| Biography | Bettine Clemen enjoys an active International career as a soloist, recording artiste and orchestral performer. Her concerts presenting seven different flutes, bring together the varied aspects of her successful career as she presents popular music, light jazz and original compositions mingled with the classics and her unique brand of humor.
At age six , Bettine started playing violin, piano and recorder and concert flute at age 12. She gained her Master's degree of Music at the Academy of Music in Munich, where she studied with Prof. Walther Theurer. She also studied with renowned European flutists Aurele Nicolet and Peter Lukas-Graf, and took Master Classes with James Galway and Julius Baker.
Born in Bavaria, Bettine made her early career with such prestigious orchestras as 'The Munich Bach Orchestra', 'The Prague Radio Orchestra' and 'The Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg'. In 1978 she became solo flutist of 'The Belo Horizonte Symphony' in Brazil. The Amazon rain forests had a great influence on her own compositions and led to her recording 'Love Song to a Planet'.
Later she moved to the U.S.A. where she embarked on a successful solo career touring for Columbia Artistes. Her Christmas album with Guitarist Richard Patterson was nominated for the best Christmas recording of 1991 and has sold close to 300,000 copies.
Bettine was one of the first Western musicians officially invited by the Chinese government to perform concerts and teach Master Classes in Shanghai and Beijing.
In 1994 Bettine recorded her popular album, 'Forever', with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and in 1996 recorded her album 'Open your Ears to Love'. More recently she has recorded her albums, 'Echoes of Life'(1998), 'Salut d'Amour'(1998), and 'Communion'(2000). Apart from her world-wide performances in such prestigious venues as the Festival and Royal Albert Halls in London and the Lincoln Center in New York, Bettine has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, the Far East and on many different cruise ships as a cabaret artiste. |