Lunchtime Recital - Julia Klampfer (flute) & Nicolas Absalom (piano)

Programme

J.S. Bach: Allemande from Partita in a minor for flute solo

C. Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano (arr. For flute and piano), 1st movement - Allegro vivo

Stellan Bettany: Piece for Alto flute solo

Ch. Halffter: Debla for flute solo

F. Schubert: Introduction, Theme and Variations on "Trockene Blumen" for flute and Piano

Biographies

Austrian flautist Julia Klampfer is an international solo, orchestral and chamber musician, with a passion for repertoire spanning from historical to contemporary. She is currently pursuing a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music London while playing with various ensembles across the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany.

Julia has appeared as a soloist in Austria and Italy multiple times, giving her first concerto performance at age 12. At age 18, she performed Jaques Ibert’s flute concerto with the Salzburg Youth Orchestra. Her most recent solo performance was Mozart’s flute concerto with the Symphony Orchestra Bad Ischl (Austria) in 2025. She has also given solo recitals in the United Kingdom, including at St. Pancras Church, London. Amongst her awards are the Yamaha Music Europe Foundation award 2026 and two prizes at the German Flute Association Competition (2020&2023).

She is also a scholar of the Royal College of Music Big Give Foundation and the Drake Calleja Trust.

During her bachelor’s studies in Vienna, she has had the role of principal flute with the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra (Austrian National Youth Orchestra) for several years, performing in venues such as the Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus and Ateneul Roman in Bucharest. She has also worked regularly as a freelance musician with the Volksoper (comic opera) Vienna and the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck. Since moving to the UK, she has gained professional orchestral training through the Pathway Scheme of the BBC Symphony orchestra.

As dedicated and passionate chamber musician, Julia has played recitals in venues such as Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall Elgar room. She is part of the Trio AEON with whom she explores repertoire on both historical and modern instruments and performs all across Austria, Germany and Italy. She is also a member of the London-based chamber collective Vlinder, playing concerts in and around London.

Julia began learning the flute at the age of eight and received flute lessons at the Mozarteum University Salzburg Pre College with Priv.-Doz. Britta Bauer since 2015. She completed her bachelor’s degrees in flute performance and instrumental education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Univ.-Prof. Walter Auer, graduating from both programmes with distinction. Since September 2025, she has continued her Master of Performance studies at the Royal College of Music London, studying with Sue Thomas, Emer McDonough, Gitte Marcusson and Dimis Demetriades. She has further enriched her education through numerous masterclasses, for example with Denis Bouriakov, Karin Bonelli, Andrea Oliva, Adam Walker and Julien Beaudiment.

Described by the Rheinische Post as “spirited and musically uncompromising”, Belgo-British pianist Nicolas Absalom is regularly invited to perform throughout Europe as both a soloist and chamber musician. Through his close engagement with historically informed performance practice and carefully conceived programmes, he has developed a distinctive and versatile artistic profile.

His concert activity has taken him to venues including the Berliner Philharmonie, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Museu Pau Casals in El Vendrell, St James’s Church Piccadilly and Steinway Hall London, as well as the Blauwe Zaal at DeSingel Antwerp and Studio 4 at Flagey Brussels. In 2026, he was also invited as one of 6 pianists to take part in the KlavierOlymp in Bad Kissingen, organised by the festival “Kissinger Sommer”.

As a soloist, he has collaborated with orchestras including the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Symphony Orchestra of the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, the Siegfried Camerata and the Music of the Spheres Ensemble.

Nicolas has also appeared at festivals such as the Berliner Festspiele, Festival Musicorum Brussels, the Klevischer Klaviersommer, the Euregio Rhein-Waal Music Festival, the International Young Talents Festival in Cannes, Fremtidens Lyd Stevns in Denmark and the Passion:SPIEL Festival of the German National Theatre in Weimar.

Born and raised in Brussels, Nicolas began his musical education at the Académie d’Ixelles before joining the class of Prof. Johan Schmidt at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels as a Young Talent at the age of thirteen. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Prof. Christian Wilm Müller. He completed his Master’s degree in Piano Performance at the Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Prof. Björn Lehmann and is currently enrolled in the prestigious Artist Diploma programme at the Royal College of Music in London under the guidance of Diana Ketler.

His musical development has further been enriched through masterclasses with artists including Janina Fialkowska, Kevin Kenner, Klaus Hellwig, Dmitri Alexeev and Cédric Tiberghien.

As a chamber musician, has also gained important artistic impulses from members of the Jerusalem Quartet, the Artemis Quartet as well as Fauré Quartet.

Nicolas Absalom has been grant recipient of the Internationale Musikakademie Liechtenstein, the Thomas Harris International Piano Foundation and the Deutschlandstipendium. He is currently supported by the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation, the Fondation Clavarte and the Paul-Hindemith-Gesellschaft Berlin.