Sunday, July 24
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Today began as every day with a good breakfast, which was needed because today was the big day; the day we were to play in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, which for anybody who hasn’t been there, is certainly one of the finest concert halls in the world, combining beautiful 19th century architecture and wonderful acoustics. We were to play in the Kleine Zaal (the small hall, located behind main hall) to a sellout audience of about 500.

After breakfast we all packed our bags and left to Amsterdam on the coach. When we arrived we went through the artist door, through a wonderful hall to an even more beautiful room. We spent some time rehearsing stage presentation and walking on and off stage, which gave the performance a slick, professional appearance as well as making it flow well. We had a quick lunch in the artist’s area before getting ready for the main event. At 14.15 the concert started.

The highlights of the concert were undoubtedly Roberta Alexender’s extremely moving performance of Purcell’s When I am Laid in Earth from his opera Dido and Aeneas, with the bass and contra bass flute providing a suitably earthy ground bass. Emily gave a beautiful performance of Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits accompanied by the flute choir, and the encore featuring Emily, Roberta and Andrew West was a pleasure and privilege to hear. There were also stellar performances by the soloists from the YIP and NTK courses, and beautiful rendition of Faure’s Sicilienne by Jeroen and Wieke. From the flute choirs perspective, all the weeks practice paid off, as everything went smoothly. We loved playing and the audience loved listening. It was a wonderful afternoon!

The concert was a fitting end to what has been a fabulous week, ending as it started in magnificent surroundings. We have benefitted enormously from expert teaching in our individual lessons and masterclasses with Emily, Jeroen and Wieke. On top of this, we were really impressed with how the course dealt with other aspects of our musical life, whether it be with physiotherapy, lectures on how the brain function and how this affects effective practice methods, and performance and presentation classes. We also made many likeminded friends from all over the world, which helped make an intensively learning environment fun.


Gemma, Marloes, Rebecca