At my Final Exam, I will present flute repertoire that is close to my heart. This program will show lots of different aspects of me and my style of playing. It will be a presentation of my favorite pieces where I am really able to express myself in different facets.

Artist statement

The musicianship fascinates me in that way, that we are able to evoke emotions in our audience, to tell stories that language could not tell and to really create something beautiful. I think it is important to me because I feel like that’s why I became a musician: To express myself and letting the audience be part of that experience. I really wanted to be able to express myself on a technical level and on a musical level. As a musician nowadays, it is a challenge to make your art sound in society. There are so many fears and worries that people forget the value of music, and its important influence it has on us humans. Therefore, I think it is especially the younger generation's responsibility to keep, especially classical music, alive and interesting for all the people.

Ambitions

Seeing myself in that position, I think I could promote what I am creating and doing more. Not in a business kind of way but more so in the way of sharing music, making music and just living music. I feel like I do a good job, and I am striving to be the better version of myself. Where this all will end and if I will be able to achieve my own goals, we shall see in the future. But for now I see myself enjoying the musical life, hopefully in an orchestra or orchestral academy and to create music with wonderful people and raising awareness of the importance of classical music in our culture. But as I said in 5 years a lot can happen, so we will see where I will end up.

Learned during the studies

I think the most valuable thing I learned is to realize that everyone goes their own way. That may sound abstract, but as a developing musician you can't avoid comparing yourself to your colleagues to a certain extent since you all strive towards the same goal. Therefore, realizing that everyone has their own stuff that they carry around with them, coming from different backgrounds and cultures, makes you realize that there's not "the one way" that will lead you towards "success" because everyone is unique in their skills and working habits. Therefore, it was really important for me to accept that everything I do is the right way because it is not someone else's way but my own, which leads to less self-doubt and being proud of yourself, always being able to reflect where you came from and what you've achieved so far.

The effect of classical music on emotions

Who doesn’t love to start the day with one's favorite music? I myself start and end my day with music, and it helps me through the day, either as a listener or a performer. It makes me feel emotions, makes me feel supported, or is just simply a distraction. Music influences the life of us humans since centuries. It moves us, makes us feel amusement, joy, eroticism, beauty, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness etc. and has an enormous impact on our physical and mental wellbeing, but how come that especially our emotional reaction to music is so strong?
In this research I am very interested to find out where the connection between music and emotions may come from, how music evokes emotional reactions and what we can learn from that information as listeners and performers.