Talented flautist credits Yr 10 teacher
When Laura van Rijn began playing the flute at Narrogin Senior High School in Year 10 she may not have realised she would one day be chosen to take part in a fellowship of the Sydney Symphony.
Van Rijn joined eight talented musicians, all under the age of 30, who were chosen from 300 applications nationwide to take part in the year-long fellowship program.
“I started learning in Year 10 at the high school under Mrs Yuen and she was my flute teacher from Year 10 until Year 12 and we’re still really good friends,” she said.
“She is probably the reason I’m doing music now.”
There hasn’t been a flute in the fellowship for three years and to take a place as either one of four wood instruments or one of four wind instruments, Van Rijn had to not only compete against other flautists but also against everyone else in the wind category.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity,” she said
“It is the only fellowship they do in Australia and it is one of the few they do in the world.”
Van Rijn said at the end of her one year fellowship she wanted to play in a chamber orchestra and said she would love to join the WA Symphony Orchestra in Perth but would probably have to move overseas.
“It is a very niche field and very competitive,” she said.
Van Rijn is currently completing a doctorate in music performance at the Australian National University, studying with Virginia Taylor and Vernon Hill.
She previously completed a Bachelor of Music degree with first class honours at the University of Western Australia.
In 2011 she won the Australian International Flute Festival Competition.
The 2013 fellows will perform together today in Sydney.
