Adjudicator Spotlight: Chris Hankin, BMus
After gaining a music degree from Sheffield University, Chris Hankin attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she had lessons from William Bennett. She then continued her flute studies with Jonathan Snowden and now has a very varied and successful freelance career.
As a soloist, she gave her Purcell Room debut to much critical acclaim and she now gives recitals with the versatile pianist and composer Timothy Murray. The focus is on the lesser-known aspects of the flute repertoire and the release of their CD 'The Feminine Flute' featuring the works of twentieth-century women composers has been extremely well received. Radio 3 recently included their recording of Chaminade’s Serenade des Etoiles in a Composer of the Week programme. She also works with Sally Goodworth and the focus of this partnership is on the more popular parts of the solo flute repertoire.
As an orchestral player, Chris is also much in demand. She is sub-principal flute with the highly acclaimed London Chamber Orchestra and holds the same position with the Orchestra of St Johns. She has played with most of the London orchestras and spent four years working in Cardiff with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She has a wide range of experience in opera and ballet, working extensively with touring companies such as Birmingham Royal Ballet, which take their productions the length and breadth of the country. She is also very happy working in West End theatre where her flexible sound helps her to blend in easily. Clocking up a total so far of over a dozen shows, including Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, her experience is highly prized too.
Chris is also a very experienced teacher. She started this aspect of her work at university and hasn’t stopped. Currently, she is Lead Tutor in Woodwind at the London College of Music. In her role as head of the department, she not only teaches the flute but also looks after all aspects of wind student’s performance studies. She runs weekly performance classes and sectional rehearsals and generally keeps everyone on track. She is very skilled at preparing them for careers involving their instrument but which might not necessarily be entirely performance-orientated.
Appointed flute specialist to the Central Band of the RAF in 2002, Chris helps the players there further their professional development through solo performance. Her work takes the form of a sharing of ideas with these already extremely able players as they prepare for their diplomas, and the advice she gives helps them to maintain flexibility in a demanding job. For this reason, she is popular with flute players from the Army too and many come to study with her on the Work-Based Learning course at LCM.
Chris runs her own private teaching practice at home. Local pupils from beginner to diploma level benefit from her expertise and students from all over Europe come to advance their skills. Non-specialist woodwind teachers from around the country benefit from her advice on playing and teaching the flute, an area which has increased in importance over recent years. Chris is also an experienced teacher of adults, especially those who wish to return to the flute after a long break, Individual lessons are arranged on a flexible basis to accommodate the working and family commitments of her students and her teaching is supplemented by the regular Adult Flute Days that are run in conjunction with Just Flutes in Croydon. She is also in charge of Ealing Flutes, an adult flute ensemble which meets once a month. This is a mixed ability group which gives an annual stress-free concert and has a lot of fun!
Chris is very involved in the Music Junction project run by the London Chamber Orchestra. This is a very ambitious outreach programme in which pupils from various backgrounds and experiences come together to perform a specially commissioned piece with the LCO at a concert in the Cadogan Hall each May. The workshops can be challenging but are always exhilarating! Working for the charity Create is another facet of her commitment to musical outreach. Create utilises all art forms to help the disadvantaged and here her work takes her into hospitals, after-school care centres and hospices. Chris has taken part in many concerts which aim to use music to unlock responses from terminally ill children who may have difficulty communicating. The elderly in care homes and day centres also respond well. Often this is the highlight of the week for them and Chris has been privileged to play to some very lively audiences who just love a singalong!
Chris is currently a diploma examiner for ABRSM and a highly respected adjudicator at Music Festivals around the country. She is also the consultant Catalogue Editor for Just Flutes, where her assessments of flute publications are read worldwide.
Discover more about Chris on her website: www.chrishankin.com.