I had forever dreamt of running my own flute festival but had always been too tied up with life in general to take on such a big responsibility. Then suddenly in the summer of 2024 out of nowhere I decided that the time had come. I have a great deal of experience in most things flute but none in running an event like this. Even so, it seemed quite simple to me. I wanted to make it local and decided that everyone involved had to have a connection with Ealing. It was also important that Ealing Flutes, my adult flute group, hosted the festival. We started raising money for the Ealing Food Bank a few years ago with concerts on my driveway and fund-raising events at Christmas in the local tube station. That we could continue this here seemed too good an opportunity to miss. All the events would be fundraisers – perfect!

To make my dream happen I needed a plan. This was my ‘back of an envelope’ sketch:

• I am lucky enough to have studied with William Bennett who lived in the area for many years, so I wanted to hold the festival in his memory.
• I based the timetable around the Ealing Flutes annual summer concert on the Sunday morning.

I then added:

• Three high powered recitals – they had to be star-studded with a local connection.
• A morning to showcase younger students from local schools
• An afternoon to give the flute section of the Ealing Youth Orchestra a chance to perform in a masterclass.

And then there was the money. I’m hopeless at this but I was determined that I would pay every performer properly - no mates rates whatsoever. I was also determined that entry to all the concerts would be free. I tentatively approached some specialist flute music publishers to help, and I was so completely astonished that they were willing to support me that I altered some of the programming to include their music. The wonderful Michie Bennett was more than incredibly generous, and Just Flutes and Altus also contributed. It still wasn’t enough though, so eventually I approached the Arts Council. Anyone who has ever applied for an Arts Council grant will know how infuriatingly difficult it is but after the many frustrating hours online that I will never get back, amazingly they gave me some money.

Finding performers was less problematic than I thought it would be. Margaret Campbell, principal flute of the Royal Opera House Orchestra who lives in Ealing, Paul Edmund Davies who lived for many years in Chiswick, and Anna Kondrashina, one of Wibb’s last students who now teaches at the University of West London in Ealing all accepted my invitation to play which was clearly more than I could have dreamed of! Engaging with local flute teachers was harder than I had anticipated with public exams and a busy summer term being the main issues, but eventually the two education events also came together. The amazing Sally Goodworth is the accompanist for Ealing Flutes and she was a real asset, helping me to marshal all the students and playing for both Paul and Ealing Flutes.

Margaret was just the right player for the all-important opening concert. She was so entertaining, playing a wonderful programme and sharing insider ROH stories and gossip. She started with Piper’s Dream by Cecilia McDowall, another local resident, who came to the concert – extra stardust!

The young player concert was a rip-roaring success. Eleven students of around grades 4-7 level each had a short rehearsal with Sally, all came perfectly prepared and played everything from Telemann to Andy Scott. I had also sent out parts for a simple group piece and after another short rehearsal that was added to the concert. As you can imagine, the reception for all of this was fantastic, and teachers and parents enjoyed a well-deserved lunchtime glass of wine afterwards. Paul’s masterclass for the flutes of Ealing Youth Orchestra was inspiring for everyone and all of us learned a huge amount. He is so good, using all his expertise to give these players an experience they were not expecting and will never forget. His concert was also excellent and he too had plenty of LSO and studio stories to tell to keep us all amused.

Ealing Flutes gave our annual summer concert to a packed house with Michie Bennett and Lynda Coffin (flute royalty) in the audience. A mix of flute choir pieces, smaller chamber groups and solo pieces made up the programme so it was quite a concert. This was followed by a stellar recital by Anna Kondrashina and Pavel Timofeyevsky in which they performed a wonderful programme including their own arrangement of a Beethoven string trio, a Wibb/Elgar arrangement and, bringing the Festival to a fitting conclusion, Clifford Benson’s Song for Wibb.

My dream was to create a festival which would involve lots of great flute playing. The reality was so much better than that. It was a resounding success with every concert packed and this enabled us to raise almost £1500.00 for the Ealing Foodbank. Music and the flute really can make a difference and that is definitely something to celebrate!