How to be Expressive
    Warmth, depth, and honesty in performance must come from the emotions within us. When learning a piece of music, identify the emotional content of all of its passages. Ask what this bit of music is about. Decide whether it is playful, sad, serious, happy, tender, melancholic, painful, sweet, or mysterious.
    When we practice without feeling anything and only think about the technicalities of the flute, we cannot express anything, and even worse get used to playing that way. When practicing, always keep in close contact with the content of the music. Let it affect you both emotionally and physically.
    As part of your practice routine, incorporate the steps of a method actor.  In front of a mirror, portray happiness and then sadness. Try to actually feel emotionally what you are portraying. Notice how your whole body changes, and especially, how your breathing changes. Like actors, learn to feel the emotion you are trying to convey. Instead of seeking clarity of speech, flutists should use articulation and unforced tone projection to create appropriate inflexions.
    Another aid to studying emotion in music is to listen to recordings and performances by great singers. They have the benefit of text and are masters at bringing an audience to tears or laughter. Get some opera arias or art songs by composers such as Schubert, Fauré, and others. Study the text and play the tunes. Then portray the appropriate emotion with tone color, nuance, and phrasing while using the flute to sing instead of your voice.

Learn the Architecture of Music
    Passion is of no use without architecture. You will not build a house by happily throwing a bunch of bricks together. Music has structure and correct grammatical style. Many times a composer has not provided any expressive markings, you have to find a way to let the expression evolve. Figure out how to show the structure of a piece to listeners.
    There is logic to be found in the design of a musical line. Musical interpretation is governed by simple and natural rules that serve to enliven it. Know where a phrase ends and where a new one begins. In addition, learn to identify chord progressions, sequences and patterns, accentuate correctly, and give emphasis to the important spots without accenting the less important ones.
    In short, you should know the music inside and out. I don’t mean learning only the flute part but the full score, whether it is a sonata, chamber work, concerto, or symphony. Only in the full score can we find the complete information necessary to produce a memorable performance.

Speak Poetry At All Times
    You should also learn to exploit all of the flute’s possibilities in order to develop a set of expressive tools that allow a clear and varied interpretation of the music. If you keep the same tone color, volume (mezzo forte or worse, forte!) and vibrato throughout, the audience will be bored to tears. You should not only have a beautiful personal sound, but also clear and expressive articulation, the ability to play in many nuances (piano-shadow, forte-light, and all nuances in between), and a wide palette of colors. When you learn the musical language so well that you can naturally speak poetry at all times, you will be able to deliver a clear and moving musical message.
    To practice these expressive tools, Raymond Guiot taught his students to use the second section (Suppleness in the Low Register, page 10) and the third section (Attack and slurring of notes, page 15) from Marcel Moyse’s  De la sonorité. He used these exercises to practice those expressive elements that must be mastered by those wanting to be artists on the flute:

• Diverse nuances (Light and shadow, loud and soft, crescendo, diminuendo)
• Intervals
• Resonance
• Articulation
• Punctuation
• Accentuation

    The variations below incorporate all of these elements. By combining, mixing them, and creating your own, the number of variations is infinite. In other words, you will gain the tools and be prepared for any musical situation. I call this active practicing. The letters of the variations correspond to the letters in Moyse’s book. Play one variation per letter everyday.

    For more active-practicing ideas, take a look at the following Moyse books: 24 Little Melodic Studies avec variations, 25 Little Melodic Studies (Alphonse Leduc) and How I stayed in Shape (Marcel Moyse, Schott). They are full of little magical melodies and their variations. The melodies provide an excellent feel for the type of music to practice for expression. 
    Above all, this is the place to  experiment. Don’t be afraid to take musical chances. Give your practice melodies every ounce of energy and emotion you have. This will train you to do the same in performance. Remember, music has a natural life and really, the last thing we want to do is to give a plain, dull, and boring performance.

