I really enjoy working with composers. With the project Flute Colors I try to make extended techniques for flute accessible for not only flautists but also for a wider audience. I try to show composers all the possibilities on the flute, so that they can use those possibilities to enrich their compositions.
I worked with composers all over the world, but funnily enough never with a composer from my own country. So a few years ago I started thinking about a project with new compositions written for flute and piano by Dutch composers. I like the process of such a project. It starts with a single idea. Then I start coming up with the best version of the project and then the real work begins.
Fortunately, I was not aware of the size of the project at the time. I wanted to connect new music with all the colors of the flute to a large audience. Contemporary music is not always easy for listeners to understand, so I looked for ways to get closer to the world of the non-flute playing people. That’s how I thought of Dutch cities. Everyone lives somewhere and we have all visited bigger cities and have a certain feeling about a city. That doesn’t have to be a nice feeling For example, my mother doesn’t like a city at all. She grew up very sheltered in a small village in the south of the Netherlands and does not like the attitude of the people in the city. But what happens is that she does have a feeling and so we have a starting point and a connection close to the listener.
I wasn’t sure if it was enough to just have the composers create a composition inspired by a city. In my opinion, the step was still too big. So I invited Dutch poets to write a poem about their city, to give words to their city.
And so it happened. I chose four major Dutch cities, invited four poets from that city to write a poem and asked four composers to write a piece inspired by the poem and the city.
After two years of fundraising and project preparation, we had the world premiere in Amsterdam on April 16, 2023 with all poets and composer present. The poets read their own poems and Heather Pinkham (piano) and I performed all the pieces.
It is magical to be aware of this process. And I knew very well on the premiere date that it all started with an idea that became a reality that day. I am very grateful.
Now we are in the process of publishing the pieces and we’re planning to make studio recordings.
