Flute: Jak Berry

Jak Berry discovered the flute aged 14 after years of trouble with the piano and trumpet. He became principal flute of the Lancashire Students' Concert Band a year later, which took him on tour throughout Europe and the U.S. leading to concerto performances in Belgium and the UK. At 16, he joined the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain playing flute and alto flute, and a year later he had been accepted to study at Trinity College of Music, London.

At Trinity, he is taught flute by Lynda Coffin and Wissam Boustany, and piccolo by Alan Baker, and during his time there Jak has played as principal in the TCM Sinfonia and Symphony Orchestra and performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.4 in collaboration with the English Concert. He has also enjoyed three years of being principal flute in the Whitehall Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Nebe.

In the autumn of 2005, Jak performed his first concertos, Honneger's Concerto da Camera and Holst's Fugal Concerto, with a professional orchestra, the Fine Arts Sinfonia. He was asked back to play Bach's B minor flute suite at the Ashwell music festival in May 2006. The performance of Ibert's Flute Concerto is Jak's first concerto performance with the Whitehall Orchestra.

Jak's musical interests explore new music in the broadest sense. He has recently returned from tours of Iceland and Italy with Icelandic pop artist Biggi, and features on his debut solo album I.D. Jak is also an active member of the London Breakbeat Orchestra, whose aim is to recognise and explore the link between classical and contemporary dance music. Currently a sought-after underground live dance act, the London Breakbeat Orchestra has already had airplay on Radio 1, and future collaborations with the world famous Afrika Bambaataa will see them planted firmly within the London and global dance culture.