flautist, community musician & teacher based in glasgow

Originally from the Lake District in Cumbria, Jo Ashcroft graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2008 with a BMus (Hons). The following year she studied for a Postgraduate Diploma in performance, awarded with distinction in 2009. During her studies with Alison Mitchell (SCO) and Katherine Bryan (RSNO), she received the Governors’ Recital Prize for Chamber Music and the John MacGregor Flute Prize for outstanding achievement at the RSAMD, and participated in masterclasses with international flautists such as Ian Clarke, Wissam Boustany, Lorna McGhee.

Jo enjoys a varied career as a freelance performer, community musician and teacher. She works regularly across Scotland and Cumbria as a chamber musician in various ensembles. She is a founding member of acclaimed flute quartet, "Flutes en Route", which is regularly engaged in recitals and in community projects with Live Music Now; Jo also plays in a duo capacity with percussionist Calum Huggan, in "Flercussion", with harpist AnnaKate Pearson in "The Leven Duo", and with pianist Chris Baxter. As a soloist, Jo has given concerto performances of the Chaminade Concertino for flute and orchestra, Philip Sparke’s “A Lindisfarne Rhapsody” for flute and wind orchestra and the Mozart Concerto for flute and orchestra in D major.

Jo is heavily involved in education and community music, allowing the wider community to experience the pleasure of classical music. She teaches privately and holds teaching positions at the Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools and with Inverclyde Council. Jo also works with several established outreach projects in Scotland, including Sistema Scotland’s "Big Noise" programme, inspired by the world-famous Venezuelan youth orchestra system, and runs NYCoS Mini Music Makers classes in Perth Concert Hall.