Alto Flute – Beyond the Stave

Nina Robertson

Editor / June 4, 2025

Nina Robertson, a Royal College of Music graduate taught by Christopher Hyde-Smith and Susan Milan, has built a distinguished career as an orchestral player, soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed with major UK orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and BBC Symphony, toured internationally, and featured as a soloist on prominent film scores such as Aladdin and Mission Impossible. Nina has extensive theatre experience in the West End and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, alongside active chamber music collaborations. A passionate teacher, she has taught for over 25 years and contributed to education outreach, while mastering a broad range of instruments from concert flute to bansuri, earning election to the Royal Society of Musicians in 2016.

Rachel Jeffers

Rachel studied flute at the Royal Academy of Music with William Bennett and Sebastian Bell, winning the J J Brough Flute Prize and the Lawrence Beauregard Competition. She has freelanced with major orchestras including the Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic, and since relocating to Newcastle, has played with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Northern Orchestra as principal flute. Rachel is a member of the Westerly Trio, an active soloist, and a dedicated teacher, serving as Head of Woodwind Studies at Newcastle University and teaching at Northumbria and Durham, while also working as an ABRSM examiner since 2003.