“Play from the soul, not like a trained bird!” (C.P.E. Bach) 

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The Schedule
     Flute Workshop opens with a recital by Jones, who chooses works that students may know from their own studies, as well as pieces in various styles and representative of different eras. This gives students the opportunity to hear an excellent performance while observing proper stage presence and learning audience etiquette. She presents daily master classes as well.
     Following breakfast each day there are morning warmups to prevent injury and cement proper playing technique. Jones’ warmups are educational and fun and warm up the body while helping students wake up. Full body movement prepares players for a full day of music. Flute warmups follow, starting with the headjoint, then adding the flute body, and finally playing long tones, scales, and other technical patterns from memory.
     Following the warmup session, students rotate through a masterclass with Jones, a theory class, and chamber ensembles. Phil Stoecker, a Flute Workshop and O.S.U. alum who currently teaches music theory at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York, teaches the theory classes. His classes are challenging to teach because participants have varying degrees of prior music theory training.
     For chamber music, students are assigned to flute trios, quartets, and quintets, based on informal auditions held when they arrive at camp. Each ensemble is named for a famous flutist, such as James Galway, Renee Siebert, or Jean-Pierre Rampal. Students are encouraged to learn as much as they can about their ensemble’s namesake.
     Each ensemble is coached by either a college flute major or Jones, and the groups rehearse twice a day every day. During scheduled chamber music times, ensembles sightread music for their instrumentation, select a piece, and prepare it for performance at the closing concert. They also practice performance skills, such as entering and exiting the stage, performing without a conductor, and bowing.
     After lunch, all students and counselors participate in a flute choir rehearsal. Special opportunities are available for interested students to play piccolo, alto, or bass flute in this large ensemble. Counselors stand behind the seated campers and play along, serving as models of good tone, technique, and musicality.
     In 2008 jazz flutist Kris Keith guest-conducted the flute choir for a performance of his original composition, Cute. He also brought a rhythm section to accompany the flute choir for this jazzy work.
     Afternoons are filled with elective opportunities for students, and they may choose to participate based on their own individual interests. All students receive one private lesson with either Jones or a graduate flute major. Recent electives have included special sessions on instrument repair, playing duets, checking pitches with a tuner and tuning chart, working with SmartMusic software, experimenting with alto and bass flutes, and extra lessons. Catherine Hope-Cunningham, the Admissions Coor­dinator for the School of Music, also led a special question-and-answer session about the admission process at O.S.U. and general admission information relevant to any college or university. Following dinner, campers have an evening chamber music rehearsal, followed by a special event. These may include listening to the college students perform, skits, and even a candid conversation between high school and college students about college life.
     On the final evening participants perform in a formal solo recital followed by a pizza party and quiz game with prizes that cover information learned throughout the workshop. The following day the workshop ends with a closing concert after lunch, in which each chamber ensemble performs and the large flute choir plays.
     The value of attending a summer flute camp cannot be denied. Find one in your area and discover the benefits of mingling with students from other schools and private teachers with new perspectives on music and the flute. You will discover music you didn’t know about, gain a sense of your playing level as it relates to others, and make contacts that may last a lifetime.

(For more information on The Ohio State University High School Flute Workshop see , jones.6@osu.edu, 614-292-4618)

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Relax
    When you have only 15 minutes to practice, the temptation is to tense up and get to work. This is counter productive. After a long day, your jaw may be tight and your shoulders tense; your toes may be curled, and your feet may hurt. Your eyes may be tired from over-head fluorescent lights.
    Turn off the fluorescents and try a more soothing lighting or even darkness. Take a few minutes and breathe. One-nostril breathing is great to get you centered. Simply close one nostril with your index finger and breathe a few times on one side only. Then switch sides. After a few cycles, breathe normally. You might even close your eyes during the process. Let your jaw and arms hang loose. Separate your toes and enjoy taking up more space with your body. This is your time of the day. Learn to practice smart and relax.
 
Headjoint Octaves
    As the reed is to the oboe, clarinet, or bassoon, the headjoint is to the flute. It holds the secrets to fine playing. When you have limited practice time, practice octaves on the headjoint alone. The parabolic curve of the headjoint causes the octaves to be out of tune. The lower A will be sharp and the upper A will be flat. So goes it.

    Start on the low A and play several counts with a good spinning vibrato. Then scoop up to the upper A. Be careful that the vibrato does not stop and start anew as you land on the upper note. It should be continuous throughout the two notes. Enjoy the beauty of the lower A and then the energy of the scoop up to the higher A. Try to make each note ring as much as possible.
    After a few minutes, practice some tonguing, still only on the headjoint.  Start with a single-tongued quarter note followed by a rest. Think perfection. You want to create a beautiful beginning to the sound. The tongue releases the air. Be sure that the air does not precede the tongue. A hooting effect results when the air comes before the tongue. After a few single strokes, practice the back stroke of double tonguing. I prefer the Key sound for the K rather than a Ka or Koo. The K should be as far forward in the mouth as possible.
    Once you have been successful on both the T and K strokes, do a series of TK on one breath. Remember to keep the vocal folds separated. If these two exercises are all that you have time for, then be pleased that you have now worked your embouchure, vibrato and articulation.

