Prague Spring 2026 Competition First Prize Winner Maël Metzger
Maël Metzger is an emerging french artist that began to play the flute at 6 years old. After being formed in the regional conservatory of Paris, he entered the Paris Conservatory at 17 and participated in various prestigious orchestra programs like the Pacific Music Festival or the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival before starting to play in various national french orchestras. He recently won the first prize at the international Prague Spring competition at the age of 22.
What do you like best about performing?
I feel that I like different things depending on the type of performance. Being mainly an orchestra player, I would say that the moments where my sound blends with the one of the orchestra, especially the woodwinds, are the most enjoyable moments of any orchestra performance. I have the sensation of being part of a community, like an ant colony, and it feels like I am taking part of something bigger, larger and more important than my own life. I guess playing in an orchestra helps me disconnect from reality. For soloist activities I feel very different, quite the opposite, especially in competition settings, I feel very lonely when I perform and I feel like my life is at stake. What I like about it is that I have more freedom to experiment and render my vision of the piece the way I want. I would say that I feel vulnerable when I play as a soloist which allow me to play with a lot of honesty. When I feel like a performance reflected the person that I am and that people were touched by it, I feel like I accomplished something and that is that feeling that I am searching for.
What does your schedule look like for the next 6 months?
My schedule is a bit all over the place since a lot of stuff came up right after the competition. In the near future I will finish my master studies with my exam being in June and continue to sub in orchestras, that is all that I can say for sure right now !
What made you decide to participate in the Prague Spring Competition? How does it feel to have won this important competition? Can you share some tips that helped you along the way to prepare for this competition?
The Prague Spring competition is something that I wanted to participate to since I was a kid. I've seen all the best flutists go to final and win prizes, people that have been huge inspirations to me, Yubeen Kim, Denis Bouriakov, Joséphine Olech, Yu Yuan... It feels absolutely unreal to be the winner of this competition today, especially when I feel I have so much to improve. I will try to make myself worthy of that honor and always bring joy and happiness to people that listen to me. My work flow is rather chaotic so I would rather not give any advice regarding my practice, but what I can say is that having a strong, almost delusional mindset is the most important thing. Gaslighting myself into thinking that I could do it, that I could overcome any obstacle even if it seems unreachable was the key that made everything real. I tried to tricked my brain everyday into thinking that and it worked, even with all the insecurities that I carry. I would also say that the last week is the most crutial part so hang on until its over !
What are your goals personally? Professionally?
I go a lot day by day so its a hard question for me. I would say that my priorities are to stay healthy and to make the life of people around me a bit brighter and more interesting. Other than that I would of course really want to join a big orchestra position in the future, and to diversify myself in my musical activities, by creating some music with people that are more outside of the « classical music academic sphere ». Since this competition has already given me a lot of opportunities I also want to develop my soloist career.
Can you give us 5 quirky, secret, fun, (don't think too much about this) hobbies or passions?
For more regular hobbies I like to hang out with friends and spend some quality time with them, go out on walks, go to movies or visit stores without buying anything. I would say that beside that my main activities are making art, listening to as much music as I can and playing video games. In those three activities I find things to put in my flute playing. Making art is the thing that is the most similar to practicing flute. I draw or make puppets/figurines and I have to be quite demanding of myself to be able to reach a result that satisfies me. I find a lot of freedom in art making, I love seeing the things I create « come to life », its satisfying to have a finished product in my hands rather than to have a memory of a piece that I played well. I like the tangible aspect of a piece of art. Listening to music as a musician is crutial, not only « classical music » but exploring every genre is very important, it gives you new ideas that you would have never thought of, phrasing, dynamics/colors.. All of this can be found in any type of music and its a mistake for me to neglect anything that you can take inspiration from. Video games are the most immersive art form that exists, I find it so interesting that we can interact so much with an artistic vision without needing to be an artist ourselves. I feel like interpreting a piece can at times feel like being transported in a whole new world, and I get that similar sensation while playing a game.
What has been your greatest challenge?
Doing and winning this competition has obviously been my hardest challenge yet in terms of flute level, but I think picking up your instrument after failing something that you really cared about is a continuous struggle for all musicians, including me. So I guess that my greatest challenge had to be to not give up every time I wanted to.
What 3 things would you offer as advice for a young flutist?
I think every person that wants to become a flutist has to know that it is a beautiful job but that the world of music is really harsh. You have to always expect the worse and get back up after every disappointment which is not an easy thing to do. Perseverance is key, and to persevere you need to have people in your life that supports you. So my first advice would be to keep strenghthening your relationships with your friends, family, close ones, because they are your lifeline in this difficult career. My second advice would be to consume as much art as you can, of all kind, by going to the museum, reading books, watching movies etc... The brain is like a stomach, except you don't die if you don't feed it. To be a great artist you have to fill your brain with many creations and visions of other people in order to find your own. Lastly, I would say that it is very important to always remember why you are doing flute and what you are trying to accomplish with it. For me, as long as I make people happy with my music, there is no reason to give up, and I wish all the best to everyone that follows that path. In those troubled times, music has become more important than ever and if you are a musician reading this you can be very proud of yourself.
What inspires you the most in life?
It is hard to tell since I try to take inspiration out of many things, but if I had to choose one thing I would probably say that the courage it took for my mom to raise me was very inspiring.
Who were your music mentors? and what did you learn from them?
My first teacher was named Jean-Noël Bonmort, he taught me every basis of flute playing. I am very grateful for him to this day, he saw something in me and even organized a meeting between me and Emmanuel Pahud. My next teacher was Nathalie Rozat at the regional conservatory of Paris, she is the one that taught me most of the things I know to this day. With her I learned how to shape my sound, how to make it more pure and focused. I would never be where I am without her. And then when I entered the Paris Conservatory my teachers Philippe Bernold and Florence Délépine-Souchard helped me greatly increase my technical level, and mostly taught me a lot about phrasing, which has been extremely helpful. I am very grateful to all teachers and musicians that made me improve and I would like to use this space to thank them all dearly.
FOLLOW MAEL METZGER:
Instragram link : https://www.instagram.com/mael_metzger/
Facebook link : https://www.facebook.com/mael.mtzr/