Short Biography
The career of flutist Abbie de Quant is witness to a large variety of, and a strong urge for musical adventures.
Her repertoire ranges from Baroque to Contemporary Western and Asian music. Together with the artistic dialogue which she uses with other art forms such as poetry, visual art, video and mime, she is able to offer a surprising addition to the staged arts.
She has performed many times in the large – and small auditorium of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Since 1992, she has organized her own series in the small auditorium
Many composers have been inspired by her to write new compositions including, Caroline Ansink, Anke Brouwer, Ron Ford, Guus Janssen, Willem Jeths, Otto Ketting, Astrid Kruisselbrink, Ton de Leeuw, Theo Loevendie, Chiel Meijering, Joep Straesser, Klaas de Vries, and Robert Zuidam. In addition, Abbie de Quant conceived and organized a number of music theater productions which were performed throughout the country. She could be heard regularly on radio programs and also in several television programs.
Abbie de Quant studied with Jan Prins and Koos Verheul at the Conservatory of Brabant and did master classes with the Italian flutist and pedagogue, Severino Gazzelloni. She graduated Summa cum Laude for solo performance, received the Prix d’Excellence, and the Diploma di Onore from the Academia Chigiana in Siena. Abbie de Quant won many important awards at national and international competitions, including the Cum Laude Competition, the Belgian-Dutch Competition, the Gaudeamus Competition, the Competition of Royan for contemporary music, and the ARD Competition of Munich.
Besides her frequent performances in many chamber music associations i.e. pianists Rudolf Jansen, Elizabeth van Malde, and Bart Berman; the harpists Edward Witsenburg, Masumi Nagasawa and Gwyneth Wentink; the Amsterdam Harp Quintet, the Trio a Cordes Français, the Jerusalem String Trio, Abbie de Quant also performed as soloist with almost all premier Dutch orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and many international orchestras with conductors such as Luciano Berio, Roberto Benzi, Anton Kersjes, Ton Koopman, Sir Raymond Leppard, Sir Neville Mariner, Kenneth Montgomery, Jean Francois Paillard, Ed Spanjaard Hans Vonk, Hans Zender, and David Zinman.
Abbie de Quant was a docent at the Utrecht Conservatory and the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She taught master classes in the Netherlands and abroad, and judged at many competitions in those countries.
Her recordings have been published by EMI, CBS, Erasmus, Etcetera, and Challenge Records. The latest published cd’s are Hommage à Poulenc and Music in Motion with pianist Elizabeth van Malde.