Clara Andrada de la Calle, Principal Flute
Clara Andrada de la Calle is one of the leading Flute players of her generation currently holding Solo Flute positions of both the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Salamanca, she commenced her musical studies with Pablo Sagredo and Magdalena Martínez at the Syrinx School of Music. Scholarships from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the London Wall Trust Foundation enabled her to continue her studies at the Geneva Conservatory of Music under Prof. Emmanuel Pahud and Prof. J.D Castellon as well as the London Royal College of Music under the guidance of Jaime Martín.
As a Principal Flute player she has worked with many leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Rotterdam Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra , under esteemed conductors including N.Harnoncourt, V. Gergiev, C.Davis, B.Haitink, V. Ashkenazy, M.W Chung, L. Maazel etc.
She is an active Chamber musician, performing regularly as a member of the „Hindemith Wind Quintet“ as well as various other ensembles including the „Auryn Quartet“, „Miró Wind Quintet“, „Plural Ensemble“, „Trio Arbós“ and the „Duo Neopercussión“.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and with the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla & León, of which she was soloist on the Orchestras tour of Colombia and the Dominican Republic and subsequently recorded her first CD with the orchestra of Flute concertos by Spanish and South American composers. As artist in residence with the orchestra for the 2015/16 season, she premiered the Flute concerto by Iñaki Estrada which was commissioned by the orchestra and dedicated to her.
In 2018 Clara performed and recorded the Jacques Ibert and Carl Nielsen concertos with her Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Jaime Martín (former principal flute of the COE) and the Mozart Flute Concerto in G major and the Flute and Harp Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.
Clara Andrada de la Calle has given masterclasses at the Royal College of Music (London), the Buchmann Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv), at the Conservatories in Valencia, Zaragoza, Badajoz and Salamanca, worked as a coach for the National Youth orchestras of Barcelona (JONC) and the National Spanish Youth Orchestra (JONDE) and held the position of Flute Professor at the “Centro Superior de Musica”at the Musikene in Basque Country.
The Principal Flute Chair is supported by the Rupert Hughes Will Trust in memory of the late Rupert Hughes.
Listen to Clara in conversation with Simon Mundy on Interlude, the COE podcast.