BIOGRAPHIES
Nathalie HOUTMAN followed a double course in piano and recorder: she obtained a first prize in piano at the conservatory of Mons and also graduated with the highest distinction in recorder at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the class of Frédéric by Roos. She studied for a year in Amsterdam with Walter Van Hauwe, before heading to The Hague where she obtained her Master of Music. She has performed with the Pastorella with whom she records Corelli's concertos grosso, with the Les Muffati ensemble, the More Maiorum ensemble, the Alba Novella ensemble, the Laterna Magica ensemble (recording of the CD Exercitium as well as the CD Opera Minima, Handel with care), the Sirocco ensemble (recording of the CD Pedrini) and again within the Apsara ensemble in a repertoire of contemporary music.
Her interest in extra-European music from oral traditions led her to India with the Indian flute master Harsh Wardhan to study Bansuri (Indian flute), to Paris with Sozan Shiaki Karya for the Shakuhachi flute (Japanese flute) as well as to François Picard for the xiao (Chinese flute).
She is the 2007 laureate of the Belgian Foundation for Vocation as well as the international Bonporti competition with the Sirocco ensemble
Nathalie Houtman is assistant to Frédéric de Roos at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Her interest in sound, dance, voice and their therapeutic functions led her to follow the Peter Hess, Benezon, Tama-do training courses.
Laura Pok was born in 1976. In 1994, she entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where she obtained first prizes in harmony, counterpoint and music history with distinction, as well as higher diplomas in recorder (class of Frédéric de Roos), solfeggio and chamber music (class of Guy Van Waas, Royal Conservatory of Mons), all three with great distinction. Laura Pok performs and records with numerous ensembles (Les Muffatti, La Cetra d'Orfeo, La Chapelle des Minimes, La Lettera amorosa, Sferarte, Les Agrémens, Scherzi Musicali, Alba Novella Brussels Consort, Ensemble 21...). She has also performed as a soloist with the Orchestre de chambre de Wallonie, La Pastorella, the Chapelle de Tournai, the Ensemble Orchestral de Bruxelles, Il Gardellino, Desafinado... She has given numerous concerts in Europe, America and Asia, as well as masterclasses. Her discography includes Incipit, recorded as a duo with organist Cindy Castillo on the Maredsous organ and Exercitium, transcriptions of Bach works and Opera Minima, Handel with care with the ensemble Laterna Magica.
Laura Pok teaches the recorder in music academies, as well as reading-transposition and recorder consort at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In her spare time she plays the viola da gamba and violone and has a law degree. She won a first prize at the Axion Classics competition.