Anna Cooper studied at Chetham's School of Music, and continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with James Brown and Jane Marshall. Shortly after leaving Guildhall, Anna was appointed Principal Cor Anglais with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1998 Anna left the RLPO to pursue a freelance career, and has since played with many of the UK's orchestras, including a season with Opera North, and regular playing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, and the RLPO.

Anna's other passion is arranging wind ensemble music, particularly for double reed groups of all abilities. In 2010 she co-founded Wonderful Winds, and her double reed arrangements have been used by the British Double Reed Society, the LSO Education Department, the Big Double Reed Day, the National Youth Orchestra oboe section and Birmingham Music Service, among others. Anna also teaches Cor Anglais reed making and coaches chamber music.

Elizabeth Walker studied a complete range of flutes whilst a junior at the Royal College of Music, (where she was awarded the Sally Wainwright woodwind prize in 1985), at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. She studied renaissance flute with Nancy Hadden, baroque and eight- keyed classical flute with Stephen Preston and Wilbert Hazelzet, modern flute with Kathryn Lukas and Margaret Ogonovsky and recorder with Philip Pickett and Ricardo Kanji.

Elizabeth has recorded and performed with a number of period orchestras including the English Baroque Soloists, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the Classical Opera Company. She is principal flute for Armonico, with whom she has performed The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville and most recently, Verdi's Requiem.

Elizabeth was a guest performer in the 2010 and 2012 British Flute Conventions, performing a baroque programme on modern flute and on her original Louis Lot flute from 1859.

She currently teaches flute and recorder at Wells Cathedral School and is a regular examiner of graduate and postgraduate baroque flute and recorder students at the Guildhall, RCM and Birmingham Conservatoire.

Elizabeth also plays in the group "Continuum", with whom she has recorded the Bach Flute Sonatas to critical acclaim, and the flute quartet Festive Flutes.

Her two books, published by Wonderful Winds, Baroque Flute Studies and Baroque Studies for Modern Flute both won "Best Flute Method" in the NFA Newly Published Music Competition in successive years.www.lizwalker.co.uk

Deborah Blackmore came late to music from a background in Chartered Accountancy.

She is a principal member of the Peninsula Clarinet Choir where, under the direction of Marina Kummer, she plays 1st and alto. The ensemble now benefits from her considerable skills as an arranger as well as a player, and we are delighted to have her join the team of arrangers at Wonderful Winds.

After an excellent grounding from Manchester Music Service, Maria Ackroyd went on to study music at The University of Huddersfield where she majored in composition and bassoon. She later qualified as a teacher from Leeds University and spent several years teaching in the city. In 2010, Maria decided to return to Huddersfield to study for a research Master’s degree in composition for which she achieved a merit.

Since 2001, Maria has been freelancing as a reed player for pit bands throughout West Yorkshire as well as playing in several chamber ensembles. These include Slam Aaha Saxophone Quartet, Quintaphonics Wind Quintet (bassoon) and TriNamics piano/wind trio (also bassoon), all of which she has arranged music for.

Maria was also the co-founder of the symphony orchestra and choir Huddersfield Camerata for which she was principal bassoon.

At the age of just twenty-one, Geoffrey Browne was a full member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, playing in the oboe section with Terence MacDonagh and Sidney Sutcliffe. At that time, the orchestra was conducted by Colin Davis and Pierre Boulez. The orchestra specialised in twentieth century music, but also covered a wide range of compositions, occasionally conducted by such people as; William Walton, Rudolph Kempe, and Nadia Boulanger.

Geoffrey has made solo broadcasts as an oboist, and there are many classical records that bear his name. In 1979 he recorded "Autumn Legend" by William Alwyn, for Cor Anglais and string orchestra; the London Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by the composer. In 1980, he performed "Quiet City" by Aaron Copland at the Royal Festival Hall, also conducted by the composer. In 1985, he recorded Alban Berg's "Chamber Concerto" with Peter Serkin and Isaac Stern.

It was the London Symphony Orchestra that dubbed him a Cor Anglais player when he recorded "La Damnation de Faust" by Berlioz, with Colin Davis conducting; but he also has much experience playing principal oboe, of playing the oboe d'amore, and the bass oboe. He spent many years as the principal Cor Anglais player of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and played co-principal oboe at Glyndebourne. Later he moved to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where he made major solo contributions to feature films such as "The Shooting Party", and "The Return of the Native".

