Flutist

No country’s music embodies a pastoral spirit quite like England’s, and no piece quite enshrines that idea like Vaughan Williams’s image of countryside serenity rendered in the most lyrical music imaginable, The Lark Ascending. Doyen of English music and former Music Director of English National Opera, Martyn Brabbins opens our symphonic season at the Sheldonian Theatre with works that portray dark clouds above green fields, including deeply moving music by composers killed at the front during the First World War. A concert that speaks of tragedy but also of comradeship includes Roderick Williams’s flute concerto, written for his childhood friend and our own Solo Flute, Anthony Robb.

English Melodies

University of Oxford

Principal woodwinds of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra take centre stage in a concert welding classical poise to unadulterated beauty. ‘Eight days of strenuous work and three sleepless nights have permitted me to complete it the best I could’ – so wrote the student Maurice Ravel of his Introduction and Allegro, a harp concerto in miniature and a bijou piece of exquisite sensuality. Before it come two works lined with the melancholy of a creative life nearing its end: Debussy’s eerie but cuttingly direct Sonata for flute, viola and harp, and Mozart’s glowingly introspective Clarinet Quintet.

Ravel Introduction and Allegro

Wadham College

We are thrilled to welcome OPO Solo Flute Anthony Robb for our first masterclass of 2026.

We welcome applications from advanced students (of at least Diploma standard). This masterclass is open to all flautists who are part-time or full-time students at a UK higher education institution. Up to three flautists will be selected.

Flute Masterclass with Anthony Robb

St Hilda's College

After its pious opening, Mendelssohn’s ‘Reformation’ Symphony explodes into a declaration of faith and equality – an image of the Lutheran Reformation as one of fortitude, industry, democratisation and joy, all of which permeate the composer’s best-kept symphonic secret. Before the embracing energy of Mendelssohn’s symphony comes the composer’s supremely elegant Violin Concerto in the sensitive hands of Antje Weithaas and music by Mendelssohn’s beloved Bach: the standout Orchestral Suite No. 2, with its modish flute solos.

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

The Sheldonian Theatre

Want to bring a moment of calm to your Sunday lunchtime? This will be an hour-long, free event for all ages, inspired by nature. Grab a drink from one of Brindleyplace's local cafes, and feel free to drop in and out as you please!

Cherry Blossom Concert 2024

Oozells Square

BCMG's wind trio perform a select programme of music fitting for such a venue, from Coventry's own Brian Ferneyhough, alongside pieces from Hans Abrahamsen, Sir Harrison Birtwistle and BCMG oboist Melinda Maxwell.

Light, Air, Space

Castle Bromwich Historic Gardens

Coventry Cathedral

Soloists of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra come to the Holywell Music Room for flute-led chamber music that celebrates heritage while also reflecting on loss. English composer Arnold Bax sympathised profoundly with the Irish rebels who rose up against British rule in 1916 and faced terrible consequences. His Elegiac Trio reflects on all that was lost in that episode just as Guy Ropartz’s Prélude, Marine et Chansons enshrines the composer’s love for Brittany. Light and joy come courtesy of Roussel’s bright, compact and melodious Sérénade and a Flute Quartet by Mozart which demands spectacular virtuosity from every instrument.

Flutist

Anthony Robb

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 14, 2026

Mozart, Debussy and Roussel · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Past events

Oct 7, 2026

English Melodies · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Feb 28, 2026

Ravel Introduction and Allegro · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Flute in Flute Quartet No. 1 by Mozart

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Flute in Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 by Mozart

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Flute in Sonata for flute, viola and harp, L. 137 by Debussy

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Flute in Flute Concerto by Williams

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Flute in Two Pieces for Strings by Walton

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

About

Anthony Robb hasn't added a bio