When and where was your first concert with the MCO?
Don Giovanni in Lyon 1998: it was like a dream!

What is the best thing about being a musician?
The chance you are given to always and constantly search for beauty, for essence, for depth via the spirits of great (or less great) composers; to be directly in contact with your own soul and the listener's soul as well.

The most inspiring composer:
Beethoven: his quartets, his piano sonatas, his symphonies. It contains everything of life and I can always listen to it, in all circumstances and in all moods.

The first piece of music you fell in love with:
The Rumanian music of the violinist and composer Grigoras Dinicu: As a child I listened again and again to the old small record which my father had found on a market. It is Dinicu who inspired me to play the violin.

What is your most memorable moment with the orchestra?
There are so many memorable moments, memorable concerts, memorable tours and memorable parties. We played with great conductors and great soloists. But what I would like to recall is the one time it didn't work so well with a conductor and the orchestra decided just before the concert to just play and take initiative itself no matter what. I was impressed by the strength and the attitude of the orchestra, an orchestra made by intelligent and sensitive musicians that listen to each other constantly (and not only on stage…). And at that memorable concert the orchestra took the responsibility to respect the music in first place. I am grateful to be part of such an ensemble.

BIOGRAPHY
Naomi Peters studied with Lex Korff de Gidts in Utrecht, where she graduated with the highest distinction for her Bachelor exam. She continued her studies in Amsterdam with Istvan Parkanyi. Charles-Andre Linale and Herman Krebbers were other important and inspiring teachers, and for chamber music her mentors were Milan Skampa, György Ligeti and the Altenberg Trio Wien.

In 2008 she took on a position as a leader of the second violins of Holland Symfonia, which keeps her in Amsterdam for half of the time. The other half of the year she travels around the world with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, where she has been a regular member since 2001.

In addition to her work in orchestras, she has a great passion for chamber music. With the Delos Ensemble, which won the competition Vriendenkrans van het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, she has performed concerts in the Netherlands and travelled on special tours to the Middle East and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Since 2004, she has been primarius of the Jenufa Quartet, which regularly performs classical and romantic repertoire and collaborates directly with the composers in performing contemporary Dutch compositions.