Barthold Kuijken

Masterclass flauto traverso and flute

17 – 21 September 2025
Masterclass flauto traverso and flute
Prof Dr Barthold Kuijken, Brussels

Course repertoire: freely selectable
Masterclass, individual lessons
Technique and interpretation
Active and passive participation possible

Participation in this course for transverse flutists as well as flutists (Boehm flute)
Course repertoire focus: Sonatas by Bach and the Bach family

Course start: Wednesday, 17.09. in the afternoon
End of course: Sunday, 21.09. after lunch

Course fees:
320,00 Euro course fees/active for professionals
280,00 Euro course fees/active for students
120.00 Euro course fees for passive participants
325.00 Euro Costs for accommodation (double room) incl. full board at Forum Artium
Single room supplement: 25.00 Euro per day if available
Temporary energy costs flat rate: 2.00 Euro per day/person
For course participation without accommodation/catering 100.00 Euro surcharge

Barthold Kuijken, a Flemish native of Belgium (b. 1949), is an eminent leader in the field of Early Music. While still being a student on the modern flute, he found an original mid-18th century one-keyed flute, that became his best teacher ever. As an autodidact, he let himself be taught by 17th-18th century instruments and theoretical and practical sources. A virtuoso
traverso (and recorder) soloist, teacher, researcher, and conductor, he has shaped the fields of historical flutes and Historically Informed Performance over the last 40 years.

In 2014 he retired as Professor of Historical Flutes at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and The Hague. Countless students have been inspired by his ongoing fascination with breathing and sound – and thus with personal expression. He has always taught that the thorough study of the environment in which the composers created their works leads to freedom and depth in interpretation. This attitude still permeates his concerts, recordings, masterclasses, lectures, or activities as competition judge. His book, The Notation Is Not the Music – Reflections on Early Music Practice and Performance (Indiana University Press, 2013) is an artful summary of his research, ideas, and reflections on music.

Besides his legendary performances and acclaimed recordings of the flute repertoire between Baroque and Debussy with his brothers Sigiswald (violin) and Wieland (cello and gamba), he has collaborated with other early music specialists such as Gustav Leonhardt, Robert Kohnen, and Ewald Demeyere (harpsichord), Paul Dombrecht (oboe), and Piet Kuijken (fortepiano). Barthold Kuijken has played and recorded with the baroque orchestras Collegium Aureum, La petite Bande, Orchestra Libera Classica, and is now the Artistic Director and conductor of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

In 2007 he was the first musician in Belgium to receive a PhD in the arts. His efforts to bring the worlds of “modern” flute and Early Music closer together were rewarded by the Premio alla Carriera of the Associazione Flautisti Italiani in 2009, the Life Achievement Award of the U.S. National Flute Association in 2013 and the Kuiper Prize of the Dutch Flute Society in 2022. The city of Magdeburg awarded him the Georg-Philipp-Telemann-Preis 2024.