His wide experience includes giving lectures on Wagner, and giving a broadcast talk for BBC Radio 3 on the subject of "The Cor Anglais". He is the author of the book "The Art of Cor Anglais", which over the last twenty years has become the industry-standard textbook worldwide. Now in its fourth edition, it is published by Emerson Edition.

More recently, after eight years working with English National Opera, Geoffrey Browne is now retired and concentrates on history.

He has a BA (Open), a Professional Certificate in Management, and a Certificate in Humanities, all from the Open University.
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Simon M. Milton graduated from the University of Reading with a combined honours degree in Music and Physics. After training as a teacher at Trent Park College in North London he taught for a number of years before moving to Munich to study oboe at the Richard Strauss Conservatoire with Gernot Schmalfuss. After two years, he returned to Britain to continue his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester supported by a scholarship from the Arts Council.

He is now resident in Scotland where he is well known as oboist, teacher, conductor and arranger. He works as woodwind instructor for Fife Council and is also visiting teacher of oboe at the University of St Andrews. He has acted as oboe tutor for the Aberdeen Festival Summer School and also for the Summer School run by the Scottish School's Orchestral Trust.

In 1992 he was awarded the degree of MMus with distinction by the University of Sheffield. He has made reductions of the orchestral accompaniments of many operas, initially for his own company in Scotland, but later for other companies, particularly in Denmark. For the Aarhus Summer Opera he has arranged La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail and, most recently, L'Elisir d'Amore. For the Fyn Opera he has arranged La Cenerentola and Die Zauberfloete, that company also performed the versions of Figaro and Cosi. For the Oestre Gasvaerk Theatre in Copenhagen he has arranged the music for a production of Peter Schaffer's Amadeus. And for the North Jutland Opera he has arranged the music of Verdi's Macbeth for an orchestra of five instrumentalists and, for school performances of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, he reduced the accompaniment for violin and guitar.
www.simonmmilton.co.uk

Catriona leads a varied career as a modern and period instrument bassoonist, educator and arranger. She received first-class degrees for both her undergraduate degree at University of Oxford and Masters degree at Royal College of Music and has since built up a busy freelance career. Orchestrally she has performed as guest principal with ensembles such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and with period ensembles including Florilegium and Armonico Consort. As a soloist Catriona has given several concerto performances, performed solo recitals across the UK and is a previous recital artist for Countess of Munster Musical Trust and Handel House. In 2018 she premiered a new commission for bassoon and string quartet, Toby Young’s Creation of Electricity performing with Navarra string quartet.

Catriona is a passionate chamber musician; she is a member of baroque ensemble Convivio, and also of wind quintet Magnard Ensemble for whom she regularly arranges. Magnard Ensemble have performed in venues including Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Culture & Convention Centre Lucerne, Switzerland and have been artists for Tillett Trust, Tunnell Trust and Making Music UK. They have released three discs, two discs of Stephen Dodgson’s woodwind chamber music on Toccata Classics and their debut disc with Orchid Classics entitled Revolting Rhymes and Marvellous Music, receiving a four star BBC Music Magazine review. Her arrangements for this ensemble have been published by Alry Publications and Wonderful Winds. Catriona also strongly believes in the importance of education and community work; she tutors for National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain and regularly works on and leads a whole variety of projects, with organisations such as Worshipful Company of Musicians, Sinfonia Cymru, Wigmore Hall and Magnard Ensemble.

Frances & Martin Jones are based the Thames Valley. They perform as a duo regularly in recitals, and in chamber ensembles and orchestras. Frances is much sought-after as a woodwind performer, teacher, lecturer, adjudicator, arranger and writer. She took a music degree at the University of Reading and studied oboe with Sydney Sutcliffe at the Royal College of Music. Since 2005 she has become the UK’s leading exponent of the Swiss alpine horn, which has resulted in engagements to perform and lecture regularly not only throughout the Alps and across Western Europe, but also in South Africa, Taiwan, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia.

