Who are we?
We are a very friendly group of amateur adult flute players who meet regularly on a Monday evening to simply enjoy playing the flute. We have 15-20 regular players, most of whom are from Bedfordshire, and a few guest players who join us for concerts and tours. Our Junior Ensemble, for under 18s is currently integrated into the main group but have the option to leave rehearsals a t the break. Juniors pay a reduced membership fee.
Our Musical Director is Liz Childs, who lives in Barton. Liz founded the Ensemble about 15 years ago. Nobody can remember precisely when – we started with a couple of players meeting once a month. Most players in the ensemble are adults returning to their flute playing having learnt at school.
We play a varied repertoire including jazz, classical, and modern music. We have even had pieces commissioned specially for us to play when we go on tour.
We rehearse every Monday night at St Nicholas’ Church Hall, Barton-le-Clay. We organise concerts, and we are frequently asked to play at charity events, including in Barton Lights switch-on, Barton Christmas Tree Festival and Barton Church Fete. We have also played in Hitchin, Dunstable, Streatley, Flitwick, and Houghton Regis.
From 2016 the Ensemble started to tour internationally and so far have represented Bedfordshire in:
2016 – Belgium
2017 – Germany
2019 – Holland
2022 – Slovenia (in the planning stages)
In 2017 we competed against a number of other Flute Choirs in the ABRSM Flute Choir of the Year Competition and won. The prize was a Treble Flute. In March 2020 we competed in the Bedford Festival of Music Speech and Drama gaining first place in the Miscellaneous Ensemble class and being awarded the Avril Hendry Cup.
We are lucky to have members owning a range of flutes – piccolos, the ‘C’ flutes (most common), alto flutes, and bass flutes. As well as the Treble Flute the Ensemble also owns a Contrabass, which was kindly donated by a dear friend of the Ensemble. Both instruments are available for members to play.
In 2019 the Ensemble became a registered Charity - no. 1186404.
