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Biography

British flautist, Lisa Friend has gained recognition as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist.
 

Lisa Friend - Ambassador of the Prince's Trust and 'Children & The Arts Charity'

 

Powell Artist UK

Lisa Friend (Flautist) has appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert 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 recently performed as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the London Palladium for Scala Radio's 'Classics at Christmas' in November 2023. Guest artists included Alfie Boe and Russell Watson amongst others.

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 albums have been chosen as Classic FM’s Album of the Week/Weekend and Drive Discovery. Both her albums ‘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.

Solo 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.

Current recording projects 2023/2024 include an album of Ravel works for 'Malcolm Martineau and Friends' (Signum Records) and a second duo album with pianist Rohan de Silva for Chandos Records. Lisa recently recorded an album of works by Clive Osgood with the Tippett Quartet and pianist, Lynn Arnold which is due to be released in 2023/2024.


www.lisafriend.com   
www.friendfluteacademy.com  
www.facebook.com/lisafriendflute

www.instagram.com/lisafriendflute

(Please email for the most updated version. Not to be reproduced without permission.)

'The disc showcases Friend's creamily luxuriant tone supported by Rohan De Silva's refined pianism'.
BBC Music Magazine (June 2019)


'De Silva to some extent comes into his own in the Fauré Sonata, matching the sweep and elegance of Friend’s phrasing with playing of considerable suppleness and subtlety throughout.'
Gramophone Magazine (July 2019)

Mozart Flute Quartets - Lisa Friend/ Brodsky Quartet CD (Chandos Records)

 

'A Flawless Flautist'

Mail on Sunday-David Mellor Album of the Week - Feb 2017

"Flautist Lisa Friend, as bubbly as her instrument, will no doubt bring a smile to your face with her excellent recording of Mozart Flute Quartets"

Mail on Sunday-David Mellor Album of the Week - Feb 2017

"It’s difficult to imagine them better done than they are here in excellent sound."
Mail on Sunday-David Mellor Album of the Week - Feb 2017

There’s plenty of fun to be had with this charming, undemanding music, as Lisa Friend and her Brodsky colleagues demonstrate." - Gramophone Magazine  - Feb 2017

 

'Lisa Friend is a remarkable flautist and also extremely charming'
(Classic FM - David Mellor) Cinema Affair CD

 

'Luminance' CD - 'And if the sound of one flute is attractive, the sound of two, played as well as they are here, is exhilarating'

 

'Luminance' CD - 'Her concertino for solo flute and piano is full of good things, and brilliantly dispatched by Lisa'.

(David Mellor - Album of the Week - Mail on Sunday ★★★★★ - Jan 2014)

 

'..Beautiful Playing'
BBC Music Magazine

 

'Sweet-toned, superbly stylish performances all round from Lisa Friend and Anna Stokes, who enjoy alert support from Mark Kinkaid at the piano. Truthful, nicely balanced sound too.'

 

'Stand-out offerings elsewhere include Cecile Chaminade's ravishing Concertino ..'.
Andrew Aschenbach - Classical Ear 

 

'Luminance' CD - Anna Stokes & Lisa Friend are superb flautists and here they turn their attention to predominantly French repertoire…..All in all a charming collection, beautifully played and recorded'
(Classic FM - Jan 2014)

 

" A beautiful performance played with great sensitivity and poise" - HRH Prince Charles

 

" British Flautist Lisa Friend is a gifted flautist to look out for"  - The Independent

 

" A bright temperament and a fluid technique distinguish this debut recital by the young British flautist Lisa Friend' - BBC Music Magazine

Photo - Stuart Weston

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