Described by BBC Radio 3 as ‘the queen of the recorder’, Pamela retired from a twenty-five year playing career at the end of 2016, unique amongst recorder players in the breadth and variety of her work.
Solo & Orchestral Work
Pamela can be heard on numerous recordings of music ranging from the medieval period to the present day. She toured internationally as concerto soloist, chamber musician and orchestral principal and appeared as soloist with many leading ensembles such as the Dunedin Consort, English Concert, La Serenissima and Concerto Caledonia as well as her own group, the Palladian Ensemble.
Pamela’s ability to assimilate many styles of music and love of improvisation led to work with leading jazz, folk and pop artists and her playing can be heard on many film soundtracks. She featured on recording and touring projects with artists as diverse as the Perfect Houseplants, jazz pianist Huw Warren, Karl Jenkins’ hugely successful crossover Adiemus albums, Kiri sings Karl with Kiri te Kanawa and an album of her own folk/jazz-inspired compositions entitled Ammonite. Pamela is featured on Concerto Caledonia’s Revenge of the Folksingers and Purcell’s Revenge albums, bringing together improvisers and songwriters (including Olivia Chaney, Mhairi Campbell and Alasdair Roberts) from diverse musical backgrounds under the direction of David McGuinness.
Pamela was the driving force behind the much-admired quartet the Palladian Ensemble. They toured worldwide, performing over 1000 concerts over 16 years and recording ten acclaimed albums for LINN Records, which garnered seven prestigious Diapason D’Or awards.
Solo recordings on LINN are Baroque Recorder Concertos with Sonnerie, led by Monica Huggett, Handel Recorder Sonatas with Richard Egarr, Garden of Early Delights with harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, French Baroque works with lutenist Elizabeth Kenny entitled The Nightingale and the Butterfly and her final solo disc Telemann Sonatas and Fantasias. Other recordings later recordings included Brandenburg Concertos with the Dunedin Consort and Fasch Quartets and Concertos with Peter Whelan’s Ensemble Marsyas.
Teaching
As a student, Pamela was awarded the Dove Prize for the highest mark on graduation from the Guildhall School of Music in London and within a few years she became their principal teacher of recorder, bringing expectations for the instrument in line with those of all other modern wind instruments. One of her first students, Ian Wilson became the first recorder player to reach the finals of the Gold Medal Competition and is now leading the GSMD recorder department. Many of her students have gone on to successful careers in music though perhaps Pamela’s most famous former student is Janet Street-Porter whom she mentored for a Sky Arts television documentary entitled First Love.
From 2013 to 2019 Pamela led the recorder teaching at the Royal Academy of Music, London where she was made an Honorary Associate.
Discography
Distinguished recitalist and soloist with groups such as the Palladian Ensemble, Dunedin Consort, English Concert and La Serenissima. Dozens of recordings across all genres including solo recorder works, chamber ensembles, contemporary jazz-fusion and full orchestra. Much of Pamela's work as a solo artist and with the group the Palladian Ensemble, can be found for purchase on Linn Records.
A few selected works are linked below, but for a full list of Pamela's recording please visit the Discography Page.
