| Noémi Györi is Principal Flute of the Orchester Jakobplatz München and substitute of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra participating in such projects as the premiere of Aribert Reimann's Medea opera production. She recently completed her post-graduate studies from the Hochschule for Music and Theater München under the study of András Adorján as well as the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Barbara Gisler-Haase. She graduated with honors from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest in 2007. Noémi has been an organizer and performer since 2003 for IKZE, Hungary's annual festival for young contemporary composers, and was recently nominated for the 2010 Rolex Young Laureates Prize and the 2010 Young Musician Prize of the "Pro Europa" European Cultural Foundation. Noémi has been a student of numerous outstanding professors, such as Henrik Pröhle- Ferenc Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Petri Alanko- Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Gyöngyössy Zoltán- Béla Bartók Conservatory Budapest, Blaisdell Frances- Stanford Music Center USA, Lóránt Kovács- Japan. She is a regular participant of international Music Festivals (Moscow Spring Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, Jewish Summer Festival, Collegium Musicum, Tanglewood Institute-Boston, Thy Masterclass-Denmark, Musikforum-Klagenfurt, Kuhmo Festival-Finland), and has performed in master classes with Aurèle Nicolet, András Adorján, Marina Piccinini, Paul Meisen, William Bennett, and Michael M. Kofler. In the summer of 2006 Noémi was invited to perform and teach at the Beigang International Music Festival in Taiwan and is currently the flute teacher at the Artesono Music Festival in Switzerland Noémi received the Performers’ Prize (2006 and 2009) of the Artisjus Music Foundation Hungary for her outstanding performance of Hungarian contemporary compositions. In 2007 she won the scholarship of the Ari S. Kupsus Salon Concert Society, and support from The Brannen-Cooper Fund for the premier of Georgi Sztojanov’s Flute Concerto with the Amadinda Percussion Group. Noémi received additional scholarships from the Theodor-Rogler Stiftung and the Werner Tripp Memorial Fund. She also received post gradual study scholarships from the Stiftung der ROTARIER (2007/2008) and the prestigious German DAAD (2008/2009). Noémi is currently on the artist roster of the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, an Annie Fischer Scholar of the Filharmony Budapest, an artist of the Hungarofest Klassz Foundation and the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundations in Vienna (since 2007) and Munich (since 2008). She has made recordings with the ORF, Deutschlandfunk, BRF, Hungarian Radio and Hungaroton. We had the opportunity to ask Noémi a few questions. Check out her thoughts on preparing for competitions, studying with Frances Blaisdell as well as advice for upcoming flutists.
I was still in middle school at the time, but after nearly ten years of musical training I was already very determined to become a professional flutist. I decided to continue my studies on our return to Hungary in the very best school for my age, the Bela Bartok Conservatory in Budapest. However in order to fulfill this dream I had to pass an extremely competitive entrance exam, which needed very good preparation. Through many recommendations of musicians, one evening I suddenly found myself on the phone speaking with Frances Blaisdell. Soon I was attending her class every week, after she had listened to me and agreed upon our work. Although at the time I was very young, I consider Frances one of my most influential teachers: she took my work and all my dreams very seriously, has always encouraged me to go after fulfilling them but also showed me how reaching long term goals will always require a lot of imagination matched with very disciplined, hard work. Her whole career and life is a tribute to these values: she not only was a very successful musician, but achieved things which were impossible by all means; nobody ever expected a woman at Juilliard or among the musicians of the New York Philharmonic at the time. After returning to Hungary I kept a very lively correspondence with Frances. She continued to give me many important suggestions on my professional decisions and followed my path with continued support. I always dreamed about visiting and playing for her again, but there was unfortunately no chance for that before she had passed away.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is clearly one of the world’s finest orchestras but in many ways it is also one of the most conservative. Although women were allowed as members in 1997, there are still fewer female players compared to other leading orchestras. For example, the official wind and brass section still consists of only men. However, hiring Ms. Albena Danailova in 2008 as one of the concert masters, shows that Vienna Philharmonic is becoming more opened to female players in leading positions. Besides taking part in the repertoire performances (such as Tosca, La Sonnambula, Romeo and Julia or Die Fledermaus) I also participated in the premiere of Aribert Reimann’s new opera, Medea. This was a very important event in the Austrian cultural scene as the last premiere of a contemporary opera in the Staatsoper before Medea was in 2002. The premiere and the following five performances were all a huge success: the house and the orchestra proved to perform this modern piece at the highest quality, although there are very few new works on its repertoire.
As a young professional I still remember clearly the technical or musical problems we are facing in different phases of our development. This helps me to relate very quickly to the need of each student. Through my broad international studies I have gathered and also invented quite a few extremely effective exercises for tone development, vibrato, intonation and flexibility of the embouchure. Daily practice of these, according to our current level, is the most important basis for progress at all times. So besides the pieces brought by the students, I tend to work on these exercises.
For really outstanding performances many times we need a bit of positive nervousness, which elevates the tension in our performance. For this reason my goal is not to lose being nervous, but to still remain in control while I am performing. This is something that can be trained through many ways, and should also be part of the preparation for an important event (let it be a competition, audition or concert). First of all we have to discover our weaknesses in stress situations, so we know what has to be worked on. Almost all of us have experienced shortness in breath, sweating or just making unexpected mistakes while performing from memory or even from notes. I believe that whatever we experience in our daily practice routine becomes familiar and controllable; it doesn’t seem unknown or unexpected anymore. I do 1-2 minutes of sport to increase the heartbeat and than play a slow and long phrase, still with beautiful
I purchased my first Miyazawa PA-202 flute when I was 16 years old, right in the beginning of my studies at the Bela Bartok Conservatory. More than ten years have passed since then. As a professional, I now play a Boston Classic 14k golden Miyazawa flute with the fantastic Brögger System. Some things didn’t change though: over these ten years each time when I held my instrument in my hand, I could only think and concentrate on music as I could produce any sound color I imagined and could fully rely on the superb precise mechanism provided by all Miyazawa flutes. I also live in a 'Miyazawa family,' as my husband, Gergely Madaras, who is a professional flutist and conductor, has also been playing a Miyazawa for more than seven years.
With huge online music libraries, professional live broadcastings from all over the world’s biggest concert halls and YouTube we now have an opportunity to collect an immense amount of information about musical styles, different interpretations, techniques or even new repertoire without having to leave our home. I think this is an unbelievable advantage for the upcoming generation: listening to as much repertoire as possible from all musical genres and instruments will help you to learn and appreciate the finest differences in the language of each musical style. Besides that, hearing the world’s most outstanding performers live can give you new & great ideas for practicing and inspiration to perfect your playing to the highest possible level.
Haydn Saal - with Aglaia Graf, piano
For more information, please visit: http://www.gyori-madaras.com/ and http://www.noemigyori.com/ Noémi plays a BR-14K-2REH Gold flute with Sterling Silver Keys |
