Biographies of Musicians
Holly Melia – Flute
Born in Ilkley, Yorkshire, Holly Melia graduated with a first class honours degree from the Royal Northern College of Music having studied with Katherine Baker, Richard Davis and Wissam Boustany. She began playing the flute at the age of eight, winning a scholarship to study at Chetham’s School of Music in 2003.
As a solo artist, Holly was a finalist in the 2013 Royal Overseas League competition. She has won the RNCM concerto competition (2010 and 2013), the RNCM Gold Medal – the highest award for performance at the RNCM (2010), the British Flute Society Performance Plus competition, the Craxton Memorial Award and the Martin Musical Scholarship. In 2007 she was a woodwind semi-finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competion. She was a member of Southbank Sinfonia in 2014, where she performed as a concerto soloist with the orchestra.
Orchestral credits include performing with the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, English National Ballet, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Hallé, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Welsh National Opera Orchestra. She holds the flute chair on ‘Beauty and the Beast’, on the Westend and UK Tour. Holly is currently performing at the Royal Opera House on their productions of Puccini’s ‘La Bohème and Lizst’s Ballet ‘Mayerling’.
Florence Hill – Classical Guitar
Florence Hill studied classical guitar at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 2007.
She has performed with Ensemble Suavis, including going on a concert tour to India with the group, to promote western classical music. She also performed with Pesti Guitar Duo at many venues around London including at the O2, Boodles Club, Sir John Soane’s Museum and The Guildhall. As a solo guitarist she has also performed at the York Guitar Festival. Florence and flautist Holly Melia recently formed Calderon Duo and gave their first public performance in October 2022. Florence is also a dedicated classical guitar teacher and has been teaching classical guitar at King’s College School, London since 2012 and at Thorpe House School since 2016. She is also an Alexander Technique Teacher; having qualified at Queen’s Park School, London and teaches this privately. More recently Florence has been enjoying composing for the classical guitar and you can listen to some informal recordings of her pieces on her YouTube channel ‘FlorenceHillGuitar’.
Calderon Duo Programme
Holly Melia: Flute
Florence Hill: Classical Guitar
Entr’acte- Jaques Ibert
Improvisations on Calderon (1981)- Edward McGuire
Siciliano- Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Arr. Barna Kováts
Histoire Du Tango- Astor Piazzolla
- Bordel-1900
- Café 1930
Reflection- Florence Hill
Pavane- Gabriel Fauré, Arr. Stefan Nesyba
…………………………………………………….INTERVAL…………………..…………………………….
Syrinx- Claude Debussy
Passing Seasons- Edward McGuire
- Summer Murmur
- Autumn Leaves
- Winter Thoughts
- Spring Awakening
English Folk Songs- Collected by Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams:
- The Cuckoo (Somerset)
- The Lark in the Morning (Essex)
- The Lost Lady Found (Essex)
- The Keys of Heaven (Somerset)
- As I Walked Out (Essex)
- John Barleycorn (Somerset)
- Farewell, My Dearest Nancy (Somerset)
- The Brisk Young Widow (Somerset)
- The Brisk Young Widow (Somerset)
- Tarry Trowsers (Essex)
Danza Española No. 5- Enrique Granados, Arr. Jean-Maurice Mourat
Libertango- Astor Piazzolla, Arr. Klaus Jäckle
