Biography
Samuel Hondekijn is a passionate Belgian flautist and piccolist. He frequently plays in various international orchestras in Belgium under the direction of renowned conductors and also plays with various chamber music ensembles, such as the Onyx Ensemble and the Mnémosys ensemble. Curious and in love with music as a whole, he is interested in all types of repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary.

Since October 2022, Samuel has been studying in the class of Ms. Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann, Ms. Alja Velkaverh (orchestral features) and Ms. Birgit Schwab (piccolo) in Master orchestra at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen where he has the opportunity to train within the Orchesterzentrum Dortmund, with the aim of improving and preparing, among other things, for orchestra competitions.
He also continues to improve in Master Classes or private lessons with renowned flautists such as Mr Petri Alanko, Ms Sarah Louvion,Ms. Gaby Pas-Van Riet,Mr Giovanni Gandolfo, Mr Benjamin Plag, Ms Anne Romeis Mr Vincent Cortvrint, Ms Wieke Karsten, Mr Jean Prévôt...
In September 2020, he joined Ms. Valérie Debaele's class at the Conservatorium Maastricht. During his 2nd year of Master's degree, he had the chance to do an Erasmus exchange in the class of Ms. Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen.
In 2015, Samuel joined the class of Mr Denis-Pierre Gustin and Ms Fabienne Dussenwart at the Institute of Music and Pedagogy of Namur (IMEP) where he finalized his Master's degree in June 2020 with Great Distinction.
Curious and wishing to broaden his field of knowledge, in September 2018 he began a concert diploma on the flute and a 1st prize on piccolo at the Esch-Sur-Alzette Conservatory respectively with Etienne Plasman and Päivi Kauffmann. He obtained his 1st prize in June 2020.
His love for the flute began at the age of 7. It was therefore quite natural that he began studying it at the Courcelles Music Academy with Ms. Christine Martin. In 2012, he joined the class of Mr Gérard Noack with whom he finalized his academy diploma at the Uccles Academy.
Between 2018 and today, Samuel also has the opportunity to perform replacements within the Belgian National Orchestra under the direction of conductors such as Hugh Wolff, James Feddeck, Hartmut Haenchen and Robin Engelen; within the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège under the direction of conductors such as Christian Arming, Anu Tali, Kristjan Järvi and Victor Jacob; within the Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia or within the Royal Opera of Wallonia directed by Ayrton Desimpelaere.
His first orchestral experiences began with the Brussels Youth Orchestra in 2013 under the direction of Béatrice Warcollier. Since then, he has also had the opportunity to play with orchestras such as Nuove Musiche under the direction of Eric Lederhandler, the Aria Orchestra under the direction of Etienne Rappe, or even during his studies, within the orchestras of different conservatories, under the baton of conductors such as Arjan Tien, Ronald Zollman, Cyril Englebert. Through all these experiences within orchestras, he had the opportunity to perform pieces from the great repertoire such as, among others, Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", the 4th Symphony by Mahler, Anton Bruckner's 5th Symphony, "Till Eulenspiegel" by R. Strauss, Schumann's 1st Symphony, but also contemporary pieces like "Aufgang" by Dusapin, "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" by John Adams...
Samuel also regularly participates in various competitions. In October 2022, he reached the semi-finals of the Saverino Gazzeloni Competition as well as in May 2022 at the Dutch International Flute Competition. In 2018, he also won the silver medal at the International Competition for Young Soloists organized by L'Ugda and also won 1st prize in the flute orchestra competition "Les Flutinades" with the flute orchestra of the Academy of Music from Uccles in 2017.
Valid for the 2023 season/2024. To edit this document, contact Samuel Hondekijn (samuel.hondedkijn@gmail.com)