Frances’s talent as an insightful arranger of music for various combinations of instruments displays not only a detailed knowledge of the sounds, colours, capabilities and subtleties of the instruments chosen, but also a deep passion for a range of musical genres and a desire to enable players of various abilities to enjoy a broad variety of beautiful music.

Martin is a talented pianist, cellist and bass player, accompanist, composer and arranger. He is passionate about composing and an active member of London Composers Forum.

www.AmazingAlphorn.com; www.forumcomposers.org.uk

Anna Hopkins studied the flute at the Royal College of Music. She then freelanced in London before moving to Norwich, where she now freelances as a flute teacher, examiner for Trinity College London, and performer. As an examiner, she has travelled to venues across the world.

Anna works regularly with various ensembles, giving concerts in Norfolk and Suffolk, including the Mirliton Flute Choir and she has enjoyed making arrangements of music for the group to perform.

As a soloist, she has given recitals throughout the country, including St Martin in the Fields in London.

John Mason

After study at Bristol and London Universities - and spending two hours in an unremitting downpour in a static 'queue' outside the Wigmore Hall for an orchestral audition - John embarked on a high-profiled career in music education. This included establishing thriving and extended provision for music at the Vienna International School, Sir Wm Borlase's Grammar School and the European School of Munich. He also lectured and tutored in music education for the Universities of Reading and of Buckingham, and was a founding member of the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS).

In younger days, he was first bassoonist in the British Youth Wind Orchestra. He studied with Nick Hunka (London) and Karl Öhlberger (Vienna). In retirement he has returned to East Anglia where his career started, playing again in many of the orchestras and chamber ensembles of Norfolk and Suffolk.

He relishes composing and arranging, as well as dancing tango when opportunity allows!

Arthur J. Michaels earned a bachelor of music degree in music education from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Arts degree in teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. He has taught instrumental music in New York and in New Jersey.

Several of his concert band and string orchestra works have won contest awards and were selected in competition for performances. His published works include music for choruses, concert band, string orchestra, and instrumental ensembles.

He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Florida Music Educators Association, and ASCAP.
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Peter J. Pecora, Jr. is a musician, composer and retired special education teacher living in the central area of New York State. He studied music at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY (Associates in Applied Science: Music, 1975) and at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts: Music Education, 1979). His special education degree is from Syracuse University (Master of Science: Special Education, 1992).

Pete studied clarinet with David Bomstein (1973-1974), Gerald Zampino (1974-1975, at that time Principal Clarinet of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra), and Allen Sigel at SUNY Buffalo (1975-1978). He studied flute with John Oberbrunner (1975, at that time Principal Flute of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra) and at SUNY Buffalo with Petr Kotik (1976-1977) and Robert Mols (1977-1979). He studied composing with Joe Riposo in Central New York. He has also directed and written music for church choirs.

Pete taught private clarinet and saxophone lessons in Syracuse, NY for nine years and was a special education teacher at his former high school from which he recently retired. He has performed in and written music for many bands and musical settings in the Buffalo, NY and Syracuse, NY areas, including classical, jazz, rock, R&B, gospel music.

Pete's current musical activities, besides composing, include playing flute and saxophone in the worship band at the church he attends (Wellspring Family Life Church), and playing flute, clarinet, saxophone, and whistles in a group called Butternut Creek Revival Pete's music can be found at here.

Phil Rawle was born Birmingham, U.K. He is a singer, pianist, saxophonist and composer. He trained at the Birmingham School of Music and was a school music teacher. A Founder member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, he has travelled extensively throughout the world with the CBSO and other leading orchestras performing at over 100 different venues.

Phil is also an alto sax and clarinet player and arranger playing with the Crown Phoenix Big Band. He has written many pieces for students, both choral and instrumental including two Musicals for school children and many more major choral works including settings of Shakespeare Sonnets, and The Great War poets. He has also written many orchestral scores and has been played by the BBC.


 For more information see Phil’s website here.

Born and educated in Australia, Judith Hall was involved in a different career when, after hearing her in a masterclass, Jean-Pierre Rampal suggested a career in music. After a late start, with brief study in France, and a highly successful London debut in the Park Lane Group’s ‘Young Musicians and 20th Century Music’ series, she joined the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. After seven years there as Principal Flute, (during which time she was engaged as Guest Principal with orchestras such as the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and English National Opera), she left in order to give more time to solo and chamber music.

