Reach my heart and stir something within me!

Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren is a highly regarded Hungarian-born German flutist. She studied flute with Lóránt Kovács in Budapest, Paul Meisen in Munich, and with Jeanne Baxtresser in New York. She was laureate at various international music competitions: Geneve (1992), Kobe (1993), Budapest (1994). Additionally, she was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado and was awarded the Talent Award of the city of Ingolstadt.
In 1995 she became associate principal of the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig and took on the role of acting principal flutist from 2008 to 2015. Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren has appeared as soloist in concerto performances with, among others, the Gewandhausorchester under Herbert Blomstedt and Riccardo Chailly.

Since 2024 she is appointed professor of flute at the Hochschule für Musik Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Leipzig. From 2019 she held the same position at the Musikhochschule Franz Liszt in Weimar, while teaching in Leipzig as a chamber music professor as well.
We met Anna during the 18th Adams International Flute Festival 2025 in Netherlands and wanted to know more about her upbringing, her current view on competitions, and auditions, how to stand out in auditions, and how to have fun as a family and learn a lot from it at the same time.

What was the first impulse to choose the flute as your instrument? How it all started?

Initially I wished to play harp but there was no harp at the music school at that time. So, I was asked to pick another instrument instead. Since my aunt played flute (she still does!), and I heard her playing from time to time I thought: "Okay, no harp then", and picked the flute. That was it.

You have studied in Budapest, Munich, New York. Which teachers made the biggest impact in your life?

You know, all of them have made really big impact on my developing as a musician. For example, the very first one, at the music school, where I started when I was 9: he was a recorder player who also taught flute. So, I started my flute studies with him, and we played a lot of Renaissance music, Renaissance ensemble.
My second teacher, in high school, played traverso. I remember taking part at my very first CD recording of Haydn so-called "Wedding symphony". We had to shout "Hoye, hoye!" exclamations from the back of the orchestra. I was only 15 and it was a lot of fun.
Then articulation studies with Lóránt Kovács in Budapest, and all the brilliant repertoire that built my instrumental knowledge, diving deeper and deeper into music with Paul Meisen when I studied in Munich. Jeanne Baxtresser helped me to prepare for the auditions, all these orchestral excerpts. So, everyone was very important in my life.
I’m thankful and feel very lucky have studied with so wonderful and dedicated teachers, personalities. They are very close to my heart.

Can you name the three most important points, events, that have made the biggest impact in your career?

The first big impact for me was when I entered Budapest Music Academy. Simply because I didn't count on it. Since I was quite good at music theory, I was more counting on conducting choir direction but got accepted in both disciplines, so, I had to choose at that point, and I chose flute. That was a very big thing for me.

Another event – it was very special to be able to go to study in Germany right after the "Velvet Revolution" (1989). That opened the door to another, a democratic kind of life, and further studies in the United States followed. So, all this was very powerful time.

Overall, there were so many extremely beautiful moments that it's very difficult to pick one in particular. I will never forget some special moments with Abbado and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. These were incredible moments that have left profound footprints in my soul.
Another highlight for me was playing Bruckner under Herbert Blomsted and the Mahler symphonies with Riccardo Chailly. And then, of course, J.S. Bach’s Passions at St. Thomas Church… I cannot really point three things. That's really difficult.

I am very thankful about being able to settle down in Leipzig. With all the broad musical spectrum this city can offer, opera, symphony concerts, cantatas and passions almost every week at St. Thomas Church. It was and it is an amazing impact, of course. On every part of my musical being.

What would be your approach to flute competitions and auditions now, if you would be in your early 20’s now?

I think my mindset for competitions wouldn't be that different, simply because I was always keen to learn the repertoire, and have a goal. The feeling of having 10 or even 15 pieces on the top of my knowledge at that precise moment.
It comes down to pushing myself, because I never liked to practice. I just loved to play. So, I had to learn it, how to practice. Therefore, it was a good push for me, to have goals like competitions, concerts, chamber music concerts and so on.

When it comes to the orchestra auditions, this is a very different approach today. Back than orchestra playing was rather learning by doing. We really didn't study excerpts that much when I grew up in Hungary, we did as we did. The focus was to be a good flutist, good musician, so you can play whatever encounters you in an orchestral career.
However, nowadays the level in the auditions is incredibly high. To be really good at it you must start really early to play in orchestra, and learn how to play as precisely as possible: really good intonation, perfect rhythm, good phrasing and so on. So that you can mirror what's in the score. There are many youth orchestras todays to gain experience.
We have so many excerpts, and to get most of them right, you need a lot of time – not only to play them but to get to know the background of the piece, not only the composer, but its time as well etc. Listen to different recordings, interpretations – all this helps a lot.
For example, when I was young, we went to play an audition: either you get it or not. Nowadays when the level is so high, and the pressure is enormous, the audition committee might want to know more about you and ask for a conversation with you. They are interested to get to know you – What do you know about the orchestra? Why do you want to come to them? Why should they take you as a colleague? What excites you? In another words, it's so important now to look behind the curtains and be broadly prepared to succeed.

There are hundreds of very good candidates who can play every note in the audition. How can you distinguish yourself among others?

Well, yes, you must master your instrument, but in the end, the musical ones get the job. Who can forget the situation they are in, the pressure, and still can enjoy the Mozart concerto they play for the 350th time, finding the musical momentum, fun, drama, and expression in the excerpt. These are the players, the good musicians who usually win.
So, just perfection is not enough, but necessary and we need to start the mastery of the instrument on this level quite early. Therefore, we do the orchestra excerpts already in the first semester, as an exercise.

What inspires you?

Everyday life. There are so many things that surround us, I see so many stories, even if I go on a tram and look at people. It's so interesting. I enjoy every moment, and turn them into the emotions when I play. Of course, I read, love movies, as most of us do.

I just talked to Peter Swinkels, and one thing really struck me. You take the same instrument, and two different people play totally different on the same instrument. So, everything comes down to personality that comes alive through that instrument.
When you listen to someone, do you like his or her playing because the personality somehow matches yours or there’s something more to it?

What matters most to me is that someone reaches my heart and stirs something within me. It doesn't matter whether this is the kind of sound I like it or not. If this performance tells me something that makes my heartbeat rise, that's the personality I go for.

I always had a very broad spectrum of musicians that I liked, musicians that play different instruments, but especially singers. I love opera anyway – the drama, characters, and the passion. I like that!

There are so many different and brilliant singers out there, and sometimes when we go with my family on a car trip to Sweden (my husband is Swedish), we pick one opera aria from some opera what we like and listen to as many singers as we can find. Since we have extended family of seven, these trips are the best, and we all love that! Many times, you can discover so much from that, and there you practice as well: to listen, and feel, rather than to watch, or read. Try to soak it up, and try to guess – so, you might guess the wrong person but get the right musician!
At the very end it's not the technique, and sometimes there are even little mistakes. It's about what it does to your soul, what emotions you get presented.

For example, when you play a concert and there are about 1500 people listening, you feel that connection with them, that moment, that energy that goes back and forth. Sometimes it’s so strong, that you can feel it right away, and it’s a great, growing momentum: to be present at it in a live performance, it’s very addictive and rewarding at the same time.