Adèle Bracegirdle, Flute
Adèle Bracegirdle is a flautist in her third year at the Royal Northern College of Music. During her studies, she has held the principal flute position in the Symphony Orchestra and has performed in side-by-side projects with the Manchester Camerata and the Royal Marines.
A versatile soloist, Adèle has appeared as a concerto soloist with The Hallé Orchestra and has performed across Switzerland as part of Ticino Musica, where she studied with Andrea Oliva. Alongside her solo work, she is an experienced session musician, having toured Iceland, and regularly performs as a multi-woodwind player in musical theatre productions including Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Sound of Music.
Deeply committed to community music, Adèle works as a ward musician with Songbirds Music, bringing live music to children in hospital settings, and has completed a placement with Jessie's Fund delivering music sessions in SEND schools. She also performs regularly across the UK as a guest soloist with choirs and in recital series.
Prior to her undergraduate studies, Adèle attended Junior RNCM as a Wolfson Scholar, studying both flute and piano. During this time, she held principal flute of the National Youth Concert Band and was a member of the Hallé Youth Orchestra, touring the UK and Germany. She is a prizewinner at both regional and national level, including the Friends of RNCM Prize, the Toby and Leo Maskell Award, and the Rushworth Rose Bowl.
Ben Attfield, Piano
Ben is a graduate of the University of Manchester, where he obtained a first class degree in music, was awarded the Hargreaves prize for outstanding dissertation for his analysis of Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, and was one of the winners of the 2022 concerto competition. He is now studying for a masters at the RNCM with Ben Powell, thanks to support from the Ian Scott Award, and was a finalist in the 2026 RNCM concerto competition.
Ben enjoys a varied freelance career which has recently involved working with the likes of Manchester Camerata, NEW Sinfonia, Northern Film Orchestra, Kantos Chamber Choir, Manchester Chamber Choir, the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Chetham’s School of Music, the Hallé Choirs, and Huddersfield Choral Society.
An experienced ensemble musician, Ben has been a collaborative pianist for Conservatoire/University recitals, BBC Young Musician, and the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Orchestral highlights have included Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, and music from the Harry Potter films, as well as concerto performances of Ireland, Beethoven, Gershwin and Vaughan Williams. Whilst studying, Ben has participated in masterclasses with Martin Roscoe, Penelope Roskell, Sir Mark Elder, the Quatuor Danel, Huw Watkins, and Roger Vignoles.