In this capacity she has toured throughout Britain, playing in major festivals and giving broadcast recitals for the BBC from venues such as St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, the BBC Concert Hall and Cheltenham International Festival. Abroad she has toured France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Greece, India, Australia, the Bahamas, and South East Asia, with many tours sponsored by the British Council.

As a concerto soloist she has recorded and performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Langham Chamber Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Montepulciano Festival Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra.

Over the years she has recorded much of the flute and piano repertoire for the BBC. Her CDs, including concertos by Mozart and Vivaldi, have received high critical acclaim in many publications: Mozart Flute Quartets was for many weeks at the top of the best-selling CDs in Britain.

Since 2000 she has been a flute teacher at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and she is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique.

www.judithhall.co.uk

Roberto Ventimiglia Born in 1982, Roberto studied composition with Paolo Rotili and Alberto Meoli, graduating with honours from the Ottorino Respighi Conservatory in Latina.

He went on to study with Alessandro Solbiati and Salvatore Sciarrino, conducting a research focused on contemporary music. He later continued his musicology studies with Giorgio Sanguinetti, Agostino Ziino, Giorgio Nottoli, Gino Stefani and Giorgio Adamo and graduated in ethnomusicology from the Tor Vergata University in Rome.

Musically, his influences include the works of Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Francesco Antonioni, Carlo Boccadoro and Georg Friedrich Haas.

His music - for orchestra, chamber ensembles or solo instrument - has been performed in several festivals and musical events such as Atlante Sonoro-Freon Musica, Festival Pontino, Le Forme del Suono, Teatro dell’Arte-Milano Triennale, Casa del Jazz-Roma, Musica Futura-Ismez, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and Nuova Consonanza.

In 2013 he won the Premio Nazionale delle Arti-Miur Afam first prize with a piece for flute and pre-recorded sounds; he was also a finalist in the 2014 In Clausura composition competition with a scherzo for one hundred cellos conducted by Giovanni Sollima.

Some of his works are published by Bèrben-Curci, AltrEdizioni, Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Ema Vinci, Ars Spoletium and Wonderful Winds.

Andrew M. Wilson was born in 1960 and studied at Trinity College of Music and London University. He was Director of Music at Kelly College, Tavistock until becoming the Academic Vice-Principal of the National College of Music, London in 2015. He is a very busy composer. His orchestral, chamber choral and solo instrumental works have been widely recorded, published and performed all over the world, from Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, and London’s Royal Albert Hall to the San Francisco Conservatory.

His works are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio. He has won many awards for his compositions, including the City of London Harvest of the Sea Prize, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Celebrating Dorset Prize, the Project Trio Composition Award in NYC, the University of Alabama Chamber Ensemble Competition the Luciano Casalino Prize 2020 and the North California Viola Society Composition Competition 2021.

Recent commissions include “A Requiem for Peace”, which was premiered in St Andrew’s Minster, Plymouth, funded by the Vaughan Williams Trust and “The Pilgrim Fathers” in Southampton, England for the city’s Mayflower 400 celebrations; “The Morgowr” for the Cornwall Youth Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary and two school operas, “The Vicar’s Cross” and “The Green Children”. Choirs he has directed include The South West Chamber Choir, and the Callington Singers. He has been organist at several parish Churches in Worcester and Okehampton. He is Honorary President of the Tavistock Festival. In 2021 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Johann Pestalozzi University, Miami, Florida.

Nicholas Marshall was born in Plymouth in 1942, the son of musical parents - his mother was a professional cellist and his father a conductor. He attended Dartington Hall School where he studied composition with Timothy Moore and also became a proficient pianist and horn player. He read music at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where his interest in composition burgeoned. Later he attended the Royal College of Music where he studied composition with Anthony Milner, and also had lessons with Sir Lennox Berkeley.

In 1980 he was a founder of the Ashburton Festival, of which he was artistic director. He was also active as a choral conductor, latterly of the Exeter Bach Choir. As a pianist he has given many recitals as an accompanist and duettist.

