the Outstanding Young Artist Award at MIDEM Classique in Cannes. In 2010 he won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award and was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Outstanding Young Artist Award. In 2011, Walker gave the world premiere of Brett Dean's The Siduri Dances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He was invited by Marin Alsop in 2013 to give the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Flute Concerto at the Cabrillo Festival. The London Symphony Orchestra and BBT then jointly commissioned Huw Watkins to write a flute concerto which Adam premiered in February 2014 under Daniel Harding. As a soloist, Walker performs with major UK orchestras including BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Southbank Centre's ‘The Rest is Noise’ Festival and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and is a regular visitor to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Further afield he has performed with the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestr ...

Seoul Philharmonic The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) is a South Korean orchestra based in Seoul. Founded in 1948, it is one of the oldest orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia ...

Auckland Philharmonia The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall. The APO is the accompanying ensemble for performances by NZ Opera and the Royal New Zealan ...

, Malaysian Philharmonic,

Malmö Symphony Orchestra The Malmö Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Malmö Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish orchestra, based in Malmö. Since 2015, it has been resident at the Malmö Live Concert Hall. The orchestra has a complement of 94 musicians. History The orchestra was fo ...

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, ...

, Solistes Européens, Luxembourg and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.

Recording career

He released his first CD 'Vocalise' in 2013 on the ROH Opus Arte Label. This includes works by Poulenc, Messiaen, Bartok, Barber and Schubert. His recording of the Kevin Puts Flute Concerto with Marin Alsop and the Peabody Institute was released on Naxos in 2016.

References

External links

Young Classical Artists TrustBBC Radio 3BBC Young Musician Wigmore Concert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Adam English classical flautists 1987 births Living people People from Retford London Symphony Orchestra players Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music People educated at Chetham's School of Music