About Us
The Quintet are two time winners of the June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad Prize. As Young Artists, they have performed for music festivals such as Lichfield, Beaumaris, Cowbridge and Fishguard Music. Notable performances include London’s Conway Hall, St George’s Bristol for the Royal Society of Musicians. We have completed a two year Artists Residency at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre. All our members freelance with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera and various other freelance orchestras around the UK.
Gabriella Alberti
Flute
Gabriella Alberti is a flautist originally from Melbourne, Australia. She has worked as a freelance flautist with Welsh National Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Cardiff Concert Orchestra. Gabriella graduated with a Distinction in Orchestral Masters from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which was funded by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the A. E. H Nickson Travelling Scholarship and a PPCA Performers Trust grant. Gabriella has also played Principal Flute with Brent Opera, Opera on Location, British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Cardiff Chamber Orchestra, Ballet Cymru and Orchestra de Cymru. As a soloist, Gabriella has performed William Alwyn’s Concerto for Flute and Eight Winds at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Lunchtime concert Series (2022), received First Prize in the All Flutes Plus Prize adjudicated by Veronika Klirova (2023), gave a recital on 3MBS Young Performer Summer Series (2021) and has performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre for their 2016 Top Class Showcase. Gabriella also enjoys performing with Wye Valley Music, where she provides outreach to schools and dementia care homes.
Sam Willsmore
Oboe
Sam is an Oboist originally from Southend-on-Sea. He is an alumnus of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Completing his undergraduate and postgraduate studies there respectively, graduating with Distinction from the Royal Welsh College and was awarded the Ernest and Doris Haigh Memorial Award in association with the Musicians’ Union. His teachers on Oboe have included Steve Hudson, Gordon Hunt, Lucie Sprague and Fraser MacAulay, with Jane Marshall and Patrick Flanaghan on Cor Anglais.​ Having many opportunities through the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera placement schemes, Sam has continued his relationship with the two Welsh orchestras, freelancing with both. Sam is currently a Fellowship Musician with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's 'Emerging Musician' scheme. He was also invited to take part in the English National Ballet placement scheme during his time as Principal Oboe with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra.​ Recently, Sam has performed as a soloist with the Strauss and Vaughan Williams Oboe Concertos. Sam also leads the artistic development of the ensemble, curating coherent and engaging programmes.
Hannah Harding
Bassoon
Hannah Harding is a bassoonist based in London. She recently completed the fellowship year for 2024-25 with Sinfonia Smith Square (formerly known as Southbank Sinfonia) after joining the 2023-24 cohort early for the end of their season in April 2024. During this time she enjoyed varied weekly performances at Smith Square Hall and venues across London and the UK, including Royal Festival Hall, Snape Maltings, the Royal Opera House, and the Royal Albert Hall, alongside a tour to Lake Como and Anghiari, Italy. She gained a First Class degree in Music from the University of Cambridge, going on to study for a Master’s in Orchestral Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she was a co-founder of the Bute Wind Quintet. She was a member of the Chipping Campden Festival Academy Orchestra for its 2024 festival, and has freelanced with Welsh National Opera, London Concert Orchestra, and Orchestra De Cymru amongst others. She was the recipient of the RWCMD Howarth Double Reed Prize for 2023 for her performance of Adrian Williams' Seven Kilvert Sketches, and sustains her passion for chamber playing as a major component of her musical life.
Nathan Barker
Horn
Nathan Barker is a French Horn player from the North of England. He began playing the horn aged
10, and quickly fell in love with the beautiful sound of the instrument. He went to the University of
York, gaining a BA in Music, where he was taught by Max Garrard and Helen Shillito. Nathan then
went on to further study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, studying with
Jim Mildred, Neil Shewan and Tim Thorpe, for an MMus in Orchestral Performance. Whilst
studying, Nathan began building a freelance career, playing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera. Back in the North East, he now regularly freelances in orchestras and pit bands in the region.
Meg Davies
Clarinet
Meg began playing the clarinet at the age of seven, spending most evenings at Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust. Meg attended RWCMD, studying with Robert Plane, Thomas Verity, Nicholas Carpenter, Timothy Lines, Alison Lambert and Lenny Sayers. She graduated with First-Class Honours in 2022, before returning to RWCMD to graduate with an MMus in Orchestral Performance in 2024. During her studies, Meg won the 2024 RWCMD Concerto Competition with William Mathias’ Clarinet Concerto, which she will perform with RWCMD Symphony Orchestra in 2025 Meg enjoys a freelance career, having played with Welsh National Opera and English Symphony
Orchestra amongst others. She has also been teaching the clarinet and saxophone in multiple schools and in her local community since 2017.