Fourteen years after his debut with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) the world’s greatest living flute player, Emmanuel Pahud, will return to Australia for a national concert tour with the ACO from 30 September to 13 October. Pahud’s ‘trademark golden tone’ (The Guardian, UK), kaleidoscopic range of expression, and virtually limitless technical ability have not only earnt him a reputation as one of classical music’s greatest musicians; he has also become one of the industry’s busiest. Since his appointment as Principal Flute with the Berlin Philharmonic at only 22 years of age, Pahud has maintained a schedule that sees him perform 75 concerts a year with the Berlin Philharmonic and approximately 90 concerts as a soloist or chamber musician. This is roughly double the number of concerts most professional musicians would consider to be a heavy workload, however Pahud relishes spending so much of his time on concert hall stages around the world.

“I’ve been performing solo concerts since I was 15 years old and in orchestras since I was 19, so this kind of schedule is something I’ve been used to for a very long time,” Pahud said. “Thanks to wonderful agents, good health, and a bit of luck along the way, I’ve been able to maintain a career where I’m on stage around 160 times a year, dividing my time between the Berlin Philharmonic and as a soloist. I’m very lucky – life on stage is wonderful for a musician!” Pahud has enjoyed a long collaborative relationship with the ACO and Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, having first performed with the Orchestra in 2003. “ I first met Richard about 15 years ago when he asked me to premiere Carl Vine’s Flute Concerto with the ACO. We got on immediately, both on and off stage,” Pahud said. “He is an extremely spirited musician and brings a lot of freedom of thought and expression to every rehearsal and performance, combined with a rigorous discipline. It’s an approach that I also try to apply to my playing, which makes our collaborations together very climactic, I feel.” Pahud and the ACO will together perform a diverse program that weaves like an historical adventure – tracing the FrancoGermanic lineage from Bach senior, to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, through to Franck, Debussy, Ravel and Boulez. Featured in the program is Ravel’s String Quartet, brimming with seductive melodies, iridescent pizzicato passages, colourful trill effects and luscious harmonies, as well as Franck’s great Violin Sonata, arranged for flute and strings by Richard Tognetti.
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