The Dream
My life is but a tender dream
That I was born in order to dream;
And yet I scarcely dare to deem
That I am therefore lost, it seems.
For even if — as some have stated --
Romanticism’s out of sight,
Whoever holds art unabated
Must keep on fighting for its light.
                       Reinhard Treupel (1960)

I was born in Munich and grew up in a very creative family. My father especially was particularly devoted to the creative arts — he painted, practiced calligraphy, and wrote countless poems. He always encouraged me to follow my dreams and visions.
I believe it is a fundamental human need to express oneself creatively from the depths of the heart — whether through words, paintings, sound or otherwise. After discovering the Traverso for myself, I immediately felt that this instrument was an extension of my soul, that there were no technical barriers standing between myself and the audience. After studying modern flute in Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Vienna, I chose to specialize in historical flutes, continuing my training with Barthold Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Today I perform internationally with leading Baroque ensembles and orchestras and regularly appear as a soloist at major early music festivals. My recordings have been released on labels including Sony Music, Oehms Classics, Querstand, Pan Classics, Ramée, and Ars Produktion. It is important to me to record and publish music that truly resonates with me, together with colleagues with whom I share not only artistic collaboration but also a deep personal connection. A new CD has just been released, Telemann in the French Light (with Viktor Töpelmann and Ilhae Eizinger-Kim, BR Bavarian Radio / Querstand), and two more will be out in 2026: Suites by Robert de Visée (with Axel Wolf, Oehms Classics), and Music by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (with Sergio Azzolini, Francesco Galligioni, and Diego Cantalupi, Solo Musica).
Alongside performing, teaching has always been central to my work. I teach at the music universities in Munich and Regensburg and was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Music and Theatre Munich in 2024. I also give masterclasses worldwide, including in Japan, South Africa, Australia, and Central America. Since 2000, I have organized my own traverso and chamber music courses, creating spaces for intensive ensemble work and artistic exchange. In 2020, I completed the certificate program Music Physiology in Artistic Practice with Eckart Altenmüller at the Berlin Career College.

Marion 's website and Instagram

The first thing you do when you pick up your traverso to start the practice day, and why?

Before I even take the flute, I first mobilize my body. I do a few jumping jacks, then gently tap my body with fine Tapotements to awaken it, and I stretch the plantar fascia of my feet using a tennis ball to establish a well-aligned and grounded standing posture. My breathing becomes deeper and freer, and I begin to feel open and permeable. My stance naturally becomes upright and effortless. Once I feel well grounded, I begin to set my body into gentle motion, initiating a subtle swing from the sternum so that the arms follow the movement.
Only then do I take the traverso and begin my daily long tones starting with d². I take a deep breath and imagine that the room is already full of “d’s” - I choose the most beautiful one, draw it towards me, and place it mentally at the tip of my tongue. Then I release the air and let the D resonate throughout my body. This brings my mind fully into the present moment. From there I continue with long notes, staying attentive and focused, letting the Traverso sound as free as possible, while listening closely to the unique colour and characteristic of every single note.

Any recurring piece to play every day, and why?​

I like to begin with a chorale from Johann Sebastian Bach, which I then transpose several times so that I gradually move through all the keys. This practice not only helps me stay flexible in different tonalities, but Bach’s music also brings me very much to my inner center. After that I work mainly on the pieces I will be performing in the coming weeks or those I need for teaching and preparing lessons with my students.

Do you have a daily routine?​

I have a very large music library at home, and every day I try to discover a new piece from one of the works in my collection. In this way, I continually expand my repertoire and keep exploring new music.

What kind of goals do you set for your practice?​

In my practice I always try to stay connected to the idea of musical rhetoric—that every phrase speaks and carries meaning. My goal is to make the different affects audible and tangible. I imagine the music as an expressive text and try to make this text perceptible through sound, with as many colours, nuances, and moments of surprise as possible. At the same time, I work with a principle that the cellist and pedagogue Gerhard Mantel described as “rotating attention”; during practice, I consciously shift my focus from one aspect to another – intonation, articulation, sound quality, breathing, rhythm, or the physical ease of the body.
When shaping a phrase, I constantly ask myself: Where am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? This helps me understand the direction and inner logic of the musical line.
I also try to distinguish between more active and more passive measures and to follow the hierarchy of accents that arises from the harmonic structure. In Music, there are always questions seeking answers – much like in life itself.
Another important principle is to avoid playing too systematically. I try to vary things constantly – articulation, timing, colour, ornaments – so that music remains alive and flexible.
Finally, in every phrase I try to reveal its design - the essential structure that gives the musical thought its shape and clarity. Gradually I also work on increasing the tempo allowing the musical flow to grow naturally while maintaining clarity and expressiveness. In this way, different aspects of playing are integrated step by step without losing sight of the musical whole.
The musical text contains everything; it is my task and aim to grasp and convey its expressive meaning in all its inherent affects.
Efficiency and concentration are important to me, but equally important is a kind and attentive attitude toward myself and toward the instrument. Ideally, everything begins to flow, the body and the sound become more open and permeable, and by the end of a practice session I have reached at least a small intermediate result that moves the music forward. After all these years of playing the Traverso, it makes me still happy when I have enough time and peace and quiet to practise!

