WORKSHOP | Renaissance Traverso & Consort | Kate CLARK & Amanda MARKWICK
Students in the Traverso class play on the mdw’s new Renaissance traversos (2021, from Martin Wenner’s flute workshop).
Born in Sydney, Kate Clark graduated from the University of Sydney on modern and baroque flutes in 1985. In the same year she was a finalist in the Australian National Flute Competition and guest principal flute with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
From 1986-1990 she studied baroque and classical flutes with Barthold Kuijken at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague gaining her Soloist’s Diploma “cum laude,” and from 1990-1992 renaissance flute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland under the guidance of Anne Smith. In 1993 she won the first prize in the Brugge International Early Music Competition.
Since 1988 Kate Clark has performed and recorded throughout Europe as a soloist and with chamber ensembles (Musica Ad Rhenum, Amphion Ensemble, Cantus Cölln), and orchestras (Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Köln, Deutsche Händel-Solisten, Rheinische Kantorei, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Le Concert Spirituel). As principal flautist with Les Musiciens du Louvre from 1994-2006 she toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. She makes regular appearances in Australia as soloist with The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, and as artist-in-residence at the University of Western Australia.
Kate Clark gives lectures and courses in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Israel, and Australia, and she teaches historical flutes at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague. She lives in Amsterdam with her partner and their two sons.
Amanda Markwick earned both her bachelor’s degree (in modern flute and French language and literature) and her master’s degree (in early music, Baroque transverse flute) at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. There, she studied under Kate Lukas, Thomas Robertello, and Barbara Kallaur. This was followed by another bachelor’s and master’s degree program in early music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague, with a focus on classical, Baroque, and Renaissance transverse flutes. As a scholarship recipient of the Dutch government’s Huygens Foundation for exceptionally talented international students pursuing a master’s degree, she studied there under Kate Clark, Wilbert Hazelzet, and Barthold Kuijken.
As a guest musician, Amanda performs with, among others, the “Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra,” the “Bach Orchestra of the Netherlands,” the “Hong Kong Early Music Society,” the “Hannoversche Hofkapelle,” the “Rheinische Kantorei—Das Kleine Konzert” with Hermann Max, the “Lautten Compagney” under Wolfgang Katschner, and “Cantus Cölln” under Konrad Junghänel. Over the years, she has been a founding member of various chamber music ensembles throughout Europe. With “Barcelona Barroc,” she has participated in various chamber music and orchestral projects. Amanda performs Renaissance music with the “Attaignant Consort” (Renaissance transverse flute) and classical chamber music with the ensembles “Eloquentia” and the “Trio Delta.” Together with Clavichord in the ensemble “Il Sussurro,” she explores the beautiful, nuanced timbres of early Classical-period transverse flutes.
As an active musician, Amanda has performed at the “Bloomington Early Music Festival” in Indiana, the “International Harp Convention” in Prague, the “Corso Internazionale di Musica Antica” in Urbino, the “Casa de Mateus Festival” in Vila Real, the “Festival Internacional de Música” in Cadaqués, the “Festival Internacional de Música Clásica” in Ribadeo, the “Utrecht Early Music Festival” in the Netherlands, the “Köthen Bach Festival,” and the “Trigonale Festival” of Early Music in Austria.
In addition to her teaching activities in Berlin, Amanda is regularly invited as a guest lecturer by institutions such as the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Netherlands), “H.I.P.S.T.E.R. Ireland,” and the “Irish World Academy” in Limerick (Ireland), the “Bauhinia Musikhaus” in Hong Kong, and the Kuopio Conservatory (Finland). The Dutch music journal “Fluit” published her article on Baroque flute playing for beginners. The book “The Renaissance Flute: A Contemporary Guide,” which Amanda co-authored with Kate Clark, was published by Oxford University Press in August 2020. In 2021, she received a NEUSTART-KULTUR grant from „Deutscher Musikrat“.