Run the D
    This is one of the best exercises for checking that your lips are in the optimum position to produce a ringing sound. Finger from low D up to the second octave C# chromatically while overblowing to the third harmonic partial.
    Play this 12-note scale several times on one breath, slurred up and down. Once you can do it well without any notes dropping to a lower partial, you know that your embouchure is in the best position to play with a ringing sound. I suggest inserting this exercise into your practice session every few minutes to be sure that you are always playing with the best possible sound .

Balance the Flute
    Much of my practice is dedicated to balancing the flute well. We should avoid holding the flute mainly with the left or right hand. It should be balanced between both hands. The fingers should move from the third knuckle (except for the left index finger), and there should be no movement of either elbow. Remember to let the arms hang. When you are tired and stressed out, the tendency is to lift the elbows and let the shoulder rise.

Play Fast
    Most of our time during a long teaching day is spent playing with students, who tend to play slowly. Slow playing can be our enemy, because we leave our fingers down too long and use too much finger pressure. Kids play slowly because that is all that they can do. Professionals, on the other hand,  should practice playing fast.
    You need to remind your body that you are a professional. Start by practicing a round of trills that switch from one hand to the other. For example: play an F to G half note trill (in first or second octave) followed by a G to A half note trill. Place a rest in between each set. The F finger is a strong finger, while the G finger is a weak finger.  The strong finger tends to lead the weak finger to move more quickly. After a few sets of these two trills, progress down and up the flute by trilling E to F and then A to B. The last set will be D to E and B to C. 
    When you have completed each cycle, make up a pattern so that you can practice moving any finger on the flute with no excess movement in the elbows. Be sure to put a rest in between each trill pattern. This rest helps you remember to play on the exhale. Then insert the Run the D exercise to calibrate your embouchure.

Round of Scales
    If you play scales in 16ths at a metronome marking of 96, you can play all the major and melodic minor scales in about two minutes. Little time to practice is no excuse for not practicing scales every day.
     Vary your practice by playing scales using the following skills: single-tongued T, K, double-tongued TK, HAH (throat staccato), and slurred. Experiment with the dynamics. Try forte on the ascent and piano on the descent. I like to practice all the scales grouped in six notes, up and down three times in one breath. As before, insert the Run the D exercise to calibrate your embouchure.

Five-Note Patterns
    When pushed for time, practicing five-note patterns in major keys offers the most benefit. Most students start these patterns on the first octave D and ascend by half steps. For advanced practice, start the five note pattern on the third-octave G, which will take you up to the fourth octave D. Then repeat each five note pattern descending by half steps.

    This is also beneficial for maintaining breath control, one of the first things that goes when we don’t practice. Starting at the top of the range and working down uses great air from the beginning of this exercise. Then, insert the Run the D exercise to calibrate the embouchure.

What Else?
    During a three-day practice cycle, you should be able to cover chromatic scales, thirds and sixths, arpeggios (major, minor, and diminished), and seventh chords. Portion out the material with the time that you have. Taffanel & Gaubert’s 17 Big Daily Exercises is an excellent source for this material. 

Preludes
     In his magnificent book The Flute, Ardal Powell reports that Hotteterre describes the prelude in L’Art de Preluder (1719) as a “spontaneous musical form suited to intimate or even solitary performance.” This type of music was made up on the spot by performers, who first announced the key and then began playing. During this improvisation players might modulate to several keys before returning to the primary tonality.
    These little snippets of music were rarely written down, and the gestures included in them ran the gamut from virtuosic to slow and expressive. Sometimes performers played several preludes before performing the announced composition, or they might play a prelude before each movement of a sonata. I have often wondered if they improvised a prelude as a way to warm up the flute and their lip or if the technical feats developed in this style influenced the modern etudes that we play today. I suppose we shall never know. Preludes are very similar in style to cadenzas. 
    Before you begin improvising your own preludes, examine those written by Gariboldi (Art of the Prelude) and Furstenau (24 Exercises, Caprices and Preludes, Op. 125 and 26 Exercises, Op. 107). I especially enjoy the Op. 107, because each prelude is followed by an etude in the key of the prelude.

