John Flinders discovered his love of ensemble playing while still at school, and his studies with Dorothea Law at the University of York, and Mary Peppin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, inspired him to specialise in the art of accompaniment.

He now has a busy and wide-ranging musical career; he has appeared on BBC TV, Radio 3 and Classic FM, and has performed in Japan, Turkey, Croatia and South America. In London he has played at the Barbican Centre, the Purcell Room, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and St. John's, Smith Square. He is particularly noted for his performances of the clarinet repertoire and has worked with many of this country's leading clarinettists, including Margaret Archibald, David Campbell, Roger Heaton, Tony Lamb, Colin Lawson, Antony Pay, Gervase de Peyer, Victoria Soames Samek and Michael Whight. In recital he has also partnered Piers Adams, John Anderson, William Bennett, Jamie Campbell, Jill Gomez (in a Mozart concert aria conducted by Martyn Brabbins), Paul Goodey, Neil Jenkins, and Adrian Thompson, and has accompanied monologues recited by the actress Patricia Hodge. He has performed in masterclasses led by Robert Cohen, Philippa Davies, Sir James Galway, Alan Hacker and Susan Milan; as a répétiteur he has worked with the conductors Gary Cooper, Steven Devine, Bernard Haitink, Peter Holman, Leigh O'Hara and Sir Roger Norrington.

His recording with the English Romantics Trio of works for clarinet, bassoon and piano by William Hurlstone and Charles Lloyd was acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine and the American Record Guide, and his CD of English clarinet music with Victoria Soames Samek was highly recommended by the Sunday Times and Gramophone. Their latest CD on the Clarinet Classics label features rare French virtuoso works for clarinet and piano, most of which are première recordings.

John is the Assistant Musical Director of the early opera group Opera Restor'd, for whom he prepared a translation of D. Scarlatti's La Dirindina which was praised by Opera magazine for its 'blend of innuendo and ribald humour'; as harpsichordist he has directed several of their performances. Contemporary music has also featured in his performing career, and works have been dedicated to him by Michael Finnissy, Edmund Jolliffe and David Sawer. In 2006 John made his conducting début, in a performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

In addition to his collaborations with established artists John enjoys working with younger performers, believing that expert accompaniment is important at all stages of a musician's development; he is the senior accompanist in the Guildhall School's Junior Department, performs frequently in classes and recitals at Senior Guildhall, and is a piano teacher and accompanist at Westminster Under School and James Allen's Girls' School. He has accompanied on several prestigious music courses, notably Dartington International Summer School, Aberystwyth MusicFest, David Wilson-Johnson's acclaimed song course at Ferrandou in France and the Benslow Baroque Opera Project, for which he has prepared libretti in English of the chosen works, including versions of Campra's Orfeo nell'inferni, and L'Enlèvement d'Adonis from Rameau's Les Surprises de l'Amour.

Critical Acclaim

"An immaculately self-controlled pianist." - Stephen Pettitt - The Times

"John Flinders convinced with the perfection of his execution... and the profound poise of his expressiveness- the sign of a deep understanding of the song repertoire." - Il Veronese

"...inspiration from the piano... A finely judged touch, genuinely at the service of the voice." - L'Arena di Verona

"The pianist John Flinders, held together the considerable diversity of the programme... creating atmospheres of inspired subtlety." - La Nueva Provincia

Critical Acclaim of Recordings

On the Winds of English Melody (CC 0025)

"Victoria Soames offers a most rewarding recital of English clarinet music, sympathetically accompanied by John Flinders ... this new disc achieves the high standards comparison demands ... Soames and Flinders have the measure of the music ... The [Vaughan Williams] sequence proves satisfying ... because the phrasing is so sensitively shaped ... [Of the Arnold Sonatina:] its vitality is brilliantly captured on this highly enjoyable disc" - BBC Music Magazine

"John Ireland's Fantasy-Sonata ... beautifully played" - The Sunday Times

"A first-rate programme ... Impeccable performances" - Gramophone

"John Flinders' confident and sensitive accompaniments" - American Record Review

The English Romantics Trio (CC 0023)

"Victoria Soames and her colleagues should be commended for their assiduous scholarship ... the works on this disc ... should be of interest to a great many listeners ... the performances are given with genuine enthusiasm" - BBC Music Magazine

"Victoria Soames and her colleagues have made this esoteric repertoire their own ... a tantalizing blend of unfamiliar material" - American Record Guide