UPH Conservatory of Music invites Italian flutist, Federico Dalprá, on the first week of March 2019. He is welcomed warmly by both students and lecturers of UPH CoM. On March 4-6, 2019 he shared his experiences in music to UPH CoM students through various events.

On March 4, 2019, Federico performed the Duo Faure with Amelia Santoso, an UPH CoM piano lecturer. To enrich the students, Federico also held a seminar on “Music and Run: When Sport Becomes a Tool for Musicians’ Time Management” while exercising with several students.

“Running will push you to enjoy nature and to communicate with the people around you. It will also make your body more fit. A fit body will result in better playing. As flute players, we get additional oxygen and our lung capacity will increase just by running,” explained Federico, who is also a fan of swimming.

The next day, Federico, having extensive experience playing in orchestras, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, shared his knowledge and experience in a masterclass, intended especially to students that play the flute.

“The masterclass is really enjoyable because the students here are extremely talented and have a high degree of curiosity. We focus on talking about music and interpretation. Each student has different needs, and this is interesting because we can then learn about a lot of different things. All in all, it is really an enjoyable experience to talk about sounds and how to practice good technique in playing the flute, because we can always train to play better,” he said.

Federico believes that openness is the most important thing in music and is something that all music students should have.

“Remember that being a musician will result in a bigger circle of relations. So, be open, befriend a lot of people, explore a lot of things, and don’t focus yourselves on only one type of music,” he explained.

Federico then performed in a concert held the following night, with UPH Symphonic Band. The concert was held to introduce CoM, as well as woodwinds in Indonesia, to the attendees. They played several soundtracks from different films. The soundtracks were arranged by UPH CoM Composition students.

The Symphonic Band is a band made by the Conservatory of Music students (CoM UPH) that comprises of those playing wind instruments, such as woodwind and brass, with percussions .

Federico, having only stepped foot once in Indonesia and having his first time outside Europe, gave highly positive responses on UPH CoM students.

“The college life here is superb because the students are encouraged to be close with each other and spend time together, and this is extremely important for students studying music. I feel like they are one family. They spend together and each of them wants to be better. For example, the Symphonic Band – the members know what they want and what should be ‘improved. They don’t need teachers to tell them how to do it – they grow together,” the flutist explained. “I am really happy to meet the lecturers here. They are extremely nice. I think this is a really good-quality university,” he added.

Federico hopes that his visit to UPH can help in the students’ journey in finding their potentials and self-esteem.

“I really hope that they can live their dreams and keep on pushing forward. They already have everything – they only have to go deeper into it. This is why I left them some tips on how to become a better musician. I hope that UPH Conservatory of Music can grow bigger and will attract more musicians, so that they can organize a larger orchestra. The more people involved in this campus, the higher the level that can be achieved. UPH CoM already has superb lecturers, so keep it up,” he explained. (wm)