|
The English flautist, recorder player, conductor and music pedagogue, Ashley Solomon, obtained his Bachelor of Music and his Masters dgrees 1st class with honors from the Royal Academy of Music in London (1986-1991). In 1991, he won the Moeck/SRP Solo Recorder Playing Competition, and gave the winner's recital at the Wigmore Hall in Wigmore Street, London.
Combining a successful career across both theory and practice, Ashley Solomon is both Professor of recorder and Head of the Historical Performance department of the Royal College of Music in London. He has taught there since 1994, and became the first Head of the Historical Performance department in 2006. In 2014 he was appointed to a new chair in historic performance created for him by the college. In 2000 he was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music (HonRCM) and in July 2017 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM), for outstanding services to music, which was conferred on him by HRH Duchess of Gloucester. He has given master-classes and lectures worldwide, including at The Juilliard School, Yale University, Case Western Reserve University, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Oslo and Bergen Conservatories, Frankfurt Hochschule and Mozarteum in Salzburg. Recent lectures include Telemann and the Baroque flute - a true synthesis explored through his solo flute fantasias, given at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore (October 20, 2017) and Sydney Conservatorium of Music (October 24, 2017).
As Director of Florilegium much of Ashley Solomon's time is spent working and performing with Florilegium, the ensemble he co-founded with Neal Peres Da Costa in 1991. They have a busy touring schedule, giving given over 1,000 concert performances. They have been recording with the Dutch label Channel Classics since 1993 and have made 30 recordings, many of which have garnered international awards.
As a soloist, Ashley Solomon has performed worldwide, including concertos in the Sydney Opera House, Esplanade (Singapore), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Beethoven-Haus (Bonn), Handel-Haus (Halle)) and Frick Collection (New York). He also records as a solo artist with Channel Classics and his recording of the complete J.S. Bach's Flute Sonatas was recently voted the best overall version of these works on either modern or period flute by Gramophone Magazine (February 2017).
In 2002 Florilegium became involved with Bolivian Baroque and since 2003 Ashley Solomon has been training vocalists and instrumentalists there. Initially solo singers, he formed Arakaendar Bolivia Choir in 2005. He has directed them in concerts in Bolivia, North America and Europe, including two major tours of UK and their three CD's. In 2008 he was the first European to receive the prestigious Bolivian Hans Roth Prize, given to him in recognition of the enormous assistance he has given to the Bolivian native Indians, their presence on the international stage and the promotion and preservation of this music. |
