Matthew Higham wins audition for Academy of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

We’re delighted with the news that Matthew Higham, a Chineke! flautist, has won his audition for Academy of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has also been awarded funding of £3,000 from the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments towards the purchase of his new flute.

Matthew originally joined Chineke! Juniors in 2016 as principle flute, then began playing with the professional orchestra in 2017. After beginning the flute aged nine, he studied at The Purcell School for Young Musicians with Anna Pope and currently studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, under Professor Robert Winn. He has won prizes in several categories of the North London Festival and British Flute Society competitions. In 2012, he won his age category in the Alexander and Buono International Flute Competition, and in 2016, first prize in the wind section and the audience prize in the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition.

Matthew has performed as a soloist at venues such as Wigmore Hall, Conway Hall, Milton Court, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, and Weill Hall (Carnegie Hall), and has been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is a member of the Chineke! Orchestra, the academy of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble 20/21, the new music ensemble of the Cologne Conservatoire.

Image credit: Thomas Petit Photographie