Jacques Zoon (pronounced: ; born 1961 in
Heiloo
Heiloo () is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the historical region of West Friesland. Heiloo had a population o ...
,
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
) is a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
flutist
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with Reed (instrument), reeds, a fl ...
.
Education
Following a
gymnasium education in
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
, Zoon studied flute at the
Sweelinck Conservatorium
The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
with
Koos Verheul and
Harrie Starreveld Harrie is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Harrie B. Chase (1889–1969), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals
* Harrie Cross (1893–1958), Australian rules footballer
*Harrie Dadmun, American football player
*Harrie Ge ...
, graduating with honors. He continued his studies at the
Banff Center for the Arts
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...
in Canada, where he took
master class
A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...
es with
Geoffrey Gilbert
Geoffrey Winzer Gilbert (28 May 1914 – 1989) was an English flautist, who was a leading influence on British flute-playing, introducing a more flexible style, based on French techniques, with metal instruments replacing the traditional wood. H ...
and
András Adorján
András Adorján (born András Jocha; 31 March 1950) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster (1973) and author. He adopted his mother's maiden name, Adorján, in 1968.
Chess career
In 1969–70, Adorján secured the title of European Junior Cham ...
.
Orchestras
As a teenager and during his studies, Zoon played in the Dutch National Youth Orchestra and the
European Union Youth Orchestra
The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is a youth orchestra with members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union. Since its foundation in 1976, it has connected music colleges and the professional music world for generations o ...
, among others under the direction of
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
and
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
. From 1988 to 1994, Zoon was principal flutist of the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...
, his arrival coinciding with that of conductor
Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions ...
. With this orchestra he performed flute concertos by
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
,
André Jolivet
André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influe ...
,
Frank Martin, and
Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...
. Until 1997, he also was principal flutist of and frequent soloist with the
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE), established in 1981, is an orchestra based in London. The orchestra comprises about 60 members from across Europe. The players pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members of chamber groups and ...
, conducted by Claudio Abbado,
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...
, and
Nicolaus Harnoncourt
Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of musi ...
. He played as principal flute with the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
under the baton of Claudio Abbado. From 1997 to 2001, he was principal flutist of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
under
Seiji Ozawa
Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese ski jumper
*, Japanese racing driver
*, Japanese politician
*, Japanese film directo ...
. In 1998, the
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
elected him as "musician of the year". Zoon is a regular principal flutist of the
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is a European ''ad hoc'' seasonal orchestra based at the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.
History
The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini conducting ...
. He has also been the principal flutist of the
Orchestra Mozart
The Orchestra Mozart or Orchestra Mozart Bologna is an Italian orchestra based in Bologna.
Creation
The orchestra was created in 2004 by Carlo Maria Badini, as a special project within the Regia Accademia Filarmonica (Philharmonic Academy) of B ...
since 2004 conducted by Claudio Abbado. He has played as a soloist with orchestras and at festivals in Europe, Japan and the United States. He has made many recordings for multiple labels such as
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
,
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
,
Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
* Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
etc.
Teaching
Zoon has been a professor of flute at the
Rotterdam Conservatory
Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000.
History
Codarts can trace its origin ...
(1988–1992),
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
(1994–1997), and the
New England Conservatory
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...
and
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
(1997–2001). Since 2002, he has taught at the
Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
and since 2008 at
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
's
Reina Sofía School of Music and
International Chamber Music Institute of Madrid.
Instrument maker
Zoon plays an old wooden French flute using headjoints he manufactures himself. He designed and created a
traverso
The Western concert flute is a family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist (in British English), flutist (in Ameri ...
with a
Boehm system
The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847.
History
Immediately prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an i ...
, with which he recorded
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
's
Partita in A minor for solo flute
The Partita in A minor for solo flute, BWV 1013, is a partita in four movements composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Its date of composition is uncertain, though on the basis of its advanced playing technique, which is more demanding than in the flu ...
. He published a better key design for the C-sharp. With the Alkmaar-based flute builder Alfred Verhoef he constructed a "push flute", the ', with which he performed the Dutch premiere of Gubaidulina's flute concerto. With the
William S. Haynes Flute Company of Boston he developed a new wooden flute (named "the Zoon model").
[Nancy Toff]
The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers
Oxford University press, 2012, page 14.an
Awards
* 2nd prize at the
Willem Pijper
Willem Frederik Johannes Pijper (; 8 September 189418 March 1947) was a Dutch composer, music critic and music teacher. Pijper is considered to be among the most important Dutch composers of the first half of the 20th century.
Life
Pijper was b ...
Concours in 1981
* The jury prize at the
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century."
Biography
Ea ...
flute competition in 1987 in Paris
*
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
elected him as "musician of the year" in 1998
*
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...
for the recording of modern classical music for flute and piano with his longtime (since 1978) accompanist Bernd Brackman in 1999 .
References
Biographyat the Instituto Internacional de Música de Cámara de Madrid website.
Biography at the Interartists Amsterdam website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoon, Jacques
1961 births
Living people
People from Heiloo
Dutch flautists
Classical flautists
Academic staff of the Reina Sofía School of Music
Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni
Indiana University faculty
Boston University faculty
New England Conservatory faculty
Players of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra