Emmanuel Pahud

Emmanuel Pahud (born 27 January 1970) is a Franco-Swiss flautist.

He was born in Geneva, Switzerland.

His father is of French and Swiss background and his mother is French.

The Berlin-based flutist is most known for his baroque and classical flute repertoire.

Pahud was born into a nonmusical family.

As a young boy living in Italy, Pahud was captivated by the sounds of the flute.

From the age of four to the age of 22, he was tutored and mentored by flutists such as François Binet, Carlos Bruneel and Aurèle Nicolet.

In 1972, they then moved to Madrid for two years, and in 1974, finally settled in Rome for four years.

The Swiss-French Binet family, whose four children played musical instruments, lived in the same apartment building in Rome.

The father (François) was a flautist who studied in Zürich and Paris but stopped performing in later years.

At the age of four, Pahud first heard the flute.

As the eldest son Philippe played Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1, it set the course to a remarkable chapter of Pahud's life.

He recalls:

I could hear the flute, the violin, the cello, the piano.

I don't know why I chose the flute but maybe it was because the eldest son was playing it, so he was the one playing at the best level at that time – or because the father was also a flute player, so there was a kind of authority there.

Anyhow, I said to my parents, "I want to play the flute, I want to play the Mozart concerto that guy next door is practicing."

That Christmas, after receiving his first flute, Pahud began his first year of lessons with Philippe (who was only 15 years old) and the next three years with Phillipe's father, François.

In 1978, at the age of eight, the Pahud family moved to Brussels, Belgium.

Emmanuel then began studying at the Music Academy of Uccle in Southern Brussels.

There he studied with Michel Moinil from 1979 to 1985.

As he became more determined and focused on playing the flute at a higher level, Pahud began to study from 1984 to 1987 with Carlos Bruneel, the then and current principal flautist of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie opera house in Brussels.

In 1985, Pahud won the National Competition of Belgium (le concours National de Belgique) and in the same year, he played his first concert with the National Orchestra of Belgium, performing the piece that inspired him 11 years earlier: Mozart Concerto K.313 in G Major.

Pahud remained in Brussels until receiving his A-Level at the age of 17 and went off to finish his schooling in Paris.

With the strong support of his family, he also received lessons with other of Europe's finest players, including Peter-Lukas Graf in Basel.

Pahud attended the Conservatoire de Paris (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris) in France, studying with Michel Debost, Alain Marion, Pierre Artaud, and Christian Lardé.

Whilst studying, he won two major competitions, one in Duino 1988 and the other in Kobe in 1989.

In 1988, Emmanuel also won the 2nd Prize at the International Scheveningen Music Competition in Scheveningen, Netherlands.

Winning these competitions put Pahud in the forefront to become principal flautist in the Basel Radio Symphony, under the direction of Nello Santi which he obtained the position in 1989 whilst finishing his studies in Paris.

Pahud graduated at the age of 20 from the Conservatoire in 1990, obtaining the First Prize (Premier Prix).

He then continued to advance his studies for the next two years in style and interpretation with one of France's greatest flautists, Swiss-born Aurèle Nicolet, who turned out to be his neighbour.

Classically trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he leapt into the international orchestral and solo music scene when he joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992.

His versatility in music styles over the years has "signalled the arrival of a new master flautist" (The Guardian).

He plays in diverse music genres, whether baroque, jazz, contemporary, classical, orchestral, or chamber music.

Travelling has been a big part of Emmanuel Pahud's life from birth.

His father worked for a US company, and the family moved repeatedly during his childhood.

However, this would only shape Pahud's international outlook for his future.

Only six weeks after Pahud was born, his parents moved to Baghdad for one year.

They moved again when he was one to Paris, where Emmanuel's younger brother was born.

He resigned from the orchestra in 1992.

Pahud also held the principal flautist position at the Munich Philharmonic under Sergiu Celibidache.