School of Music student Dante Costa is a semi-finalist in 2023 Australian Flute Festival’s Open Flute Competition

Student Dante Costa is one of the eight semi-finalists competing in the prestigious 2023 Australian Flute Festival’s Open Flute Competition. The festival is a biennial international event and the theme for this year is ‘Celebrating Reconnection’.

“I was shocked to discover that I had advanced to the semi-final round and feel honoured to have made it so far in the competition. I think this will be a great opportunity to put myself out there, connect with other Australian flautists and gain personal experience in a more professional setting,” Dante said.

“It will certainly be a challenge preparing for the semi-finals in addition to my studies, work and personal commitments, but I am working hard to give it my best. Regardless of the outcome, I am thrilled to have made it this far and am looking forward to what comes next.”

Dante will be travelling to Sydney to compete in the semi-final on 20 September 2023. He will be performing select movements from "Introduction and Variations on Trockne Blumen, D 802 Op.160" by Schubert and "Ocean Idyll from Nura" by Ross Edwards. The repertoire for the final round is "Sonata in D Op. 94" by Prokofiev and "East Wind" by Shulamit Ran.

In the first round, Dante recorded three solo works - "Fantasy No.1 in A Minor, TWV 40:2" by Telemann,"Mélisande" by Richard Meale and "Sonata Appassionata" by Karg-Elert.

Dante is a second-year Flexible Double Degree student pursuing Classical Performance at the School of Music and a Bachelor of Languages at the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at The Australian National University (ANU).

“I feel grateful to be studying at ANU which allows me to study both my passions simultaneously. I would love to be involved with some interdisciplinary study or work combining both my language and music degrees but I'm still on the path to discovering what that may look like. The uncertainty of it all excites me and I can't wait to see where it takes me,” Dante said.

Dante is grateful to the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences community for their support, especially his lecturers and peers at The School of Music.

“They have been incredibly generous with their time and guidance that helped me in my preparation. I am thankful for the assistance of my lecturer Dr Sally Walker who is a Senior Lecturer in Classical Performance (Woodwind) and ANU School of Music technical support staff members Matt Barnes and Craig Greening with the filming of my first-round recording as that was an integral part of my preparation for the competition,” Dante said.

The semi-final round of the Open Flute Competition (for 32 years and under) will be held at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on 29 September and the final round consisting of four finalists will be held on 30 September.

Written by Neha Attre