Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes

"She's got a super good setup. I see an insane seriousness and discipline in her." Recorder teacher Dörte Nienstedt from the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen (HfK) goes into raptures when she talks about her student Hannah Voß. The 20-year-old was recently accepted into the support programme of the "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes". "This is one of the most prestigious scholarships Germany has to offer," says Bremen music professor Andreas Gürsching.

"I was incredibly pleased that it worked," says Hannah Voß. "I didn't expect it." She also appreciates the scholarship because of its extensive supporting programme. This includes, for example, musical and interdisciplinary spring and summer academies.

Hannah Voß began playing the piano "at a very early age" and has been playing the recorder since 2008. Even as a teenager, the native of Siegen won numerous prizes, including the national competition of "Jugend musiziert". In October 2018 Hannah Voß began her studies at the HfK, majoring in recorder, in the class of Dörte Nienstedt. "One rarely has such talented, gifted students", says Nienstedt. "From a technical point of view, she is very advanced."
Nienstedt attaches great importance to the "artistic-pedagogical orientation" of her class. "People learn to teach."

"At the moment I prefer to play 'Voice Flute'," says Voß. "It sounds darker and rounder than the alto recorder." The student sees her main focus as early music. Nevertheless, she is intensively engaged with contemporary repertoire. "Especially in contemporary music the recorder plays an important role", says Nienstedt. "Since the 1960s the recorder has been a pioneering instrument." Voß could "already play extremely difficult repertoire". Like Moritz Eggert's "Out of breath", which is considered one of the most difficult pieces of music ever written.

At the audition for the scholarship in Nuremberg, Voß not only showed her skills as a flutist. She also performed with the bassoon. At the HfK she has lessons with Benny Aghassi in baroque bassoon, dulcian consort and reed making. This offer was for the musician "in addition to Mrs. Nienstedt and the large early music department at the HfK, a reason why I wanted to study in Bremen". What she appreciates about the city of Bremen is the "great cultural offer". Nevertheless, Bremen is manageable and the university is located in the middle of the old town.