Jill Kemp is firmly establishing herself as one of the finest wind players of her generation. Winner of numerous prizes, in April 2009 she gave her critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut as an IBLA Grand Prizewinner. In 2007 she won the Royal Over-Seas League Wind and Brass Competition, the first recorder player to do so in its 57-year history.

Jill has broadcast on Classic FM, the BBC and American, Italian and Polish television. She has given recitals throughout Europe and the USA, at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Blackheath Halls, Leeds International Concert Season, Auckland Castle, Radford University, Harrogate International Festival, the Latour de France International Festival and the Isle of Man Early Music Festival. Concerto performances include Christchurch Priory, Tatton Hall, Sherborne Abbey, Civit Hills Theatre and David Bedford’s Recorder Concerto with St Paul’s Sinfonia. She was recently hailed in the press as “one of the top recorder players in the world” following her performance of four concerti with Red Priest, standing in for Piers Adams at 12 hours notice.

Jill is passionate about raising the recorder’s profile and proving it to be an exciting and versatile solo instrument. Her repertoire spans seven centuries and she regularly performs commissions and world premieres. Her principal teachers were Michala Petri and Piers Adams and she studied performance practice with Colin Lawson. In demand as a teacher and workshop leader, Jill has given masterclasses throughout Europe and the USA, including at the University of North Dakota and the State School of Music in Wroclaw, as well as online for Canadian company MyMasterclass.com. In July 2009 and 2010 she sat on the jury for the IBLA Grand Prize in Sicily and she has given regular masterclasses and concerts at Dartington International Summer School since 2008. Jill’s recent work as a recording artist includes sessions at Abbey Road for Alexandre Desplat’s soundtracks for The Fantastic Mr Fox and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as well as at Air Studios for Gulliver’s Travels. Jill gives regular concerts and workshops for the Concordia Foundation and in 2004 she launched Recorder Revolution, an interactive concert experience that has already involved over 3500 young people. 

Summer 2011 will see the release of Jill’s recording of 20th Century British recorder works, with pianist Aleksander Szram and the Brodowski Quartet.