She was born into a family with an artistic background in Veszprém, she started playing music at the age of nine and was touring with her teacher at the age of ten. The Liszt Academy awarded her the Fellowship granted by the Republic for her outstanding academic achievements, this is also where she graduated with honours, then in Zurich she took diplomas as a teacher of the flute and flautist, similarly summa cum laude. Today she is an internationally acknowledged soloist, a member of top Swiss orchestras, solo flautist with the Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra, and associate professor of the Zürich University of the Arts to mention just a few of her titles. We chatted with Blanka Kerekes about her dream career.
It has been a busy 25 years if we reckon from your first flute lesson…
“Busy, but I hope this is just the beginning! I believe that great things await me in the future. Even getting into the Liszt Academy appears unbelievable, not to mention testing myself abroad and standing my ground on the world’s stages as a Hungarian. I won a one-year Erasmus study scholarship to Zürich University of the Arts in 2008, ushering in an extraordinarily fruitful period. I had a most excellent teacher in Prof. Dr. Matthias Ziegler, founder of modern flute playing. Through him I could intensify my knowledge of the modern flute technique, something that I later wrote my thesis on. As the central argument, I proposed that modern and innovative techniques that only featured in the curriculum of high school students could actually be mastered at an earlier, primary school age. This brought about a revolutionary change and today my thesis is taught in the syllabus of music schools in Switzerland. I planned to spend one year abroad but this change meant that the Swiss university offered to take me on from the Liszt Academy in Hungary without needing to sit the entrance exam. I felt that if Switzerland called me for the second time, then I should be there.”
You only took advantage of the opportunity after you had graduated here at home. Why?
“Because I am proud and grateful for everything that, as a Hungarian, I received from my homeland and my teachers, thus it was only natural that I should first complete my studies in Budapest, and only after this take advantage of the generous Swiss invitation. In Switzerland I finished my classical music studies and graduated from the jazz department. It meant a great deal to me that I had the possibility – even during my studies – of playing with the Tonhalle-Orchester of Zurich, I recorded a CD jointly with the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, I was able to perform under the baton of Hans Zender, and I had the chance to work with artists of the Opera House. I was taken on as a teacher at the Rorbas Music Teaching Centre and I won the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra’s flute rehearsal competition. I became a member of a circle of artists in which I moved freely and to which I remain loyal to this day. In Switzerland, there is a long tradition of patronage, it is a matter of great pride when a patron embraces an artist. I nurture friendships with several famous families. I have much to thank my patrons for, both professionally and personally speaking: my instruments, countless home concerts and heart-warming invitations. For instance, when due to concert scheduling I was unable to travel home to my family for the holidays, the Esterházy family invited me to spend Christmas with them. Today, I consider the niece of the wife of Prince Pál Eszterházy as my honorary mother and I also enjoy the support of the famous Jacobs family.”
Hungaricum laude 