Elias Agsteribbe, Rob Laethem
It is a dream shared by many: to win a place in a symphony orchestra. For two former students of KASK & Conservatorium, that dream has come true. Rob Laethem will join the Belgian National Orchestra in March. Elias Agsteribbe will start next season with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Neither of them are new to the scene, as they came out on top in auditions while still studying. Since then, they have been active in the Belgian and Dutch orchestra world.
Elias Agsteribbe was barely fourteen when he took his first lessons at the Ghent Conservatory. He was the first student of Pieter Nuytten, principal bassoonist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Now, so many years later, the two are almost colleagues: from August, Elias will be the new contrabassoonist and second bassoonist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
'It's quite special to sit next to your teacher in the orchestra. I'm really looking forward to it,' says Elias when I speak to him. Moreover, it's a kind of boyhood dream to be able to play in the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
‘It was one of the first orchestras I heard playing live up close. They played in Ghent Cathedral. At the time, I had only been taking lessons from Pieter for a few years. That concert made such a huge impression that it still feels like a kind of reference point today. It's an orchestra with spirit. They play with a big sound and with daring, which I love.' At the moment, Elias and his current orchestra are in full carnival spirit. During his final year of his bachelor's degree, which he studied in Zurich, he won an audition with the Philharmonie Zuidnederland. He is now playing his seventh season there.
'Of course I'm going to miss it here. My colleagues are fantastic, I've had such a wonderful time here. When I won the audition, the orchestra helped me find a way to combine my studies in Switzerland with the part-time position in Maastricht. They temporarily adjusted the percentage slightly so that it would be feasible for me to commute. I am still grateful to them for that.
Rob Laethem is also leaving the orchestra he is still part of with regret.
‘The Phion is a young orchestra with a lot of potential. I have learned a great deal in the two years that I have been here. Now I am taking that experience with me to Brussels.’ In a few weeks, he will start as second bassoonist with the Belgian National Orchestra.
‘It will be different, because I will be joining a completely different group, but I am looking forward to it. It is also nice to be closer to my family again.’ Like Elias, Rob has been living in the Netherlands for the past few years. He combined his orchestra job with studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory.
But he has strong ties with the KASK & Conservatorium, and in particular with the bassoon class of Pieter Nuytten, Graziano Moretto and Jaap De Vries, who together have a wealth of orchestral experience.
‘From the outset, the lessons focused on things that are essential for playing in general and for playing in an orchestra in particular: a good, healthy sound that is easy to blend with, rhythmic and intonational stability, and dynamic versatility. We were introduced to the orchestral repertoire at the right time,' says Rob. 'Not too early, because then you don't have the necessary technique yet, but at a time when we were ready for it. Pretty soon we were encouraged to take part in auditions. During your studies, it's good to audition for youth orchestras. It's the ideal training ground, both for auditioning and for orchestral playing itself. It's great preparation for the real thing. And it's safe: you're still allowed to make mistakes.
What's more, good equipment was provided: there was a good contrabassoon available and also a machine for making reeds. Essential if you want to be able to play music at a high level.
In Ghent, Elias learned the basics on which he could build in Zurich. In Giorgio Mandolesi's class, the students regularly played as if it were an audition: part of the class formed the jury together with Mandolesi, while another part played audition repertoire for them.
‘The nerves you have before an audition are often different from those you have before a concert,’ Elias explains. ‘You have to know how you will react to that stress and how it will affect your performance. You can only learn that by doing it.’
These two young men recently proved once again that they know how to do it. For now, they can put those audition skills aside and enjoy their new orchestral environment to the fullest.