Benefits of Preluding
    Whether you create your own or play preludes by Gariboldi or Furstenau, the gestures in this genre offer wonderful rewards for flute players. The first note of a prelude is a usually a whole note under a fermata, which gives you ample opportunity to let the note blossom and then decay or taper. There are also opportunities for color or timbre changes. Most preludes incorporate arpeggios, gruppettos, chromatic scales, wide leaps, trills, dotted rhythmic figures, rests or silences for expressive purposes, wide-range leaps, and repeated notes that either increase or decrease in speed. In essence, they include everything for a dramatic, virtuoso, expressive performance. Because these preludes are only a few lines long, it doesn’t take a lot of time to work on one. I have found that playing a few preludes during my practice day increases my flexibility; then when I start practicing solo repertoire, I am truly warmed up. They are also fun and satisfying to play. After you have explored the notated preludes of others, try composing some of your own.

Monthly Rotation
    As teachers we want to demonstrate for our students, but if we don’t practice the standard etudes, solos, and concertos regularly, we may be embarrassed by how we sound. Most days I rotate through four to ten etudes. My favorite etude composers are Berbiguier, Andersen, Altes, Hugues, and Casterede. I also rotate through the J. S. Bach and K.P.E. Bach sonatas, as well as the Mozart concertos and French Conservatory pieces. If your students are working on the major concerto repertoire, you should add those works to your list. This type of practice rotation not only keeps us up to date, but is a reminder of how satisfying it is to play this wonderful music. 

On Your Stand
    There should be something on your music stand that you just love to play, so that at the end of a practice session you have a nice reward. This composition can also serve as the impetus to get you through the repetitive parts of maintenance practice. While we may not get two hours straight to practice, we can become the artists of several great 15-minute practice sessions each day. 

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First Movement
The Opening
The opening takes a standard four-bar melodic phrase and plays it over the piano’s hushed backdrop of eighth notes that set up an almost too-sweet atmosphere, one that will evolve dramatically. The initial tempo marking of 40 to the quarter note and the dolcissimo possible (as sweetly as possible) put a strain on the performer to exercise supreme breath and lip control over the phrase, to maintain simultaneously the pp  dynamic and exquisite tone color needed. Liebermann later revised the tempo upwards after concerns from performers that 40 was too slow to carry out the phrase successfully. While I agree that the original tempo may be extreme, its role of drawing out the line and spinning the breath to its limits must be preserved. This exertion is what creates the apprehensive note in an otherwise innocent-sounding melody of effortless beauty.
     One of the best exercises I know for the first four bars is to practice them pp an octave higher, which provides the faster air speed and more concentrated embouchure position to produce the slight spin and support necessary in the lower octave to grip the sound. I use the image of finding my way through a dense fog cutting carefully with a small, powerful band of light. How this translates to a specific mood is your choice, whether it’s rich, pale, dark, hard, soft, etc. What is crucial is deciding upon the mood and selling it to the listener.
     Experiment with alternate fingers for the high notes in the first section (F# in m.7, A and B flat in m. 15-16), to gain a more transparent sound. For F# and G, use the pinky on the low C#  key. For A to B flat, use the same low C# plus the thumb-Bflat key, then move to B flat with left first finger, hold thumb Bflat and right first finger, add the first trill key and the F# key.
     Breathing is the other factor to consider in the opening phrase. In most performances I have heard, flutists breathe after the D#, halfway through the phrase. I urge you to play the entire phrase in one breath, which is much more effective in maintaining the suspense inherent in the line. This may be the determining factor in your tempo, which should work as long as you are somewhere between the 40-60 metronome marks.
     To practice extending your breath, play Taffanel-Gaubert’s Daily Exercise #4 pp with a concentrated sound at half note = 50, as with the Sonata opening, and go absolutely as far as your breath will take you – to the point of losing the sound but still pushing out the last bits of air. Next time try to surpass your previous limit, always extending to the point of emptying your air supply completely. Then try the same thing with the Sonata, playing beyond the point of good tone, until you make it to the end of the phrase. Then work to extend only to the end of your desired sound; you should feel air pressure all the way through but not the strain you may have felt while pushing past your safe limits. This is also, by the way, a good slow-motion approach to Taffanel-Gaubert’s Daily Exercise #4, to examine steady air flow and consistent sound through the scale pattern. It is effective when done at the loud end of the dynamic spectrum as well.

