The Austrian flutist Birgit Ramsl enjoys an excellent reputation as a versatile soloist, sought-after chamber
musician and passionate and successful teacher. In 2004, while she was still studying, she became principal
flutist with the orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper.
Andras Adorjan | 5.11.2016
Flute Voyage CD
Congratulations! It's a pleasure to listen to her. She never plays the flute in an ostentatious manner, but rather lets the music take center stage. Nevertheless, her interpretation is very personal and convincing.
"
Edwin Baumgartner | 11.10.2015
Wiener Zeitung (A)
Flute Voyage CD
The flute virtuoso Birgit Ramsl embarks on an exciting musical journey from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's well-ordered late baroque to Toru Takemitsu's expansive Air. Further stations: Schumann romanticism by Carl Reinecke, agile French-style neoclassicism by Jean Francaix and Russian form by Sergei Prokofiev. Olivier Messiaen's enraptured "Merle noir" hardly ever sounded more intense and colorful than with this brilliant soloist!
"
Wiesbaden courier (D) | 19.4.2005
[...] Mozart's flute concerto with the Mozart Prize winner Birgit Ramsl was carried in the first movement by a lightness that did not seem light-footed, but did full justice to the music. Birgit Ramsl is characterized by a soft and round flute tone, which came into its own in the piano passages. The flautist knew how to convince with agogic down to the smallest detail. And Max Pommer fully involved the orchestra in this piano-supported music-making, successfully tracing the main line of the composition, so that the Adagio in particular became a highlight of this last concert of the season. [...]
Born in Krems/Donau, Birgit completed her studies in 2005 with Wolfgang Schulz and Barbara Gisler-Haas with distinction at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) and completed a master class course from 2002-2004 with András Adorján at the Munich University of Music and Theater. Member and solo flutist in Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Ingo Metzmacher and master classes with Aurèle Nicolet, Emmanuel Pahud, Pierre Yves-Artaud and Michael Martin Kofler shaped her education.
The young winner of numerous national and international competitions received the first prize and special prize of the Anton Bruckner Society of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1996 at the Austrian competition "Jugend musiziert", in 2000 the first prize and special prize at the renowned Austrian competition "Gradus ad Parnassum". In 2001 she was a prizewinner at the International Music Competition "Pacem in Terris" in Bayreuth, received the "Mozart Prize 2004" in Wiesbaden and in 2005 was a prizewinner at the International Flute Competition "Jean-Pierre Rampal" in Paris.
As a soloist, Birgit has performed all major flute concertos in Europe and Asia with various orchestras such as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Camerata Hamburg, the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra, the baroque ensemble of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights include performances as a soloist at venues such as the Seoul Arts Centre/South Korea and the Tokyo Opera City Hall/Japan.
Her enthusiasm for chamber music in a wide variety of formations has taken her to major festivals around the world: Salzburg Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Richard Strauss Festival, Festival Latinoamericano de Música Caracas, Murten Classics, Grafenegg Festival, Liszt Festival Raiding, Attersee-Klassik Festival, Millstätter Musikwochen, Rheingau Music Summer and New Music Week Shanghai. She is a founding member of the Trio Partout (flute, viola & harp), the Harmoniemusik of the Vienna Volksoper and a member of the Theophil Ensemble Vienna, of ensemble xxi. century, the Salzburg Orchestra Soloists and the Mozart Ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper.
Her discography includes Prokofiev Sonata, Messiaen's Le Merle Noir on the album "Flute Voyage" (Gramola/2005), Debussy Sonata with the Trio Partout on the album "Farbenspiel" (CCR 2010) and the Brahms Serenade on the chamber music album "Premier Plat" with the Theophil Ensemble Vienna (CCR 2011). In January 2022 her new album "The Bird of Life" was released with world premiere recordings Naxos for which she has already received excellent reviews at home and abroad.
The former professor for flute (2014-2019) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) accepts invitations to master classes at renowned institutions and festivals around the world. She is also a welcome guest on jury panels at home and abroad.
She has been a board member of the since 2018 Austrian Flute Society which connects and supports professional flutists, flute students and amateurs by organizing concerts, workshops, master classes, instrument and sheet music exhibitions related to the flute.
Birgit plays a 18k/9k Muramatsu Flute, a wooden flute and an 18k rose flute by the brand Powell and Mancke Kopfstücke.