Leon Berendse

'Before I went to the conservatory I was mostly into jazz. I was actually an improvising flutist and doubted for a long time about my choice of classical music,' flutist Leon Berendse recalls about his younger years. Upon graduation, he received the Nicolai Prize.
Since 1987, Leon Berendse has been first flutist with the Netherlands Philharmonic. He is also a member of the Amsterdam Consort and played for many years in the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. As a soloist he performed worldwide with various orchestras and ensembles. Among them, of course, the Netherlands Philharmonic, with which he performed the Dutch premiere of Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto in December 2004.
As a teacher, Leon Berendse is affiliated with the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg. He has also given master classes in Portugal, Japan, Latvia, Russia and the Royal Academy of Music in London, among others. He is also one of the teachers during the 'Grolloo Flute Sessions', a new master class for every inspired flutist.

Podcast with Leon Berendse
'Talent is one thing, but that's only half of it.' In the following episode of Klankcast, Leon talks about choosing the hard way, perseverance and a little bit of luck. How a mindfulness course helped him with an important solo and about the vanity of musicians.