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Stephanie Wagner

Flutes & RelaxationCoach

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Stephanie Wagner is the flutist of the Remix Ensemble/Casa da Música, Portugal. With this ensemble she has appeared in major European contemporary music festivals (Berlin, Paris, Strassbourg, Köln, Witten, Donaueschingen, Huddersfield, Barcelona, Budapest, Wien, amongst many others) and recorded for DaCapo Records, Numérica, Cavalli Records and Aeon. She has appeared as a soloist in pieces such as "Jupiter" for flute and electronics by Philippe Manoury, "...explosante fixe..." and "Mémorial" by Pierre Boulez, "Tempi Concertati" and "Serenata" by Luciano Berio and "Abyss" by Franco Donatoni. Recently she played the portuguese Premiere of Daedalus for flute and ensemble by Luca Francesconi. She has also been invited by ensembles such as ensemble recherche (Freiburg, Germany).

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Stephanie Wagner studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA, and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Germany. Her teachers include Benoit Fromanger and Fenwick Smith and Nathalie Schwaabe. She participated in masterclasses with Karl-Heinz Zöller, Jean Claude Gérard and Leone Buyse.

As an orchestral musician Stephanie Wagner was invited to be on trial with the London Symphony Orchestra (Solo Piccolo) and had engagements with orchestras such as the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nürnberg Symphony and the Munich Symphony Orchestra. She also returned frequently to Portugal to participate in concerts of the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa.

Stephanie received a scholarship from the chamber music foundation “Villa Musica” in Germany, and has appeared in festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, Austria, the Tanglewood Festival in the United States and the "Serate Mozartiane" in Sardinia, Italy, recording for radio stations and international labels such as the Bayerischer Rundfunk, WGBH, and Mode Records - New York.

A special interest has always been the work on period instruments, resulting in masterclasses and coachings with the Freiburger Barockorchester and K. Kaiser in Freiburg, Germany and concerts led by Harry Christophers, Laurence Cummings and Andrew Parrot.

In 2013 Stephanie was invited to be a soloist and to coach the orchestra of 100 flutists in S. Sciarrino's “Studi per l'intonatione del mare” in Casa da Música, Porto, conducted by Pedro Neves. She has founded the Academia de Flauta de Verão in Porto, Portugal, and the Ensemble Éolia, a flute quintet based in Porto.

She has taught at ESMAE (Escola Superior de Artes e Espectáculo do Porto), Universidade Católica (Escola das Artes),  Universidade de Aveiro and at ESART (Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas in Castelo Branco). Stephanie also maintains a private studio at home. She is a Powell Artist and has played a Verne Q. Powell Flute and Piccolo for 30 years. Her Alto, Bass and Contrabass Flutes were made by Eva Kingma, Holland.

In 2018 she received training to teach Progressive Muscle Relaxation, a relaxation technique she was first introduced to while still a student in the USA. She has since then translated the complete method and uses these exercises regularly in her teaching to help with common issues, such as stage fright, breathing problems and muscular tension. Since 2021 she is a certified Relaxation Coach (Academy of Sports) specialized in different relaxation techniques and breathing methods, to help deal with and prevent future stress situations and subsequent health problems.