The Second Section
     The first emotional outburst occurs at measure 30 and requires sudden force and intensity in all three registers. Two etudes from Harold Genzmer’s Neuzeitlche Etuden (Schott, vol. 2) are very useful for developing a loud, focused tone in all registers and have a fierceness of spirit similar to that in bar 30.

     Etude No. XXII (22), marked Feroce, begins in the third octave and works its way down to the first in varying degrees of forte and accented staccato articulation.
     Etude No.XX (20) has more interval leaps, trills, and upward runs, all of which mirror the second outburst in the Sonata between bars 55 and 60.

     There are moments in both of these sections when flutists feel overpowered by the piano’s thundering away in the style of a huge Liszt piano etude, which is part of the reason this work is so attractive to us. So much of our repertoire is light and airy. Having a true Romantic work in the full-blown manner and modern harmonic language of the late 19th-century composers fills a large gap in the flute sonata repertoire. Most of Liebermann’s scoring is well-balanced between flute and piano, and my attitude about the moments when he pulls out all the piano stops is to play into the Romantic thunder and not worry about being covered. If you keep maximum focus, especially in the descending scale in bar 32 and the sextuplet runs in 56-7, the effect will be that of an orchestral flute adding to the overall texture – something akin to playing big tutti passages in a Tchaikovsky symphony.

The Transition
Measures 36-48 are a transition to the next major section. At Tempo I in bar 36, Liebermann indicates the original tempo quarter=40. At the Piu lento in bar 42 he changes the beat unit to eighth =72. Consider the subtle difference between how you would play the 16ths leading into bar 39 in quarter pulses as opposed to the 16ths leading into 41 with an eighth-note pulse. Then consider the Piu lento: eight beats per measure ma cantando (but singing).
     I often hear performances in which the pulses are reversed, eighths for the first figure (which is certainly grouped that way into two-note slurs), and quarters for the following phrase, which make it easier to keep the singing quality and get to the end of the phrase. Liebermann’s more natural transition from quarter to eighth pulse, and the additional weight in the phrase at Piu lento are important for preparing the next section at 49, especially through the incredibly long Grand Pause measure at 48. It takes courage to play this slowly and to hold breath and suspense during such silence, but you will have the audience mesmerized if you do it with the continuity and smooth intensity of line that Liebermann indicates.

The Third Section
     The section starting at m. 49 with its tight, dotted figures and long buildup takes great discipline of airstream and fingers. Though stylistically from another period, Donjon’s Etude de Salon #1, Elegie-Etude, is effective for achieving fluidity with the fingers in the same legato context as the Sonata. Trever Wye’s Digital Exercises from his Advanced Practice Book are also excellent for exercising the common trill-fingering patterns and learning finger independence. In Italian Liebermann asks us to start hesitantly and grow little by little but to remain rhythmically accurate: p, esitatante poco a poco f e ritmico. The magic at the start of this long crescendo lies in the performer’s ability to begin as quietly as humanly possible and to play the rhythms so tightly and smoothly that they are just tiny ripples under the airstream’s surface. Stay quite soft until bar 53, then begin the big buildup dynamically. The goal is to have m. 55 truly sound like an arrival and not simply another loud section.
     Two final often ignored score details  occur in the first movement from m. 60 onwards. At m. 62 the marking is estatico (ecstatic) under an eight-bar phrase that leads us to the final section. What this emotional state means to you and how you give it meaning will separate this phrase from the other lyrical ones in the movement. Vibrato speed, higher or lower partials in the sound, directional or more static line are some of the elements to consider in deciding how to deliver this phrase. It is a small indication that often gets overlooked or is not pursued far enough to make a difference to the listener.
     The final two lines of the movement, where the dotted figure returns, bear close scrutiny for phrasing. Many interpretations of bars 97-99 keep the passage connected by breathing before the triplet leading into the next measure, but the phrase marks in each measure go to the end of the measure, then start again in the next. By playing the measures as indicated, you break up the line, as though being stopped in your tracks and having to try again. This is what the composer intended, in my opinion, and it adds to a much more interesting interpretation of the ending. Phrase off the end of the triplet enough to make a space for a breath and come back in without letting another beat occur. This discomfort in playing the phrase can work to your advantage musically.
     The long, slow wind-up to the last note is marked lento, a piacere. Emphasis should be on the latter two words, at your pleasure, and will provide the freedom to shape bar 100 as you wish and defy the listeners’ expectations. 

