Joachim Becerra Thomsen

My education: I started playing the flute when I was 10 years old. Years later, I got my bachelor and master degrees at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and following that an Artist Diploma at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in sunny Los Angeles.

My favourite composition: Mahler’s 3rd symphony has a special place in my heart – it’s so all-encompassing. St. Matthew’s Passion by Bach is heart wrenchingly beautiful. I love Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as well.

My greatest musical experience: One of mine was recently playing Mahler’s 5th and Kindertotenlieder in New York. There was something special in the air that night. It felt like the atmosphere was boiling it was so intense. We were all on a journey together through the music, experiencing it, musicians and audience alike. We were alive. It’s wild to be inside the orchestra for that music. It feels like being on a stormy ocean with moments of complete tranquility. I hope I can be a part of giving someone their greatest musical experience!

My most memorable/funny/unusual experience in the Kapel: One of the first things I did in the Kapel was playing a cadenza on stage for Maskarade by Nielsen. The curtain I was standing behind got stuck and I had to jump out from behind it while playing the cadenza at the same time.

When I’m not playing in the Kapel: I spend time with my family and our labrador Alma, my boyfriend or my friends. I love going for coffee and to sit and talk for hours, playing cards, cooking (but not doing dishes), going to the cinema, or reading a good book – currently short stories by Anton Chekhov.