András Adorján was born in Budapest, grew up in Copenhagen and since 1974 lives in Munich. After obtaining a dentist diploma in Copenhagen in 1968 he completed his musical studies under the auspices of Jean-Pierre Rampal and Aurèle Nicolet.Between 1970 and 1988 he was principal flutist in the Orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, the Cologne Gürzenichorchester, the Orchestra of Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden and in the Bayerischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester in Munich.

In 1987, he was appointed professor for flute at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and from 1996-2013 at the Musikhochschule in Munich, where he has taught and instructed many of the today’s leading flutists. With more than 100 recorded albums and as the editor of a unique and extensive encyclopedia Lexikon der Flöte published by Laaber Verlag 2009 he is one of the best known and most prominent flutists of his generation.

András Adorján received the Jacob-Gade-Preis in 1968 in Copenhagen and was a laureate at the Concours International de Flûte in Montreux. In 1971 he won the Premier Grand Prix at the Concours International de Flûte de Paris and. He has received in 2018 the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American National Flute Association (NFA), in 2019 the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chinese Flute Association (CFA) and in 2021 the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Croatian Flute Association (HDF).

Mr Adorján is known internationally as a Doppler specialist, and recorded the album Doppler Discoveries with Emmanuel Pahud in 2018. As a consultant for Yamaha handmade flutes, he was actively involved in the design of the current range of professional flutes by Yamaha. We are very excited to host him in 2025 in Sydney.

Alena Walentin is an Altus Artist and winner of 26 awards & prizes with a versatile international career as a soloist, chamber musician, arranger and artistic leader. She is guest Principal flute with leading orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, National Orchestra of Sweden, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, BBC orchestras, The Philharmonia, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and others.

Alena recorded albums with Swiss, German and Danish record labels, and has an upcoming release of a recording for Naxos. Her debut album was chosen as an 'Album of the Week' by the Danish National Radio.

With her great passion for sharing her knowledge since young age, Alena is highly sought after as a flute and chamber teacher, and has held teaching positions at five conservatoires and one university in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. She has also given masterclasses in Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, Italy, Japan, Taiwan and USA.

This will be Alena’s first visit to Australia, and we couldn’t be more excited for you to meet her and hear her play!

Melissa is described today in Limelight Magazine as “our foremost baroque flutist”, having been swept into the fascinating world of historical flute performance and pedagogy. Melissa is Principal flute with Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and guest Principal with Australian Haydn Ensemble, Pinchgut Opera, ARCO and the ACO. She has performed many times as concerto soloist and recorded extensively. Melissa’s solo album with ABC Classics, A Viennese Bouquet, features works for flute and piano on her simple system Liebel flute.

Melissa’s musical journey began in New Zealand where she developed a love for playing chamber music, receiving influential lessons from Uwe Grodd - flute, David Coomber - recorder and visiting artist Konrad Hünteler - baroque flute. This brought Melissa to study at both Sydney and Amsterdam Conservatoria with Geoff Collins, Harrie Starreveld and Walter van Hauwe.

Melissa is also passionate about teaching, lecturing in historical flute at the Sydney Conservatorium, enjoying teaching Baroque style to all musicians and tutoring for educational programs.

We are thrilled to be featuring the baroque flute, and Melissa’s beautiful playing and performance practice at the 2025 Festival!