BIOGRAPHY
Anna Stokes has worked with leading UK orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, British Sinfonietta, and the London Concert Orchestra amongst others. She also performed in Tori Amos’s The Light Princess at the National Theatre. As a session musician, Anna has recorded for EMI, Universal, Deutsche Grammophon, Signum Records, Decca, and Mercury. In June 2025, she played Principal Flute with the Novello Orchestra for the Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga UK Concert Tour.
She has taken part in educational outreach workshops with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia and Northern Sinfonia.
Her solo and chamber recordings for Champs Hill Records include Emanuel Ensemble: Works for Flute, Cello and Piano and Luminance: Solo & Duo Works for Flute and Piano (Anna Stokes, Lisa Friend (Flutes) & Mark Kinkaid (Piano)).
Both recordings were broadcast on Classic FM and BBC Radio 3. Luminance was also named Classic FM’s Album of the Week and David Mellor’s Album of the Week in The Mail on Sunday, receiving a 5-star review. It was additionally featured on BBC Radio 2, BBC London, and RTÉ Lyric FM.
In 2001, Anna founded the Emanuel Ensemble, performing chamber music for flute, cello and piano, and flute and string trio. Over the following 15 years, the ensemble gave recitals at prestigious venues including Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, Cadogan Hall, Conway Hall, the Lansdowne Club, Mayfair, Leighton House, the National Gallery, St James’s Piccadilly, St John’s Smith Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields and the V&A Museum. The ensemble also performed for concert societies and festivals across the UK, including the Schubert Society of Britain, Basingstoke Concert Club, Letchworth Music Club, Music in Mayfair at St George’s Hanover Square, Redbridge Music Society, Summer Music at St Mary’s and the Leeds International Festival Lunchtime Concert Series, amongst others. The ensemble also gave a concert entitled 'A Seasonal Surprise' at Champs Hill Music Room, featuring soprano Dame Felicity Lott as guest artist.
Anna has given solo performances at Beethovenhaus in Bonn, the Cheltenham International Festival, and for the Qatar Foundation in Doha as well as chamber ensemble/chamber orchestra concerts at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Solo concerto performances include works by Bach, Mozart, Chaminade, Quantz, Reinecke, and Rouse.
She received a scholarship to the Purcell School of Music, where she studied with Anna Pope. She was then awarded a Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where she studied flute with Susan Milan and Stewart McLlwham, graduating in 2004 with First Class Honours. One of the highlights of her studies was performing with the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra on the main stage at Buckingham Palace for the Golden Jubilee celebrations, under the baton of Sir David Willcocks. In 2005–2006, she was selected to participate in the London Philharmonic Side-by-Side 'Future Firsts' Scheme.
Anna’s awards include the Haynes International Flute Competition (USA), Sir James Galway Masterclass 'Best Performer' (2007), Marc Rich Scholarship, Solti Foundation Award, Wilfred Brown Duo Prize, and support from the David Bowerman Charitable Trust and EMI Sound Foundation. She was awarded a Brannen-Cooper flute by the Foundation for Sport and the Arts.
She was selected to participate in the Sir James Galway International Masterclass, Switzerland 2006–2008. Other masterclasses she has participated in include Jaime Martin, Celia Chambers, Michael Cox, Paul Edmund-Davies, Sebastian Bell, Robert Dick, Kenneth Smith, Andrew Nicholson, Claudio Ferrarini, Phillippa Davies and composers Jindřich Feld, Edwin Roxburgh and Nicholas Maw.
Anna is an ABRSM Examiner and has adjudicated for the wind section of the Chesham Arts Festival. Anna has given workshops and masterclasses in London, and for the Hong Kong Flute Academy, Doha American School and Doha International School, Qatar. Anna has also assisted on the annual ‘Friend International Flute Academy’ since 2010, and in August 2023, she was a flute assistant to Susan Milan for the British Isles Music Festival. From 2007 to 2023, Anna was a Deputy Flute Teacher at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. She teaches privately and at a private school in Buckinghamshire.
She plays on a silver Powell Flute.
www.annastokes.com
www.facebook.com/annastokesflute
www.instagram.com/annastokesflute
ISM Member (Independent Society of Musicians)
MISM
(Please email for the most updated version. Not to be reproduced without permission)
