During the course of her career, Anna Downes has been invited to perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Shakespeare Company, English Symphony Orchestra, Welsh Chamber Orchestra (Principal 2nd Violin) and British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra among many others. She has performed in professional orchestras accompanying internationally renowned soloists such as Leslie Howard, Catrin Finch, Nicola Loud, Simon Dinnegan, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason. Crossover work has included National Symphony Orchestra with artists such as Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson, English Pro Musica with Kerry Ellis and concert tours with The Limelight Orchestra.

Recording work has included Wagner's Gotterdaemmerung (Act 1) with English Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Downes Symphony no 6 with Central England Camerata and String Quartets nos 1&2 with the Amabile Quartet.

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In addition to performing commitments, Anna is an experienced teacher and adjudicator, and until 2019 held the postiion of Director of Music at Old Swinford Hospital, a state boarding school in Stourbridge, West Midlands. She has been invited to adjudicate for Northfield Festival, Solihull Festival, Dudley Young Musician, Winterfold House Instrumentalists' Competition, West House School Music Prize, Central England Ensemble Concerto Competition and The Andrew Downes Performance Prize at Birmingham Conservatoire.

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In 2019 Anna founded Music for Sanctuary, a charitable organisation which has raised over £22,000 for local homeless charities through musical events.

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Tony Bridgewater was a student at the Birmingham School of Music (now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and St John’s College, Cambridge, studying composition with Peter Tranchell and piano with Malcolm Wilson and Renee Reznek.

 

He gives regular recitals as an accompanist and soloist, and has appeared regularly in concert series in Cambridge, Rugby, Solihull, Shrewsbury, Bewdley, Birmingham and Stourbridge. In September 2016 he was appointed Principal Accompanist for the Kidderminster Male Choir.

 

He has composed music for Orchestra, Concertband and Choir, a range of instrumental chamber music, and song cycles. His music is published by Forton Music.

In 2014 he was elected a trustee of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association, which fosters links with the alumni of the Conservatoire and the wider musical community, and raises money to support students studying at the Conservatoire. In September 2020 he became the chair of the Association.

 

He was the director of the National Flute Orchestra from 2014 to 2022. In this post he commissioned and performed new music by composers from around the world, and helped to have it published. He has also conducted student wind orchestras and choirs on many tours to Europe and America, performing in prestigious venues such as Barcelona Cathedral, Montserrat Abbey, Salzburg Cathedral and St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice.

In 2021 he was appointed conductor of the Wyre Forest Symphony Orchestra. In March 2022 they gave the premiere of his composition ‘Lux Mundi’, and in July 2023 they gave the first performance of his Double Concerto for Flute and Oboe. A new Trumpet Concerto was been commissioned by the orchestra for the 2024-25 season, and performed in March 2025.

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