I’m an experienced jazz and classically trained flautist regularly performing with a variety of local and visiting musicians (see Live Music & Events). Most recently I’ve played with Hamer & Isaacs gypsy swing band and The Sterrys as well as being involved with a number of local events, including Malborough Amateur Dramatics Pantomime and Hope for Howard. I am also available to perform solo on the harp.
Recording
I have recorded a short selection of relaxed pieces, all available for free download.
Testimonials
“As a professional musician for nearly four decades, I have been very impressed by Hannah Sterry’s contribution to our gypsy swing band as a deputy flautist over the last few months. She has deputised at short notice for both our lead guitarist and swing violinist, not easy roles to fill, and I have been awed by her levels of competence and creativity. Her improvisational techniques display an intuitive flair and inspiration well beyond her years, and she exhibits the stage presence expected in a seasoned veteran. I would heartily endorse her as a flautist to any potential employers, whether in the fields of jazz, rock or classical music.” ~ Julian Isaacs of Hamer & Isaacs Gypsy Swing Band
“[Hannah] is a brilliant musician and I love working with her in the gypsy swing band. Her flute solos inspire me to up my game!” ~ Melanie Scullion B.A Hons.P.G Cert. P.G Dip.Perf. Professional violinist, violist and peripatectic music teacher.
Contact Me
Feel free to ask any questions or have a friendly chat online using the contact form, tweet @HannahSterry or comment on this blog!
If you like, you can also follow my musical adventure on facebook on the Hannah Sterry Music page.
Hope to hear from you soon! 🙂
Gallery
Here are a selection of images from performances around South Devon. The pencil sketch is thanks to Jazz Greenhill.
Hamer & Isaacs live at the Millbrook Inn, South Pool. Photo Credit: timhirstphotography.com
The Sterrys live in Hope Cove.
Hope for Howard Event on Kingsbridge Bandstand. Hannah Sterry on flute. Image copyright 2013 Mark L Jones.
Flautist Hannah Sterry performing jazz flute for The Cottage Hotel’s Summer Music Nights in Hope Cove, Devon.
Recently, I was lucky enough to perform with half of Hamer & Isaacs gypsy swing band at the Red Lion in Newquay and thought I’d share my favourite moments from the evening with you, so here goes…
5 favourite moments from The Red Lion gig:
Performing music with some wonderful people and smiling through every minute!
Howard Kahn‘s (bassist) brief moment of crazy dancing to club music in the interval. I’m sure he’ll demonstrate if you ask him *very* nicely. 😛
I’ve decided to release a few flute pieces (and a short harp cover) on bandcamp! You can download them all for free or, if you really like them, can name your price! Just click below to have a listen and download!
It’s scary posting music in a public space, but this afternoon I decided to record a world-jazz-funk-fusion version of Summertime by George Gershwin and thought it’d be nice to share.
The aim of this really was just to create something that I was happy with, within a deadline of a few hours and to build confidence.
I’ve been quite self conscious about singing solo since secondary school – I know so many talented singers and if I try to compare myself to them then I lose half of my confidence. I tend to deal with the doubt by acknowledging that everybody’s voice is completely unique and that I might as well do my best, but sometimes the confidence still goes.
It’s even more bizarre when you consider that I’d be quite happy to stand in front of thousands or millions of people playing the flute.
The clarinet’s still a work in progress in terms of learning, but I stuck it in there just for fun!
LIVE JAZZ tonight at the Mill Club, Kingsbridge from ‘The John Sterry Trio’ (aka. The Sterrys).
~
Tonight I’m playing with The Sterrys Jazz Trio to raise money for The Poppy Appeal! I’ve played there once before and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I’m hoping that this time will be the same.
I am now “Plymouth’s top jazz flautist” according to twitter. I know this because I am probably the only jazz flautist in the whole of South Devon (with the exception of my dad, who often prefers to play saxophone).
This post is a bit of everything – music I’ve recorded, pictures from the past year’s worth of gigs and news of gigs to come and some lovely testimonials from people I’ve played for – I hope you’ll enjoy it and feel free to ask me anything you like in the comments!
Logo by Hannah Sterry.
Over the past year I’ve been lucky enough to play lots of gigs with a great little gypsy swing band called Hamer & Isaacs. I met them, by chance, at a blues night at a pub where a mutual friend had invited us both along. I thought they were pretty cool and took a particular liking to one of them (that’s a different story) and since then I’ve stood in whenever one of the others can’t make it!
After playing with the band a fair bit, a few of them spotted my Sterry Cartoons creations on facebook and asked whether I’d like to design them an ‘art deco’ logo. I thought it’d be good fun to have a go (having not attempted logo design before) and this is what I came up with (see right).
