John Flinders studied at the University of York and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and now has a busy and wide-ranging musical career as soloist, accompanist, coach and teacher. Particularly noted for his performances of the repertoire for clarinet and piano, he has worked with many of the UK’s leading clarinettists and his recordings have been acclaimed by The Sunday Times, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and the American Record Guide. In November 2022 John gave the premiere of Leigh O’Hara’s Piano Concerto No 1, which is dedicated to him; in 2014 he featured as piano soloist on the soundtrack of the major ITV series The Great War: The People’s Story. Other solo performances have included Constant Lambert’s The Rio Grande and concertos by Grieg, Mozart and Rachmaninov. John also has a strong affinity with the classical song repertoire and in 2008 he and Veronica Veysey Campbell created the Aberystwyth MusicFest Vocal Course, which took place annually for many years.

John has been a coach and accompanist in the Junior Department of the Guildhall School since 1991 and also works regularly in the Senior Department there, accompanying students and giving classes in duo playing and interpretation. He is a piano teacher, chamber music coach and accompanist at St Paul’s Girls’ School and is the accompanist for Alleyn’s Community Choir, JAGS Choral Society, and the Pink Singers, Europe’s longest-running LGBT+ chorus, which recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary.