Anne Pustlauk, flute

Although still at school, Anne Pustlauk was already a pupil at the Musikhochschule Hanns-Eisler in Berlin. After her final school exams, she moved to Karlsruhe to study flute with Professor Renate Greiss-Armin. It is here that she discovers her love for the historical flute which she then practises as a second instrument. A little later, she decided to dedicate her work exclusively to this instrument. In 2006, thanks to a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Anne Pustlauk could begin studying with Barthold Kuijken and Frank Theuns at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB), where she obtained her final diploma in 2009 with distinction. Alongside her activities as a performer, Anne Pustlauk leads an intensive research work on the informed historic interpretation and the repertory of the romantic keyed flute. From 2011 she specialises in this area in the framework of an artistic doctorat at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) thanks to a research grant from the Scientific Research of Flanders Foundation (FWO). Anne Pustlauk is assistant to Frank Theuns at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

The Project

“In the first half of the 19th century, the flute was the most popular and most played instrument. However, the music of this period plays a relatively modest role in our repertory of today. How did that happen? Why have so many works become forgotten? Were the pieces really just mediocre or have we forgotten how to play them in a convincing manner? These are the questions I am leaning towards since 2011 in the framework of an artistic doctorat on the keyed flute, its historical practice and its repertory of chamber music with piano and / or strings. In search of an answer, I have collected and analysed approximately 150 flute method books and around 1000 works from 1790 to 1850. I have studied several original flutes and have applied the conclusions to this work. This in-depth research has given me a new perspective on the world of the 19^th century flute and has made it more understandable. In this concert programme I would like to play the results of my research of frequently played as well as unknown works.” Anne Pustlauk