Jane Rutter answers for our pleasure to the questions of the Question Box. Meet Jane Rutter at the International Flute Convention 2016 !

1 > Who is your favorite composer?
Which ever composer I’m playing – that’s my favourite! (also especially Baroque & Early 20th Century French composers)

2 > Which music piece would you take with you on a desert island?
To play: Sonate de Poulenc pour flute et piano; Andersen Opus 15 studies;
To listen to: Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov or Debussy Trio pour Flute, Alto et Harpe.

3 > What profession would you have had if you weren’t a musician?
Artist, composer or actress.

4 > What is your favorite book?
To Kill A Mocking Bird; Pride and Prejudice

5 > What is your favorite meal?
Sushi (Jean-Pierre Rampal influenced me in this!)

6 > Do you have a ritual before going on stage ?
Marcel Moyse sonority exercises; put on make up; check how the stage lighting feels to me (with the house lights down); ensure my fellow musicians are all feeling happy and confident!

7 > Do you have a luck charm that you carry around with you?
My flute? All my flutes!

8 > Do you have a secret to fight your stress before going on stage?
I don’t really get stressed before performance-I love to feel connected to the audience-and so there is nothing to stress about! Everyone is there for the same musical journey, we are all committed to the beauty of the music. I pretend that the audience has been at a dinner party with me (whether it’s 200 people or 20,000 people) and that they have asked me to play for them at the end of the dinner! This keeps the performance intimate, no matter how many are present. If ever I need it, I know a wonderful meditation which calms every part of the body and mind, based on Yoga Nidra.

9 > Where can we find you when you are not on stage?
On the beach in Australia playing the flute! The best practice room is outdoors-You hear the sound very clearly. I love to be in nature! Or at La Palette my local in Paris. When I’m travelling I love to go to art galleries and markets-my favourite thing is to interact with people, to converse, to share joy and stories… This is the intention in my music also…

10 > Your favorite movie?
I’m expansive -as with all the questions -it’s hard to narrow down to one, so I’ll tell you my top three: Harold and Maude; Gone with the Wind; L’Amant (The Lover) – an adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ minimalist 1984 novel)

11 > A motto?
Carpe Diem! Seize the Day! Love Life! Let the Planet be Saved, Free the People! Music for everyone!

12 > What would you want to reincarnate into ?
A galaxy

13 > Which composer would you like to meet?
Today: Francis Poulenc. Yesterday : J.S. Bach

14 > On which flute do you play?
I have three beautiful flutes: A new (gold) Haynes, a (gold) Verne Powell, and a Louis Lot- they all make my heart sing! I also regularly perform on various classical and ethnic flutes including Celtic whistles. My recital programme ‘Flute Spirits and the Four Seasons’ features at least 10 different flutes, including alto flute( Sankyo) and piccolo( Burkart)…

15 > Which advice would you give to a young flutist to succeed in this business?
The technique of sound is paramount. Sing through your flute! Follow the vocal line of the music. Only you can tell your story. Be creative in the way you form and envisage your career. Be yourself! Be proud to be different. Create your own niche. Music is devotional work- never stop practising. ‘If you don’t have goosebumps when you play, it’s not exactly music & the audience won’t feel the music’ (Alain Marion use to tell me this- a message passed on from his teacher Joseph Rampal).

16 > Your best memory as an artist?
Because I am a ‘bel canto’ flute player and I associate so much with the voice, perhaps my best memory was performing a tribute concert to Joan Sutherland in the Sydney Opera House. Conducted by Richard Bonynge, I was the only instrumentalist chosen to be soloist amongst internationally-acclaimed opera singers. Also: I have an ongoing best memory: when I walk on stage and feel the warmth of the audience & hear the sound of my flute singing to the audience, it’s the best! (It’s then I thank my lucky stars that I play the flute & that I studied in France with Alain Marion, Raymond Guiot & Jean-Pierre Rampal!)

17 > Your favorite color?
Blue

18 > Your favorite current artist?
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Linda Chesis, Emily Beynon.

19 > Which CD might play in loop on your stereo?
Joan Sutherland ‘La Stupenda’, Joni Mitchell ‘The Hissing of Summer Lawns’, Jean-Pierre Rampal: Benda, Stamitz, Rosetti Flute Concerti.

20 > Your favorite hobby?
Dancing; Painting; Composing; Writing poetry.