Directly after performing two concerts in Kiama on March 6, Ana de la Vega is flying off to Germany to play as soloist in a Haydn, Mozart and Arensky performance in Heilbronn, Germany.

This will be her second European tour this year. In January, Ana toured Bavaria and Poland for over two weeks, when she was soloist with the Bayerische Kammer Philharmonie in Augsburg for a Mozart Birthday concert then with the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland.

Ana is one of the most popular and well-known soloists on the European classical music scene.

She is highly praised for her “superior, masterly technique” (Fono Forum), her “feather-light playing” (Der Spiegel) and her “unobtrusive virtuosity” (Pizzicato).

Yet she still calls Kiama home, having started her musical journey at Kiama Public. And when she next comes home, she will be accompanied by a golden flute.

For some time, Ana has been the worldwide ambassador for the Japanese handmade Altus Flutes.

Until now, Ana has always played with a silver flute – actually, it is a combination of 15 different metals including silver and white gold, based on a design by famous French flute maker Louis Lot.

However, on her recent trip to Germany, some keys on her flute stopped working.

“Before the Mozart birthday concerts, the F, E and D keys weren’t working. I was stressed!

“I emailed my team at Altus to say help! And within eight hours this 10 carat gold flute turned up at the hotel.”

A handmade gold flute

She says it was time to move onto the superior flute.

“I have an attachment to my silver flute, but when I was in Poland, I played with a famous Norwegian conductor who said, “To be honest, you are the new flute Queen, and when you walked out with a silver flute, I was quite disappointed. Where’s your gold flute?”

Altus is sending her two gold flutes when she is next in Heilbronn, for her to choose one to bring back with her to Kiama.

“I once said I wouldn’t want to play gold,” she says.

“But now I’m a soloist and play a lot in front of an orchestra, you need a big sound (which is what a gold flute can provide).

“At the end of the day, you always end up sounding like yourself, it doesn’t matter the instrument. But the better the instrument the more help you have and the more freedom you have to think of other things.”

Ana and Daniel playing at one of their earlier intimate concerts in Kiama's historic Anglican Church, which has wonderful acoustics

Ana is excited to be returning to Europe for more concerts. She says she will probably accrue the most frequent flyer points of any of her colleagues as she goes back and forth.

“My latest trip to Europe was really quite lonely,” Ana says.

“I couldn’t go to restaurants or visit anyone in case I got COVID. Then I would have been two weeks in a hotel room and the tour would have been cancelled.

“It was so good to be back on tour. It was amazing to be back on stage. Audiences were at 50 per cent capacity and all masked.

“I spent time in Berlin with my coach and press agent and I feel we are all starting to get back on track.

“But I’m so keen to stay living in Kiama with my husband (violinist Daniel Rohn) and daughter.”

Ana will preview her new CD Paris at the Kiama concerts, playing works from the French Belle Epoque by Debussy, Ravel, Faure and Bizet with pianist Benjamin Koop.

March 6, Kiama Anglican Church, 2pm and 5pm

Tickets from www.trybooking.com/BWJYH