Could you tell us something about yourself?
Hei!
My name is Emmanuel, the same name as the French President Emmanuel Macron! Easy to remember!
I am 37 years old and I have two wonderful boys (5 and 7 years old) at home who keep me very busy and don't allow me to make reeds as long as they are awake! They say there is always something more interesting in life to do than making reeds.... Well, they may be right, but I still think making reeds is kind of fun...
I try to make reeds every day. Even if I only have 15 minutes, I will maybe shape a piece of cane, or tie-on a new reed... or just look in my reed case and think: "I have no reeds!?..."
I was born in France (nobody is perfect) but I have lived in different kinds of countries. I went to Germany to be part of the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) in Munich (fantastic orchestra!!). I had an amazing teacher and mentor there called Stefan Schilli. You might know his name, since I think he regularly comes to Finland to teach and play. If you don't know him, google him immediately and listen to his wonderful playing!! You will be blown away!!
Stefan and the BRSO Academy helped me to get my first orchestra job. So in 2008, I moved to Glasgow in Scotland to start working as the Principal Oboe of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra! I was there for three years. It was a lot of work but always great fun! Well, I got sacked when they realised I did not improve my bagpipe skills at all during those three years...
No just kidding! I actually got a job offer in Sweden, and since I like challenges, I decided to move to Stockholm to have a go and start working with the exciting Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the utterly gifted Daniel Harding!! What a treat to work with such an amazing musician like Daniel! He inspires me every day, and I consider him my best teacher nowadays!
Anyways, here I am, feeling almost half-swede now since I have lived in Stockholm for more than 8 years!
I love Sweden, as I love the way of life in the Nordic countries, and I can't wait to discover Finland in the coming months!
I started playing oboe when I was 7, as I fell in love with the name "hautbois d'amour" (the oboe of love), which I thought sounded very Romantic. And what a sound!! I still think the Oboe as the most beautiful and touching tone a musical instrument can produce, and I love the fact that when can play endless phrases without interruption! It is almost magical!
Of course, I get sometimes frustrated with my reeds that are never good enough, but I try to overcome the difficulties and forget the technical issues in order to focus on the music. Because in the end really, Music is the only thing that matters, don't you think?
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself as a teacher?
I have very few students in Stockholm, in fact I really want to invest more time into teaching, as I feel I learn at least as much if not more than my students when I teach! It is a real challenge to try to understand the person playing for you and to find the right way to try to help and improve. I really see this process as a collaboration between us, in order to achieve better musicianship! There is no define recipe for success, and this is what I find most exciting!
For all these reasons, I wanted to apply to the Sibelius Academy Oboe Lecturer position last December. I still cannot believe they chose me to be in charge of the oboe class!
We will have a great team of fantastic oboe teachers there, and I hope we will be able to create the perfect learning environment for our students, and that they will feel stimulated and enjoy developing their skills!
What kind of plans do you have?
Just now, I decided to learn some Finnish... For fun... Just bare with me please! Kiitos :) Minä harjoittelen keskustelua joka päivä.
I am looking forward to meeting you soon in Finland, and I wish you all the best for 2020!!
PS: If you have a dream, go for it! It might very well become true one day!
Terkuin,
Emmanuel