Ashley Solomon – flute
Stephen Devine – English harpsichord by Jacob & Abraham Kirkman, London, 1781

In the name of Bach

Ashley Solomon and Steven Devine explore works for flute and keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach and four of his sons. The programme includes solos and sonatas by JS Bach, JC Bach, JCF Bach, CPE Bach and WF Bach.

Ashley Solomon enjoys a successful career as a soloist, chamber musician and guest director in the UK, across Europe as well as the Americas, Far East and Australia. He is the director of Florilegium, the baroque ensemble he co-founded in 1991 and has made close to 40 recordings with them, many of which have garnered international awards.
In recent years he has been involved in a unique recording project using a private collection of 17th and 18th century flutes. To date he has released 3 volumes in the Spohr Collection series involving 25 rare and original 1-keyed baroque flutes made of ivory, boxwood, ebony and porcelain. This project has given new insight into the sound world of European flute makers in the baroque period.
Since 2003 he has been training vocalists and instrumentalists in Bolivia, working on the remarkable collection of music held in archives by the Moxos and Chiquitos Indians. He formed Arakaendar Bolivia Choir in 2005 and Arakaendar Baroque Orchestra in 2007 and has directed them in concerts at major international festivals. In 2008 he was one of the first Europeans to receive the prestigious Bolivian Hans Roth Prize given in recognition of the enormous assistance he has given to the Bolivian musicians, their presence on the international stage and the promotion and preservation of this music.
Combining a successful career across both theory and practice, Ashley is also Head of Historical Performance at London’s Royal College of Music, having been appointed a professor in 1994. In 2014 he was awarded a Personal Chair and in July 2017 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM) and in 2019 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Music (FRCM). Since 2014 he has been working closely with the Royal Collection Trust to curate musical performances in their Royal venues.

Steven Devine is a versatile musician balancing roles as a conductor, director ,harpsichordist and fortepianist. He serves as Conductor and Artistic Advisor of The English Haydn Festival, Music Director of New Chamber Opera, Oxford, and Director of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s “Bach, the Universe & Everything” series. Devine has directed works by Purcell, Blow, Bach, Handel, and Mozart with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and led performances of Bach’sEaster Oratorio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. His repertoire spans contemporary, Haydn, Handel, Vivaldi, and more, collaborating with Trondheim Barokk, Victoria Baroque Players, Arion Baroque Ensemble, and other prominent ensembles. His operatic projects include works by Purcell, Cavalli, Handel, Mozart and Rossini as well as rarities by Galuppi and Salieri. Recent highlights include Messiah with The Academy of Ancient Music in Las Palmas and performances of Bach and Telemann with Symphony Nova Scotia. Devine has also directed Brandenburg Concertos with the OAE and Ensemble 360 and recorded keyboard concertos and solo recitals to critical acclaim. Educated at Chetham’s School of Music and Oxford university ,Devine was Director of Opera Restor’d (2002–2010) and curated the Norwegian Wind Ensemble (2016–2018). He is Early Keyboard consultant to the Royal Welsh and Royal Birmingham Conservatoires and Professor of harpsichord and fortepiano at the Royal Academy of Music, London.