Aysha Wills (1994) is a Canadian flautist currently based in Amsterdam. She is specialised in performance on historical instruments. She began her flute studies, aged 5, with Kathleen Schoen in Edmonton and subsequently with Shelley Younge, flautist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
In 2006, Aysha attended the Boxwood Festival in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and there met her lifelong mentor and friend, Marten Root. Marten invited her to study with him in Amsterdam as part of the young artists’ program at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA), and her family moved to Amsterdam in 2007/2008, where Aysha studied baroque flute with Marten and modern flute with Harrie Starreveld. At Boxwood, Aysha also befriended the late David Shorey and acquired her first Flutemakers Guild of London flute from him, sparking a love affair with FMG flutes which persists to this day.
In 2008, Aysha was offered a scholarship to the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, where she spent three years studying with Kathleen Rudolph, before returning to Amsterdam in 2011 to begin a bachelor’s degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, with a double major in historical flutes (with Marten Root) and modern flute (with Harrie Starreveld). She graduated in 2015, the first to complete such an intensive program. Aysha then embarked upon a Masters Degree on Flute in Historical Perspective, with Marten Root and Kersten McCall (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), graduating in 2017.
Aysha has had the honour of playing as a soloist many times with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Baroque Orchestra, as well working with many modern and early music ensembles in The Netherlands and across Europe, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, de Nederlandse Bachvereniging (where she held a fellowship between 2014-2017), Concerto Köln, Kölner Akademie, Luthers Bach Ensemble, Wiener Akademie, Won’drous Machine, Das Neue Orchester, l’arte del mondo and Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. She has performed at several festivals including the Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, MA Brugge, Pianoforte Festival Zaandijk (where she was an artist in residence) and Bell’Arte Frankfurt RheinMain. Aysha won the first prize at the Canadian Music Competitions in Montreal in 2009 and is a two-time recipient of the Winspear Foundation Scholarship, which funded her master’s degree, to her eternal gratitude. Aysha is one of two flautists who will partake in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s academy scheme for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Aysha is one of the founding members of the early music ensemble Postscript. Postscript is an award-winning ensemble whose debut CD, Introdvctio (released by Dutch hi-fi label TRPTK), has received copious praise from early music and hi-fi fans across the globe. Their second CD, a recording of 18th century music from Amsterdam, was released by TRPTK in September 2023. Aysha’s debut solo CD, a recording of the four authentic flute sonatas by JS Bach, was released by TRPTK on September 30th, 2022.
Aysha can also be heard on recordings by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kölner Akademie, and an upcoming CD of chamber works by Telemann, performed by the wonderful recorder player Erik Bosgraaf. She can also be seen on several videos on www.allofbach.com.
At age ten, in response to the Asian tsunami disaster, Aysha initiated and helped organize a major concert event which ultimately raised over $750,000. In recognition of her efforts she received several important awards and was commended by the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of Alberta and the Canadian Senate. She was given the Award of Distinction by the City of Edmonton, Global TV’s Woman of Vision award and the Alberta Centennial Medal for her efforts. She subsequently organized and played at successful events for the charities Change for Children, Pilgrim’s Hospice and for earthquake relief in Java, Indonesia.
Aysha played and recorded extensively with musicians outside the classical realm as a young artist, in particular with the late and much missed Bill Bourne, winner of multiple Juno awards, and her good friend Madagascar Slim, award winning Malagasy guitarist and splendid human being. She made appearances on CDs with both, and played with them across Canada and on television and radio. She was also mentored by the great Stewart MacDougall (kd lang and the reclines, Great Western Orchestra), who taught her piano and was a friend and neighbour for many years. She had the great fortune to play with many internationally renowned artists such as Chumbawamba, Broken Social Scene, Seth Lakeman, Damien Dempsey, K’naan and Teddy Thompson, to name a few, before choosing to devote her energy solely to her classical studies upon her return to Amsterdam.
In her free time, Aysha likes to spend as much time as she can in the sun, be it while hiking, reading, cycling, having a drink with friends, or simply sitting in her garden. Her biggest passion outside of music is food - she loves both cooking and enjoying a meal in good company. She has a very inquisitive mind, with a particular passion for history. If she hadn’t become a musician, she would have likely pursued paleontology or archaeology as her line of work.