London Symphony Orchestra / Alsop: BERNSTEIN Halil
“Halil, written to honour a young Israeli flautist killed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, offered elegiac beauty, well served by Adam Walker… who was suave, limpid and agile.”
“Halil, composed in 1981 in honour of a young Israeli flautist killed during the Yom Kippur War, has a sweetness that is pure Bernstein….Adam Walker, LSO principal flautist, brought both intimacy and virtuosity to it.”
the Financial Times
“Its gently lyrical flute lines…were beautifully sculpted by LSO principal Adam Walker”
The Guardian
“Adam Walker turned every mood beautifully, becoming both narrator and victim with unselfconscious identification.”
Classical Source
“Bernstein’s flute concerto Halil…leavens Kaddish-like angst with song and dance, luminously articulated by the LSO’s flautist-extraordinaire Adam Walker.”
The Spectator
“Adam Walker…[was] a wonderfully rhetorical, expressive soloist”
Artsdesk
London Symphony Orchestra: HAYDN Le Matin Symphony
“Adam Walker’s silvery-tinted flute was the star”
The Times
CD Recording (Naxos): PUTS Flute Concerto Peabody Symphony Orchestra/Alsop
“the playing of Adam Walker… is a joy to hear, limpid and sprightly by turns.”
Music Web International Recording of the Month
“Adam Walker plays the solo part with exquisite grace and purity of tone”
Gramophone
“In the Flute Concerto, with its Mozart-infused Andante and hand-clap-punctuated finale, Adam Walker is a supple, pearly-toned soloist”
The Baltimore Sun
Manchester Chamber Concerts with Mahan Esfahani: BACH, COUPERIN, FILIDOR
“Commencing with Couperin’s Concert Royal no. 4 in E minor, the obvious chemistry between the two musicians was clear; Walker displaying wonderfully smooth phrasing and delicately delivered ornamentation throughout the opening Prelude”
Bachtrack
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra / Stier: CORIGLIANO Pied Piper Fantasy
“Soloist Adam Walker was an incalculable asset, dressed in cape and hat for the part, switching from concert flute to tin whistle to tempt the Hamelin youngsters. He tossed off his central cadenza with dashing style and, alongside him, orchestral players were inspired in their own virtuosic feats, particularly in the percussion department”
The New Zealand Herald
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Alsop: PUTS Flute Concerto
“The young flute soloist, British artist Adam Walker, was superb…. His technical control, at all volumes and in all registers, was breathtaking.”
The Washington Post
“The brilliant Flute Concerto by Kevin Puts gets a terrific performance by Adam Walker with Alsop and the BSO. The performance made a potent case for the piece, thanks especially to Walker’s uncanny, effortless virtuosity and exquisitely nuanced tone.”
The Baltimore Sun
BBC National Orchestra or Wales (Vale of Glamorgan Festival) / Ward: WATKINS Flute Concerto
“The fluency and apparently effortless virtuosity of this extraordinary musician combined with Watkins’ flair and impeccable craftsmanship was spellbinding.”
The Guardian
London Symphony Orchestra ; Watkins Flute Concerto, World Premiere
Looking as elegant as he sounded, Walker had as many notes to play as the rest of the orchestra put together, and his non-stop stream of birdsong was presented with a virtuosity which was discreet rather than showy
Independent
London Symphony Orchestra : Watkins Flute Concerto, World Premiere
Any prejudices about the flute as a concerto soloist evaporated in Huw Watkins’s beautiful Flute Concerto, which showed-off the superhuman genius of the LSO’s principal flautist, Adam Walker……Adam Walker’s playing was miraculous, his tone shifting imperceptibly from seductive roundness to an edgy astringency and adding layers of nuance to Watkins’s already thoroughly imagined, translucent writing. Walker literally breathed character into the music, with an effortless, assured virtuosity that played games to great effect with the orchestra
Classical Source
London Symphony Orchestra : Watkins Flute Concerto, World Premiere
“Walker, playing with staggering virtuosity and charm, kept the audience on the edge of their seats throughout, and brought the house down at the end.”
The Guardian
BBC National Orchestra of Wales: BERNSTEIN Halil
“The immaculate playing of soloist Adam Walker brought a transcendent quality to the music. Walker’s truly remarkable gifts made him, by implication, The Incredible Flutist…”
The Guardian
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Volkov (Royal Festival Hall, The Rest is Noise Festival): TAKEMITSU I Hear the Water Dreaming
“In the flute concerto I Hear the Water Dreaming, the soloist Adam Walker conjured an astonishing palette, from ripe fullness to wind-through-the-reeds thinness.”
The Telegraph
“…in the performance of I Hear the Water Dreaming, the orchestra appearing almost to dance round the solo flute, superbly played by Adam Walker.”
