Rchestra

Frans van Geffen

"®chestra is a meltingpot in which we model our ideas about novel music."
 
Frans van Geffen
Photography & Photomontage Wim Reijnen

Frans van Geffen, member of the band since its formation, plays all sorts of flutes in ®chestra:

"In 1988 I met Johnny Rahaket in Enkhuizen where he was rehearsing with the Ricciotti Ensemble for a new summer tour. This encounter resulted in June 1989 in the formation of the Numanwari ensemble. We took off straightaway to Leningrad to perform on the Mir Festival. After a period of five years with its ups-and-downs the ensemble fell apart - it had been a marathon session.

The silence which ensued, was broken by Johnny. He invited me to join a new ensemble, actually more of a band as with two percussionists we would need to use electrical amplification. Moreover the repertory was shifted from jazzy and classical scores to arrangements of music from all over the world, to be expressed in a singular way through the contribution of musicians with various musical backgrounds. ®chestra - the ® represents Rahaket, being the artistic leader of the group - was born.

If you, as I have, received a classical training, have grown up with the Beatles and the Rolling

Stones and want to feel your own way in music, then ®chestra proved to me a great meltingpotin which together we model our ideas about novel music.

In addition to my activities within ®chestra I play in the Trio d'Honneur, together with flautist Dorothe Beier and pianist Camiel Verhoeven. We play the classical repertory for two flutes and piano. We also make arrangements from works of other instrumental composition, as it has been customary in bygone days.

Apart from that I'm employed as a teacher at the music school in Veenendaal. Since 1982 I teach the flute on this enjoyable school.

During my study at the Arnhem Academy of Music I commenced with the repair of flutes. In the autumn of 1986, in order to test my expert knowledge, I left for Tokyo and worked in the Miyazawa flute factory. In 1991 I started a repair shop, where I sell Altus, Azumi, Jupiter and Koge flutes. In 1994 I launched the Dinoflute which I designed especially for children who can't hold the rather tall and heavy ordinary flute. The Dinoflute is used by many Dutch flute teachers by now."

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