About Us
Lisa Friend
RCM BMus(hons)
Flautist
Anna Stokes
RCM BMus(hons)
Flautist
Lisa Friend (Flautist) has appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg (Mozart Week, Salzburg), City of Prague Philharmonic, Virtuosi Pragenses Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and CRR Genç Oda Orkestrası.
She will be performing as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Arnold at the London Palladium alongside Alfie Boe, Russell Watson, Ayanna Witter-Johnson for Scala Radio's 'Classics at Christmas' on the 26th of November 2023.


She has toured throughout Europe, the USA and Asia and has been broadcast on radio stations around the world including Classic FM, Scala Radio, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 2, BBC London, RTE Lyric FM, WQXR Classical Radio-New York and with the Brodsky Quartet live in the Classic FM Studios and on BBC One TV 'The Andrew Marr Show'.


Her many recordings as a solo/chamber artist include Voyage (Chandos), Essence-Lisa Friend and Rohan De Silva (Chandos), Mozart Quartets-Lisa Friend & the Brodsky Quartet (Chandos), Cinema Affair (Silva Screen), Luminance (Champs Hill Records) and Deep in My Soul (Signum Records). All have been widely praised in the press including the BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone and the Mail on Sunday and many of her CDs have been chosen as Classic FM’s Album of the Week/Weekend and Drive Discovery.
Both her CDs ‘Cinema Affair’ and ‘Essence’ have also been featured albums on board British Airways 'Highlife In Flight Entertainment'.

She has also featured on a recording for Malcolm Martineau and Friends of Songs by Poulenc (Signum Classics) and as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on a CD by Ian Mulder.

S
olo recital highlights include performances for Steven Spielberg and his USC Shoah Foundation, for the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, at the LG Arts Center in Seoul, at the Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall in London. She has also performed live on stage as a soloist with Principal dancers of the Royal Ballet for Sergei Polunin’s 'Project Polunin' and appeared at the Tenth Anniversary Concert for Children and the Arts in collaboration with Classic FM. Lisa performed as a soloist for Bill Kenwright's production 'Orchestra 2000' with Boy George backed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.


After signing a deal with Universal Publishing, Lisa wrote original arrangements for her trio based on some of the great film scores as well as her own compositions, performing at venues such as St Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John’s, Smith Square, and the British Embassy in Paris.


She has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music-London, Hull University and Seoul National University, Sookmyung Women's University, Dolce Powell-Seoul, Ewha Women's University and Sunwha School in South Korea. She also runs an annual International flute masterclass, the 'Friend International Flute Academy'. In April 2017, she was a jury member for the Concours du Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste at the École Normale de Musique de Paris ‘Alfred Cortot’.


Having spent her early years in the USA, Lisa Friend studied with Renée Siebert of the New York Philharmonic before winning a scholarship, at seventeen, to study with Susan Milan at the Royal College of Music; she pursued her postgraduate studies as a ‘Martin Music Scholar’ with the late Alain Marion in Paris.

Lisa Friend is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and the Children and the Arts Trust, and a Powell Artist, playing a Verne Q. Powell gold flute.
Anna Stokes (Flautist) has worked with numerous orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, British Sinfonietta, London Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Brandenburg Sinfonia, The National Philharmonic of Great Britain, Arts Symphonic and for the ‘Light Princess’ production by Tori Amos at the National Theatre. She has also performed as flautist for Aled Jones's past UK tours and has recorded for EMI, Universal, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Mercury as a session player.
Her solo/chamber music albums for Champs Hill Records include Emanuel Ensemble-Works for flute, cello and piano and ‘Luminance-Solo & Duo Works for flute and piano’-Lisa Friend, Anna Stokes (Flutes) & Mark Kinkaid (Piano).
‘Luminance’ was chosen as 'Classic FM CD of the Week', David Mellor's Album of the Week (5 Star Review) in the 'Mail on Sunday' and aired on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 2, BBC London, and RTE Lyric FM.
Anna founded the Emanuel Ensemble in 2001, giving recitals at the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, National Gallery, V & A Museum, Conway Hall, Leighton House and for various UK concert societies. She has also performed in a number of duo recitals with flautist Lisa Friend and given solo flute/piano duo performances for the Qatar Foundation in Doha, at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, Cheltenham International Festival and for various UK concert societies. Solo concerto performances include works by Bach, Chaminade, Mozart, Quantz, Reinecke and Rouse.
Awards and sponsorship include; Haynes International Flute Competition Prize Winner (USA), David Bowerman Charitable Trust Sponsorship, Sir James Galway International Masterclass Award for ‘Best Performer by popular vote’ 2007, Marc Rich Scholarship for Artistic Achievement, Solti Foundation Award, EMI Sound Foundation Award and a Brannen-Cooper Flute awarded to her from the ‘Foundation for Sport and the Arts’.
Anna was awarded a scholarship to the Purcell School of Music where she studied with Anna Pope. She was subsequently awarded a Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music where she studied flute with Susan Milan and Stewart McLlwham, graduating in 2004 with First Class Honours. Anna was selected to participate in the Sir James Galway International Masterclass, Switzerland 2006-2008.
She has given workshops and masterclasses in London, Hong Kong, and Qatar and has been a deputy flute teacher at the Royal College of Music Junior Department since 2007. She has also assisted on the annual ‘Friend International Flute Academy’ since 2010, teaches privately and at a private school in Bucks. In August 2023, she was a flute assistant to Susan Milan for the British Isles Music Festival.
She also has much experience as a piano accompanist playing for ABRSM/Trinity grade exams, exam practice/coaching rehearsals, and auditions.
Anna plays on a silver Powell Flute.
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* Anna is a member of the Musician's Union. She has completed the NSPCC's EduCare series of distance learning courses produced by the NSPCC and the Musicians Union, in partnership with Music Leader, and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).