Artists biographies
Die 14 Berliner Flötisten

The “14 Berliner Flötisten” – the 14 Berlin Flautists – is an ensemble formed in 1996 on the initiative of Andreas Blau, the solo flautist of the Berlin Philharmonic, together with fellow flautists from various Berlin orchestras. The first concert took place on 10 November 1996 in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie in Berlin. In no other city in the world would it be possible to find members of so many distinguished orchestras for such a unique ensemble.

For their concerts, the musicians use an extensive variety of flutes. Alongside the familiar piccolo, C flute, alto flute and bass, there are unusual flutes such as the small F flute, a bass flute in F, a contrabass flute and a double contrabass 5.12 metres in length.

The repertoire of the 14 Berliner Flötisten extends from double-choir music of the early Baroque via Bach, Mozart, Rossini, Saint-Saëns, Rimski-Korsakov, Mussorkski, Debussy, Mancini and Bernstein to composers of the present day. Arrangements and original compositions (e.g. by Sergio Cardenas, Andrea Csollány, Isao Matsushita, Julio Medaglia, Siegfried Matthus and Werner Thärichen) written specially for the ensemble demonstrate the variety of their programme. A performance on New Year’s Eve 1999 of the opera “Kronprinz Friedrich” composed for them by Siegfried Matthus marked the re-opening of the Schlosstheater Rheinsberg following its reconstruction.

Since the ensemble’s formation, the 14 Berliner Flötisten have given regular concerts throughout Germany, some of them broadcast on radio or television.

Helge Jung wrote regarding one of their concerts in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie: “It is amazing how nuanced this flute family can sound, what self-willed and at the same time sensuous timbres reveal themselves, thus sweeping away any prejudices. It is amazing how, in spite of the homogeneous generation of the sounds, every work, whatever its period or style, retains its own “face”. Bach, played only on an ensemble of flutes, sounds as if he had written the arrangement himself, and a tango by Rodriguez still makes you want to get up and dance.”