Lunchtime Recital - Amy Gillen (flute) and Kumi Matsuo (piano)

Presented by the Royal College of Music

Irish flutist Amy Gillen plays with ‘incredible dexterity and musicality’ and ‘sparkling fluidity and pristine clarity’. This review comes from the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year Final by music critic Dick O’Riordan where Amy was the winner of the 2018 Irish Freemasons Young Musician and was also awarded the Conrad O’Sullivan Memorial Award for the best woodwind/brass performance in the competition. She is currently studying for her Masters of Music Performance in Flute under Susan Milan and Sue Thomas at the Royal College of Music, as a Russell Race Scholar. Amy has performed as soloist with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and will play as soloist in 2020 with the RTE Concert Orchestra as a result of winning the 2019 RDS Jago Award. In November 2018, Amy made her debut performance at the Wigmore Hall in London where she was awarded the 2018 Irish Heritage Bursary for Performance. Commenting on the bursary being awarded, John Gilhooly OBE Chairman of the adjudicators and director at the Wigmore Hall said, “Amy is an immediately engaging artist from the moment she steps on the platform. She is a true musician in every sense. She greatly impressed the jury and this bursary comes at an important time in her development.” Amy plays on a 14K gold and platinum Nagahara head joint which she was awarded alongside the Sir James Galway Rising Star Award at the 2017 Galway Flute Festival Switzerland. Amy regularly deputises with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and and the Ulster Orchestra. She has taken part in the BBC Symphony Orchestra Pathway Scheme for 2018/2019 and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Mentoring Scheme (2015-2017). Amy has been principal flute of the RCM Symphony and Chamber Orchestras for concerts conducted by Rafael Payare, John Wilson and Michael Rosewell.