However, composition has remained his chief interest, with a steady output that includes incidental music for radio plays, orchestral, choral and chamber music. His works for children include a number of dramatic works and two operas. Two CDs featuring his music have been commercially released and his music is also on a number of other CDs.

Since 2005 he has lived in East Devon, and helped to run the Budleigh Music Festival, conducting the Festival Orchestra and becoming its artistic director. The Festival has become recognised nationally for its excellence and there have been a number of concerts broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Alfie Pugh is an award-winning composer and arranger, holding a first class degree in Music from Bath Spa University. In 2011 he won the Charities Philharmonia Young Composers competition, with his piece for symphony Orchestra Vasilisa - The Beautiful, which was subsequently performed and recorded at St. John's, Smith Square. His piece for Wind Orchestra Trans-Siberian Railway won the Symphonic Wind Orchestra of North London's Composition Competition in 2014.

Alfie has also enjoyed success working on the preservation of the music of Barry Gray, notably for a new soundtrack CD of the music from Thunderbirds, which reached number 1 in the Japanese classical charts. He has some solo piano arrangements of this music published, on sale throughBarry Gray

His symphonic composition 'Exeter Cityscapes', written to mark Exeter Music Group Symphony Orchestra's 50th anniversary in 2017 was received with critical acclaim at its premiere in Exeter Cathedral.

Alfie works as a freelance musician in Exeter, dividing his time between writing, teaching piano, drums and bassoon, performing and musical direction. He particularly enjoys creating works for woodwind, and many of his compositions and arrangements are published by Wonderful Winds.

Stephen Tanner is a freelance music educator, choral director, organist, composer, arranger and examiner based in Exeter.

He began his musical career as a chorister in the choir of Coventry Cathedral and studied for a degree in music at the University of Huddersfield. For many years, he was Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral School and Assistant Organist and Director of the Girl Choristers at Exeter Cathedral. His school music department enjoyed a wide reputation for the breadth and quality of its music making with many former pupils going on to enjoy national and international success in the music world.

Stephen founded the Girl Choristers' section of Exeter Cathedral Choir in 1994 and directed it for 22 years. In this capacity he has numerous broadcasts, recordings and foreign tours to his credit. He was also musical director of Exeter Cathedral's highly acclaimed Chorister Outreach Project, working to promote singing in Devon's primary schools.

He directs a group of former girl choristers from Exeter Cathedral Choir "Isca Voices" who perform a wide range of sacred and secular music, is one half of the organ duo "Organ2" and is accompanist to the Exeter Philharmonic Choir.

Stephen has composed and arranged extensively both for his school musicians and for Exeter Cathedral Choir and has won two national composition competitions.

He is an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music serving on both the main and jazz panels.

Born in Leeds (Yorkshire, UK), Jason Carr studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. After winning the 1988 Vivian Ellis Prize for Young Writers of Musicals, Jason was invited by Sir Peter Hall to compose the musical Born Again (Chichester Festival Theatre starring Mandy Patinkin and José Ferrer). As Associate Composer at Chichester 2003-5, Jason wrote music and lyrics for two new musicals; The Water Babies and Six Pictures of Lee Miller (nominated British Composer Awards). His musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol has played Chichester, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Birmingham Rep, and his new musical Lockhart has received a developmental production at Mountview Academy.

Jason has composed incidental music for over 50 plays at the NT, RSC, in the West End and on Broadway, for directors including Steven Pimlott, Sam Mendes, Sean Mathias, Howard Davies, Antony Page, Adrian Noble, Samuel West, Elijah Moshinsky, Gregory Doran, Lindsay Posner, Edward Hall, Gale Edwards…

Orchestration credits includes the Menier Chocolate Factory’s Sunday in the Park with George, La Cage aux Folles and A Little Night Music (all also Broadway, winning the Drama Desk Award and two Tony nominations for Best Orchestrations).

Jason has accompanied many notable artists, including Elisabeth Welch, Betty Garrett, Kitty Carlisle Hart, and Michael Ball. He has accompanied Dame Felicity Lott in major opera houses across Europe. He arranged, produced and played on Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid’s album You Are The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened To Me. A long association with Maria Friedman includes her Olivier Award-winning show By Extra Special Arrangement.www.jasoncarr.org.uk