Biographies
Janina Byrne - flute
Janina Byrne studied the flute with Gareth Morris at the Royal Academy of Music, later with Adrian Brett and Kirsten Spratt and recently with Patricia Moynihan. Whilst pursuing a teaching career she has played principal flute with orchestras in London, and the South East and regularly performs in France with the London Bach Players. She has performed concertos with the Corelli Ensemble, Philharmonia Britannica, Kingston Philharmonic, and others.
As she no longer teaches she is able to indulge her passion for playing and has recently made a return to giving solo recitals and is enjoying performing with chamber ensembles.
Her fluting heroes include Peter-Lukas Graf and Emmanuel Pahud.
Nancy Proudfoot - oboe and cor anglais
Originally from Oxfordshire, Nancy studied as a DfEE specialist musician at Wells Cathedral School, during which time she was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for a number of years (principal oboe in her final year) under the baton of world class conductors including Iván Fischer, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Roger Norrington and Tadaaki Otaka. Chamber group and solo concerto performances were also on the menu, with overseas tours taking Nancy to Germany and the USA, and competitions taking her to the semi-finals of the UK Shell/LSO Young Musician prize.
Without doubt, her teacher Celia Nicklin has been one of the greatest influences on her playing, with whom Nancy studied at university and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music where Nancy won a scholarship to complete a postgraduate diploma, playing princial oboe with the RAM Symphony Orchestra. Whilst music continues to play a big part in her life, Nancy has pursued a professional career in hydrogeology which has taken her as far as Ethiopia in 2008. In between times she hugely enjoys playing in orchestras and chamber groups across London including the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra and Globe Quintet.
Sheena Mackenzie - clarinet
Edinburgh born Sheena grew up in North Wales and was principal clarinet of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales for a number of years. She studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Colin Parr where she won the Concerto Prize in her final year playing Nielsen's clarinet concerto. Also in her final year she was privileged to play as a 'regular extra' with the CBSO under Simon Rattle at the start of his career. Sheena commenced her studies at the Royal College with Colin Bradbury and was lucky enough to partner the lovely Jack Brymer in a TV production for HTV.
Since then, Sheena has re-trained as as woodwind and brass repairer and lives in Wimbledon with her two gorgeous teenage daughters, teaching clarinet and repairing instruments. She now enjoys life playing for fun in amateur orchestras and ensembles and is a regular player with the Kingston Philharmonia (having played the Finzi Clarinet Concerto with them recently) and Camden Chamber Orchestra (looking forward to playing in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in July).
Tom Hardy - bassoon
Tom studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and followed this with post graduate studies at National Centre for Orchestral Studies. Whilst at the Guildhall he won Young Musician of the Year for Buckinghamshire which was judged by Lady Barbirolli (Evelyn Rothwell) who singled out his capacity to communicate his enthusiam for the music as the element that gained him this prize. This led to a concerto being written for him by Colin Cowles which he performed with the Bucks County Youth Orchestra.
Tom currently freelances as a bassoon and contra bassoon player and has played with many orchestras and ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, City of London Sinfonia, Academy of St Martin’s in the Fields, Ulster Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Tom also enjoys a busy coaching and teaching schedule in London.
Tom has always loved chamber music and was also a founder member of two wind chamber groups - Etesian Winds wind quintet and Concertone and currently plays with several London based chamber groups in addition to The Globe Wind Quintet including the Blaze Ensemble.
Kathryn Allnut - horn
Having graduated with a 2.1 in Music at Manchester University in 2006 Kathryn continued her training at Trinity College of Music, studying the French horn with Steve Stirling, where she gained a PGDip in Performance. In January 2009 she was appointed Co-Principal Horn of Southbank Sinfonia, the UK's leading orchestral academy. Whilst a member of Southbank Sinfonia, Kathryn took part in side-by-side schemes with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, London Sinfonietta and BBC Concert Orchestra. Kathryn has since received extra work with the BBC Concert Orchestra. In January 2010 Kathryn made her debut performance at the National Theatre in the 2010 revival run of Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn's play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Other freelance work includes performing with the band Snow Patrol and with English National Ballet at the ballet school's end of term performance.
A keen chamber musician, Kathryn is a member of the Vesuvio and Globe Wind Quintets as well as the Purveyors of Sound Brass Quintet. She has performed chamber recitals at the Wigmore Hall, the Crush Room (Royal Opera House) and the Purcell Room. Kathryn has recently formed a new piano-winds group, the Adaska Ensemble, with other wind players of Southb