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    Emmanuel Pahud

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    Emmanuel Pahud: 10 facts about the great flute player

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    The Swiss-French flute player Emmanuel Pahud is one of today’s most exciting and adventurous musicians, known for his wide repertoire, including baroque, classical and jazz.

    1. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      1. A passion from childhood

      Born in 1970 in Geneva into a non-musical family, the young Emmanuel was captivated from an early age by the sound of the flute played by their neighbour. He told his parents, "I want to play the flute, I want to play the Mozart concerto that guy next door is practicing."

    2. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      2. Trained by experts

      From the age of four, Pahud was tutored and mentored by a number of accomplished flautists, including formal training at the Conservatoire de Paris.

    3. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      3. The youngest player in the Berlin Philharmonic

      He leapt into the international orchestral and solo music scene when he was appointed Principal Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado. At 22, he was the youngest player in the Berlin Philharmonic, a position to which he returned in 2002 under Sir Simon Rattle after taking a 18-month teaching sabbatical.

    4. Emmanuel Pahud  flute player flautist

      4. First recording

      Pahud performed with the Berlin Philharmonic on his first release, the complete Mozart Concertos for Flute and for Flute and Harp in 1997, for which he received several awards.

    5. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      5. The man with the golden flute

      Pahud's first flute was a silver-plated Yamaha. His parents later bought him two Muramatsu Flutes, one half hand-made and the other fully hand-made. Pahud currently plays a 14-karat golden flute which he bought in 1989 with money he won from competitions.

    6. Emmanuel Pahud flute flautist player

      6. A heavy work-load

      Pahud plays around 160 concerts a year – 90 solo or chamber music and 75 orchestral concerts in an average year – roughly twice the number of performances that most musicians would consider a heavy work-load.

    7. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      7. Commissioning new music

      Pahud has dedicated himself to commissioning new work. Though he is an enthusiastic consumer of new music, he sounds most excited when revisiting the old repertoire.

    8. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      8. Dedicated chamber musician

      As a dedicated chamber musician, he has recently made international appearances throughout Europe, North America and Japan in recital with pianists Éric Le Sage and Stephen Kovacevich as well as in a flute and string quartet .

    9. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      9. Master of diverse genres

      Pahud plays in diverse music genres, whether baroque, jazz, contemporary, classical, orchestral, or chamber music.

    10. Emmanuel Pahud flute player flautist

      10. Signed to EMI Classics

      In 1996 he signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics, the only flautist in the world to have a solo recording contract with a major record company. He has recorded and/or collaborated a total of 24 discs with EMI.

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