All of this led to some really wonderful testimonials from people I’ve met through the band:
“As a professional musician for nearly four decades, I have been very impressed by Hannah Sterry’s contribution to our gypsy swing band as a deputy flautist over the last few months. She has deputised at short notice for both our lead guitarist and swing violinist, not easy roles to fill, and I have been awed by her levels of competence and creativity. Her improvisational techniques display an intuitive flair and inspiration well beyond her years, and she exhibits the stage presence expected in a seasoned veteran. I would heartily endorse her as a flautist to any potential employers, whether in the fields of jazz, rock or classical music.” ~ Julian Isaacs of Hamer & Isaacs Gypsy Swing Band
“[Hannah] is a brilliant musician and I love working with her in the gypsy swing band. Her flute solos inspire me to up my game!” ~ Melanie Scullion B.A Hons.P.G Cert. P.G Dip.Perf. Professional violinist, violist and peripatetic music teacher.
I’ve haven’t been playing jazz and designing logos the entire time though. Whenever I’ve had a few hours free, I’ve been working on a few of my own musical side projects! Most recently I’ve been doing a bit of recording with my little sister (she’s ridiculously cool, but you can’t take her anywhere). 😛
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you might have heard it before, but here’s a little bit of chilled out flute music I recorded as an earlier side project (it’s not jazz, but it’s cool and floaty)!
P.S. If you like any of my music, you can download it for FREE on bandcamp. Just click the link above. If you really like it and want me to make more music, you can donate however much or little as you like with the “name-your-price” button and you’ll get a gigantic smile and thanks from me!
Anyway, I’ve just been told that dinner’s on the table, so I’d better go, but I hope you’re enjoying the story so far and I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the last year and adates of my upcoming gigs! Hope to meet some of you at some point and as always, if you want to ask me anything, or have any great music recommendations, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! 😀
Flautist Hannah Sterry performing jazz flute for The Cottage Hotel’s Summer Music Nights in Hope Cove, Devon.
The Sterrys
Ansa Back playing at Morleigh Village Hall
Hamer & Isaacs live at the Millbrook Inn, South Pool. Photo Credit: timhirstphotography.com
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY (27th May) Ansa Back will be playing at Bigbury Golf Club from 4pm.
JUNE-SEPTEMBER The Sterrys will be playing every Tuesday evening at The Cottage Hotel, Hope Cove for their Summer Music Nights. Feel free to come and join us, enjoy a cocktail on the terrace and take in one of the most Mediterranean views that the South Hams can offer!
The many faces of Hannah Sterry: Jazz Flautist & Harpist
Hello! Hannah here!
I’m currently taking requests for harp covers and will be recording and uploading the results to youtube! I’m happy to attempt absolutely anything… well, anything possible (things like “Flight of the Bumble Bee” might be a bit of a bother). Requests for folk, heavy metal, jazz and pop are all welcome – I’ll try them all!
Feel free to request flute pieces too – If you want to hear a cool jazz version of “God Save the Queen”, or a Jethro-Tull-style rendition of Adiemus, I’ll do it – Make these suggestions as crazy and wacky as you like!
Can’t wait to hear what you come up with! Just leave a comment or send me a tweet: @Hannah Sterry
A selection of the images available on my Redbubble profile. They’re all available as cards and most are also available as prints and posters too.
Photography is my way of showing my appreciation and love of the beautiful South Devon countryside and the local wildlife. A particular interest in macro photography means I can often be found in awkward crouching positions near flowers, just trying to get the perfect shot of a colourful bee or butterfly.
So far my work has been featured a number of times in the South Hams Gazette and gained multiple awards on Pixoto.com.
You can follow my camera-wielding exploits on RedBubble and Facebook!
The 25th of September marks the last Tuesday Night is Music Night of this year and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone at The Cottage Hotel, on behalf of The Sterrys, because we’ve had an amazing time.
It’s been great fun playing at The Cottage Hotel every week this summer and we’ve met some wonderful people, tasted some absolutely amazing food and really enjoyed playing to such a nice group of people.
Here are a few photos to sum up the wonderful time we’ve had here:
Having fun with the folk harp (sometimes accompanied by Joe on flute).
Fundraising for Hope Cove Lifeboat out on the terrace.
I’m not sure how much we raised, but have been told it was a success!
We even had time for a quick photo opportunity as the sun was setting!
In summary, we’ve had an absolutely amazing time with everyone who’s visited or worked at the hotel.
This is probably the best way to illustrate it:
Thank you to everyone who’s come and supported us,
I really hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have!
Hannah Sterry 