| Biography | Gaston Blanquart was a French classical flautist as well as a music pedagogue.
In 1900 he was hired by Édouard Colonne as fourth flute, and in 1905 became a solo flute of the Concerts Colonne, he held this post for 35 years. The creations in which Gaston Blanquart participated are numerous and of primary importance: Maurice Ravel: Une barque sur locéan (1907) and the Rhapsodie espagnole (1908), Claude Debussy: Danses for harp (1904), Vincent DIndy: Jour dété à la montagne (1906) etc. The greatest soloists performed with the orchestra: Raoul Pugno, Pablo de Sarasate, Alfred Cortot, Pablo Casals, Jacques Thibaud. Occasional conductors were Arthur Nikisch, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Gustav Mahler who directed his second symphony in 1910. |