Do you do any systematic warm-up?

My daily warm-up includes shaping long notes dynamically, for example in the form of messa di voce or gradually moving from diminuendo to crescendo without stopping in between.

I like to challenge myself daily in playing long tones in piano in the high register. I also work on expanding resonance by changing the vowel shape, moving from i to a as singers do. This includes exercises with harmonics, overtones and undertones, and sometimes even singing and playing simultaneously.
Interval exercises combined with dynamic shaping and a flexible adjustment of the air speed for each note are essential for developing stable intonation.                                                                

                                                                                   et seq.
Scales and triads belong to my daily warm up program. I always practice them together with different articulation syllables such as ti, di, ri, and did’ll.
For articulation training I often draw on Trevor Wye’s articulation studies, or I do the A Minute of Tonguing exercise from Patricia George and Phyllis A. Louke, while for scale patterns I frequently use ideas from Taffanel-Gaubert or Mathilde Marchesi.

from Advanced flute Studies: The Art of Chunking, Patricia George and Phyllis A. Louke, Theodore Presser Company 2014

Ornaments—both essential and arbitrary—are also part of my daily warm-up. I like to integrate ornament exercises directly into scales and interval patterns and practise them in different keys, so that technical work remains closely connected to musical expression. As models for essential and arbitrary ornaments and their tasteful combination, I often draw on Hotteterre’s ornament table from op. 2 (1715), the tables IX - XVI in Quantz’s Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen, and Telemann’s Methodical Sonatas. These sources also served as an important inspiration for the ornaments on my recently released CD Telemann in the French Light.
Throughout my practice I focus on a sound that begins in the center, in the heart of the tone and can move freely from there in all directions—a sound that combines beauty with expression. This idea shapes the way I approach long notes, scales, and ornament- exercises.

Do you have a specific structure for warm-up and practice sessions?​

Yes, I usually follow a fairly clear structure. I begin with about thirty minutes of warm-up including the chorales by J.S. Bach. After that, I focus on specific challenging passages from the repertoire I am preparing for upcoming concerts. Once these sections feel more secure, I practice the works in their broader musical context. I also like to include some sight-reading of repertoire that is new to me, as this often opens the door to discovering new pieces and musical ideas.

Any distinctive characteristics of baroque flute daily practice vs. modern flute or other instruments?​

During my postgraduate studies in music physiology with Prof. Dr. Altenmüller, my final thesis focused on how playing the traverso can support and enrich the playing of the modern Boehm Flute, comparing the different approaches required by these two instruments. Through many years of collaboration with modern Flute classes, I have often seen how valuable this encounter with the historical sister instrument can be. The traverso reveals the music of the French, German, and Italian Baroque in a very direct way. Its different tone colours, the characteristic qualities of individual keys, and the use of cross fingerings make the stylistic language of this repertoire especially vivid. At the same time, practising the traverso can also benefit modern Flute playing by refining finger coordination, airflow sensitivity, and the awareness of the body as a resonating space.
A distinctive feature of daily practice on the Baroque Flute is that technique is never an end in itself, but always serves the musical affect. Ornaments therefore play an essential role and are closely integrated into scales, intervals, and musical gestures. On the traverso, tonalities are often practised with awareness of their specific colour and expressive quality, most commonly within keys of up to four sharps or four flats.
Since the traverso is not a fully chromatic instrument like the modern Boehm Flute, technical études written for the Boehm Flute are only partially suitable. Instead, much of the practice grows directly out of the repertoire itself. For me, practising the traverso is always a creative process. I often develop exercises directly from motifs in the repertoire I am working on, expanding them into longer sequences and transposing them into different keys, somewhat inspired by the preludes in Hotteterre’s L’Art de préluder (1719). This approach sharpens the inner sound imagination and keeps the player constantly alert – never on autopilot. The airflow feels less like driving in the fast lane of a motorway and more like moving along a winding country road. Equally important is a continuous engagement with the historical and stylistic context of the repertoire and its sources. Ultimately, this approach keeps daily practice closely connected to the expressive language of the music and prepares us to share it with the audience – from heart to heart.

What are the key elements and unmissable points of daily practice?​

For me, the key elements of daily practice begin with developing a centered and flexible sound. Long tones, resonance work, and careful listening are essential in order to shape the sound from within. Another important aspect is articulation and finger coordination. Working with intervals, scales, and ornaments helps to connect technique with musical gesture rather than treating it as something purely mechanical.
I also like to imagine a kind of inner text while practising. This idea is closely related to the concept of musical rhetoric, particularly Johann Mattheson’s idea of Interpunction in music. Thinking in terms of commas, periods, or exclamation marks can give phrasing, articulation, and breathing a very natural direction and helps the music speak more clearly.
Finally, I often develop exercises directly from the repertoire, which keeps the process creative and closely connected to the music itself. Daily practice should not be simple repetition, but a process of attentive listening, curiosity, and discovery. The key to all practice is to train the ability to hear the music before it is played-to cultivate the inner hearing that guides the instrument.

