Lisa Nelsen was born and raised on a pig farm in Western Canada and enjoys an international career as a flute soloist, chamber musician and educator. A past member of the Britten Pears Orchestra and the National Youth orchestras of Holland and Canada, she began her professional career playing in the flute sections of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. Her recitals with piano have taken her to concert halls in Norway, Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Holland, Ireland, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as throughout Canada and the United States. She frequently appears at festivals and concert series in Britain, and gave her London début recital at the South Bank. She is solo flute of the contemporary music group Continuum Ensemble in London, England, performs with harpist Eleanor Turner in their Aquilae Duo (www.eleanorturner.com) and is a founding member of the New London Chamber Ensemble (www.newlondonchamberensemble.co.uk). She has given a one-woman recital at the Swaledale Festival, North Yorkshire and was also a special guest artist at the first International Flute Festival in Örebro, Sweden. She has had several pieces written for her by composers such as Kenneth Hesketh, Roderick Watkins and Paul Max Edlin, recording them for BBC Radio. In February 2006 Lisa toured across the Canadian Prairies as a Powell/Sonare Flutes’ Artist. Lisa was appointed specialist flute teacher for Wells Cathedral School in 2001 and is a visiting instructor at several colleges in Britain. She coaches the wind players at the National Youth Chamber Orchestra and the main orchestra of the National Children’s Orchestra. From the summer of 2002 until 2007, Lisa was an Artistic Director of the Harrogate International Flute Summer School. From 1997-2001 Lisa was a member of the British Flute Society council. She worked with Liz Goodwin on the highly successful “Flutewise-LIVE” bringing a variety of flute workshops to young and old at the Barbican in London in May 2009. While working as a consultant for Boosey and Hawkes for 3 years Lisa gave masterclasses all over Europe, including the Norwegian State Conservatoire in Oslo, the Bruckner Academy in Linz, Austria, and the Dublin Conservatoire. She has given a recital andmasterclass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, and classes at the Boston Conservatory and Boston University in the United States.Several of her upcoming appearances are made possible with the support of Verne Q Powell and Sonare Flutes. One of the highlights of 2005 was playing solo at a private event at the Canadian High Commission in London in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The biggest highlight of 2006 was giving birth to her daughter, Mathilda. Lisa is performing on an Aurumite Powell Flute. John Alley is the principal keyboard of the London Symphony orchestra. Born in London, he began his musical training as a chorister of Westminster Abbey, thereafter studying piano at the Guildhall School of Music with James Gibb. Starting out as an accompanist and chamber musician, it wasn’t until some time passed that he found himself working as an orchestral pianist. In this role he has played with most of the British orchestras along with many of the top chamber ensembles, notably the London Sinfonietta and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has played in over 100 BBC Proms over the last quarter century and has been privileged to work with many of the twentieth century’s major composer/conductors including Boulez, Berio, Benjamin, Henze, Lutoswaski and Oliver Knussen. He has played Stravinsky’s Petroushka 4 times, Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta 3 times, Les Noces on the night of the Royal Wedding in 1981 and just about every other piece with an orchestral piano part, at least ONCE! A minor sensation occurred in the performance of ‘Suite for the HypotheticallyMurdered’ in 1992 when he drank a pint of beer in the middle of a cadenza! John Alley has recorded extensively for television, radio and disc. This CD is the result of a happy collaboration between Lisa, John and Nigel. After spending what seemed AGES looking for mutually agreed times to get together, they finally found a few days in late autumn 2007 to record in Nigel’s studio. The programme was chosen from a few recitals that John and Lisa gave together since 2004, keeping the format of a recital for the listeners’ enjoyment. They decided to keep it as “live” as a recording in a studio could be. Edits have been minimal because the artists wanted to “perform” rather than “perfect”. Lisa would like to thank John and Nigel for their artistry, patience and unending humour; Alex for his love and support as always; Granny Gibson for her financial support for the project; her family for their constant reminder to be fearless; to her friends for their excitement about the project; and Laura Gibson for the wonderful artwork on the cover. This CD is dedicated to my daughter, Mathilda.