Lessons

When I started playing the pan flute more than 45 years ago, apart from a pan flute method published by G. Zamfir, there was no "classical" academic teaching of the pan flute in France or Belgium. So it was necessary to work on the basis of the transverse flute or recorder method and...transcribe your scales and arpeggios yourself...on the pan flute...or be lucky enough to meet a suitable Romanian pan flute teacher (like Simion Stanciu, my decisive encounter!). Today, several schools are developing in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, but there is one that I particularly recommend - this time in Belgium and a stone's throw from the French border - because it crosses all borders: the "International Panflute Academy" founded by my friends Raluca and Stefan Patuleanu - Negura! Raluca and I have known each other for over 20 years, I have participated in many pan flute seminars in Belgium with her and had the privilege of meeting many Romanian virtuoso flutists, participating in a festival in Romania and collaborating with the 2 wonderful Romanian pan flute makers (father and son), Ion and Ionut Preda. More recently, just before the Covid period, Raluca also allowed me to discover the prestigious Moldovan pan flute school in Chisinau: a school of a classical standard and a requirement worthy of a French conservatory... in Paris! And thanks to her, I was able to cross paths with another wonderful “father-son” duo: Ion Negura, head professor of pan flute at the Chisinau Conservatory, a very renowned teacher in Moldova and several of whose former students are now recognized virtuosos, including his own son: Stefan Negura! And when Raluca married Stefan, it was also the alliance of two wonderful virtuosos and pedagogical teachers of the “naï” that would allow the advent of the International PanFlute Academy, offering face-to-face and distance learning courses, with a didactic method and access (via the website) to a wide repertoire, a choice of quality instruments and necessary accessories, and even a recording studio! But above all – and I am not the only one to testify to this! - working with Raluca and Stefan, for me, is a matter of friendship and trust, a permanent discovery and a musical enchantment that make me improve even more with each of our meetings. Together, they know how to guide even the most novice beginner towards a harmonious, rigorous instrumental practice... and the most experienced flutist towards the highest professional requirement while... having fun! So if you are passionate about the pan flute, don't wait a single moment... contact Raluca and Stefan!! Thanks again to my two friends, from the bottom of my heart, and long life to the International PanFlute Academy!