Biography
Abbie is a Haynes Flutes Artist and has freelanced with notable orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Contemporary Orchestra, Heritage Orchestra, and Brighton Philharmonic, as well as many west-end shows and tours including Les Misérables, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. In the recording studio, she has played on numerous albums, from Classical to K-pop, and movie soundtracks for Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Abbie has performed extensively throughout the UK, playing at renowned concert venues including The Southbank, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, The Anvil, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and Bridgewater Hall. Career highlights include playing the solo flute part in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no.5 with The Philharmonia (Switzerland tour), tours of Russia (soloist with the Novgorod Philharmonic Orchestra) and Germany (guest solo artist with the New English Singers, performing Bach Sonatas in Hallé, Dresden, Berlin and Bach’s Thomas Kirche in Leipzig), and an invitation to play at a Jethro Tull concert at The Barbican, performing a solo and duet with the legendary rock-flautist Ian Anderson.
Abbie has been an invited Guest Artist at the National Flute Association Convention (Chicago and Orlando), Adams International Flute Festival (Netherlands), Aflaup Festival (Portugal), Polish Flute Festival (Katowice), Flute Fest! (Iceland), Spanish Flute Convention (Valencia), La Côte Festival (Switzerland) and Australian Flute Festival (Bisbane and Sydney). Originally from Milton Keynes, she frequently returns to her hometown as a recitalist and soloist with the Cornerstone Chamber Orchestra. She has also played for the Royal Family at St James's Palace, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, and to the Prime Minister and Mayor of London at Southwark Cathedral.
Commercially, Abbie regularly performs with ‘Ministry of Sound Classical’ (Dance Anthems reimagined for live orchestra) including their 30th birthday celebrations at the O2 Arena and Royal Albert Hall, as well as many ‘Orchestra-to-Film’ tours (Love Actually, Magic of Disney, Hocus Pocus, Harry Potter). She has worked with artists including Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, and The Who, toured with orchestral tributes to Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Queen, and played with various bands at music festivals including Latitude and Glastonbury.
Abbie began learning the flute aged 7 and within a year was offered a place at the Purcell School, Britain’s oldest specialist music institution. She studied there for nine years with Anna Pope and was awarded one of the schools most prestigious scholarships by the Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust. She had a busy performing schedule from a very early age and was invited to play as a soloist for HRH Prince of Wales in a private concert at St James's Palace aged 12 and made her concerto debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall aged 14. She continued her education at the Royal College of Music with Susan Milan but left the institution before completing her degree. Feeling ‘burnt out’, she quit the flute entirely for 5 years before returning to it with renewed love and enthusiasm, and has never regretted it! She restarted her studies privately with Michael Cox and Robert Winn.
Abbie is proud to be a Haynes Flutes Artist, playing on a custom-made 10K/14K gold flute. She is a beneficiary of Music Support, a charity helping people working in the music industry struggling with mental health and/or addiction, and is now a spokesperson for the charity.
She currently lives on a houseboat on the River Medway and likes to spend her spare time at her seaside flat in Margate.