The Guardian
“Attractions included a languorous line, a refined palette of colour, and a shimmer out of which Adam Walker’s outstanding artistry was never in doubt.”
Classical Source
Wigmore Hall: DEBUSSY Trio for Flute, Viola & Harp
“ A better line-up than Adam Walker, Lawrence Power and Lucy Wakeford is hard to imagine, and all three players reached for their richest sonorities to summon up Debussy’s illusory musical web “
The Telegraph
CD Recording: “Vocalise” POULENC Flute Sonata, Vocalise, MESSIAEN Lecons de Solfege, BARTOK Suite paysanne hongroise, BARBER Canzone, SCHUBERT Introduction and Variations
“He (Walker) is a superb player, with a tone that is slightly cool, and there is much delicacy of nuance in his phrasing…the listener can expect something distinctive here and is not disappointed.”
Gramophone
BBC NOW: BRETT DEAN Sidori Dances (Premiere) / Fischer:
“In its premiere [Brett Dean Sidori Dances] with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Thierry Fischer, the extraordinarily beautiful playing of Adam Walker suggested this young man will be a great exponent of the instrument.”
The Guardian
“… what followed was indeed something out of the ordinary. Flautist Adam Walker gave a thoroughly engrossing world premiere of Brett Dean’s The Siduri Dances. This is a difficult, sometimes brutal work, but Walker approached it with confidence and assurance.”
Wales online
Gwyl Gregynog Festival: BARTOK Suite Paysanne Hongroise, MOZART Andante in C, WATKINS Capriccio, POULENC Flute Sonata, DEBUSSY Syrinx, PROKOFIEV Flute Sonata:
“Flautist Adam Walker is a stunning talent. At 22, he plays with the artistry of a performer of maturer years, and this opening recital of the Gwyl Gregynog festival, given with pianist Huw Watkins, showed what an exciting prospect he represents. It was not simply Walker’s display of virtuosity – graceful and apparently effortless – that was astonishing, but his ability to characterise the music so vividly.”
The Guardian
City of London Festival: ZGRAJA Virtuoso Flamenco Study No 15
“Walker, aged 22 and first flute of the London Symphony Orchestra, was so dazzling in his solo performance of a Virtuoso Flamenco Study by one Krzysztof Zgraja that I doubted whether it’s possible to play the instrument better.”
The Sunday Times
Academy of St Martins in the Fields
“The Academy players were alert to Perahia’s every nuance, with flautist Adam Walker and oboist Christopher Cowie outstanding.”
The Guardian
Wigmore Hall: GRIFFES Poem
“The Poem [Griffes] for flute and piano was exquisitely well played by Adam Walker”
The Guardian
London Symphony Orchestra: DEBUSSY Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune / Tortelier
“After the interval we were treated to more heady sensuality in a restrained yet wonderfully evocative performance of Debussy’s Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune in which Adam Walker’s solo flute playing was quite simply superb.”
www.musicomh.com
King’s Place Opening Concert: VARESE Density 21.5
“Hall One highlights, for me, were ….the brilliant young flautist Adam Walker playing Varèse.”
The Sunday Times
Mostly Mozart Festival / Academy of St Martins in the Fields: MOZART Flute and Harp Concerto / Walker
“Adam Walker and Sally Pryce were the young and phenomenally talented soloists in Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp, K299, exquisitely played and flawless in its perfection.”
The Guardian
“Mozart’s Concerto in C major for Flute and Harp offered a brief repose after the interval and an opportunity for another talented young star to shine. Twenty year-old flautist Adam Walker, accompanying Sally Pryce on the harp, gave a quite exceptional performance, with a modesty and poise that seemed well beyond his years.”
www.musicomh.com
Presteigne Festival: DUDDELL Mnemonic
“Flautist Adam Walker stood out as the young artist to watch in this festival. Together with harpist Sally Pryce, Walker’s fluently expressive tone added a gloss to the rerun of Duddell’s 2004 Presteigne commission, Mnemonic. And, at their morning recital in Kinnerton, Walker and Pryce performed with vibrant energy in the premiere of David Bruce’s Gigue, and with a dark intensity in Michael Berkeley’s Last Breath.”
The Guardian
Wigmore Hall: FRANCAIX Quintet No 2
“The youthful Adam Walker demonstrated a pure, bright flute tone”
www.classicalsource.com
Edinburgh Guide BBC Young Musicians Competition
“Adam Walker treated us all to the most thoughtful, contemplative interpretation of Carl Nielsen’s Flute concerto, entirely focused on bringing out the beauty and lovely singing quality of his flute, playing a piece supremely suited to that intention. He was clearly lost in the music and played it with all the delicacy and drama it needed”