How long and distributed should warm-up and practice be?

There is no general rule for the ideal length of warm-up and practice. It depends very much on an individual’s schedule, life circumstances, and also on whether we are speaking about professional musicians or amateurs.
In my experience, practice units of about 45 minutes work very well. After that, a short break is important to allow the body and mind to recover before continuing. These pauses help maintain concentration and prevent physical tension. Mental practice can also be extremely valuable - studying the score, imagining sound and phrasing, or reflecting on musical structure.
Interestingly, historical sources offer similar advice. Johann Joachim Quantz, in his treatise Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (1752), likewise recommends practising attentively in shorter sessions rather than for excessively long periods, allowing time for rest so that both body and mind remain fresh. (X. Hauptstück, §23)

Any  specific tip to address difficult technical passages during daily practice?

When working on difficult technical passages in daily practice, I find a few strategies particularly helpful.
First, it is important to identify the main notes of a phrase in order to understand its core musical idea. Once the essential structure, the design, is clear, the passage often becomes much more vivid and easier to shape musically.
I also recommend grouping notes into meaningful units, which helps both technically and musically.
Another useful approach is alternating between slow and fast practice. Fast playing activates different cognitive and motor processes than slow playing, so moving between the two can help the passage settle more naturally.
Further strategies include “chunking” small sections, practicing difficult spots from memory, and mental practice away from the instrument. Practicing passages with varied rhythms can also be very effective. In difficult passages, I often prepare the fingering first and only then play the note. In a way, this is similar to a string player placing the finger on the fingerboard before beginning the bow stroke. This approach supports a process of very precise preparation.
In fact, I believe that much of the real work in playing the traverso lies in this clarity of preparation. When the preparation is exact, the actual playing becomes much more natural — and ultimately a real pleasure.
Finally, it is very helpful to think slightly ahead of what you are playing, and — very importantly — to sing sections of the phrase. Singing often clarifies the musical direction and phrasing in a very direct way.

Are there any tools that are particularly useful for practicing?

I very often use a metronome for checking and stabilizing tempo. But also thinking counter-moves is very helpful for maintaining a steady pace. Sometimes I use a tuner for sustained bass notes to which I add different intervals. However, the sound of a tuner is rather sterile, and intonation needs always harmonic context. For that reason, I find it much more effective to practise intonation in ensemble playing. This is something I also emphasize strongly in my teaching.
Audio and video recordings are another tool I use quite often, as they provide very honest and useful feedback on sound, intonation, phrasing, and posture.
Feedback from my students - anyway they are my best teachers 😉- and colleagues is extremely valuable for me. Ultimately, attentive listening remains the most important tool.

Any other general advice, suggestion, tip?

A general piece of advice would be to begin with the music itself rather than with the problems. Starting from the musical idea—the character, the affect, the sound you want to create—often helps technical questions resolve themselves more naturally. I also encourage students to look for inspiration beyond their own instrument. Listening to singers, string players, or keyboard players can be especially enriching.
Another important aspect is patience. Musical development requires a long breath: not everything needs to be achieved immediately. Allowing things to grow gradually often leads to deeper and more lasting results. Practicing is repeatedly placing yourself into a state of becoming. There’s never a clear sense of arrival—only a continual process of drawing closer. In that way, practicing feels less like repetition and more like transformation: an ongoing reshaping of technique, perception, and ultimately means of expression.
And finally, it is important to remain kind and respectful toward both yourself and the instrument. Practising should be a dialogue rather than a struggle—an attentive and curious process in which sound, technique, and musical expression can develop together.

How do you advise your students as far as structuring their daily practice?

I usually leave the exact structure of daily practice to my students. I trust them to organize their work independently, while of course remaining available to support them whenever they need guidance. In my teaching however, I try to work in a very structured way so that a clear and meaningful practice plan can naturally grow out of the lesson itself. One recommendation I often give is to begin the day with the baroque flute before moving on to the classical flute.

Do you suggest or teach a warm-up routine?

Yes. A warm-up routine - both a physical and a warm-up with the instrument - is a helpful framework, but it should never become rigid; ideally, it supports what the musician needs most in that moment or at a particular stage of development.

Are there any specific pieces particularly beneficial to be played regularly in daily practice?

I highly recommend the sonatas from L’Alphabeth de la musique by Johann Christian Schickhardt. It’s beautiful music and at the same time excellent training for developing familiarity with different keys and finger patterns.
Quantz’s Caprices and the solo pieces by Jean Daniel Braun are also excellent material, as they combine technical challenges with expressive musical writing.
​Telemann’s Fantasias are, of course, central repertoire for the traverso. 

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