Movement II
     The second movement, Presto energico, needs practically no musical discussion as it is a tour de force from start to finish. The main difficulty, apart from the notes themselves, which include some very awkward combinations that are harder for those who depend on the thumb Bflat, is passing from triple to duple back to triple meter again. Etude #9, rapido e brillante, from Karg-Elert’s Caprices Op. 30 is helpful because it goes back and forth between 6/16  in 2 beats per bar and one beat in 38. The etude is a bit easier than Liebermann’s passages because of the slurring pattern in the 38 bars of two-note groupings. In the Sonata each time the triple-to-duple phrase enters (bars 19-22), the articulations really emphasize the groups of three with accents and slurs in the  12/16  and the groups of four slurred 16ths in the  3/4  measures. The natural tendency is to slow down the groups in the 34 measures, and then the return to groups of three in bar 22 seems too fast.
     You can also write out your own exercise for these measures by continuing groups of three in 20-21, retaining the articulations but accenting in threes. You can group bar 19 in fours and continue in fours to the 9/16 bar, when you can group 4+2+3. Later in the movement when this juxtaposition occurs, the piano has more continuous 16th-note motion to steady the flute line. One reason the first presentation is so tricky is because the piano plays only chords in bars 20-21.         
     The extended lyrical section requires a broad wash over the piano’s insistent triplets but with an absolutely steady tempo; don’t give in to the temptation to slow the quarter-note triplets. Basically, the entire movement’s tempo does not change one iota and thus has a kinetic force that gathers strength by its simple presence and repetition. The final section from bar 165 to the end should be somehow even more than what preceded it. For the repeated E flats in 165, I suggest using the D-Eflat trill fingering of D plus the first trill key. This produces a raw, metallic sound, not pretty but very loud and penetrating and better in tune than the regular E flat at the fff level. With the groups of seven-minus-one in the last two lines, I start on a “T” and end with a “K” articulation. You get more sound at the start of the group, and you have a slightly easier time getting to the triplets three bars from the end. You might also wish to try the D-plus-trill key for the last D#’s.
     Technical mastery of this work depends on a commitment to practice long hours intelligently and with the help of a great teacher. Musical mastery is more indefinable but can also be practiced, by attending to the details in the score and by searching in yourself for the reasons you are moved by this great work. Make it your own statement – one that will ring true within your own heart and mind.       

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Cleveland and Maurice Sharp
   
Vinci was accepted and studied with Sharp for a year and a half, which she says was “one of the most remarkable experiences I have had. He brought the flute part for the orchestra performances that week to every lesson, and we would go over the music. I also made it a point to hear two Cleveland Orchestra concerts a week, serving as an usher.
     “I fell in love with the orchestral repertoire and with the idea of a musical community of people who work together. I know that many large organizations, whether musical or otherwise, have internal problems, but I really got a sense that the orchestra members respected what their former conductor George Szell had built and what they wanted to continue to be in the future. Their sense of pride was not so much egotistical, as it was respect for the ensemble.
     “It also struck me that the Cleveland Orchestra knew how to play like a chamber ensemble. Although my passion has never been to play in an orchestra, I learned so much from them that I was able to transfer into my field of chamber music.”
     “One of my favorite Maurice Sharp stories is two-tiered. As usual, one week he brought in the flute part for the piece that the orchestra was performing, which happened to be a new piece by Luciano Berio. Singers were interspersed throughout the orchestra, and a soprano was positioned right behind the first flute chair. In my lesson he was quite noticeably upset about the piece and the position of the singer and said that Berio did not know how to write for the flute. He proceeded to play a fast arpeggiated passage that went from the bottom of the flute to the top, with several peaks along the way. It was obvious to me that it was very technically demanding, but he sounded wonderful, and I told him so. He then played the same thing but with a few different notes. The sound of the passage was so impressive and shocked me so much that I literally jumped back. His response was ‘That’s what he should have written.’
     “When I went to the concerts that week, I noticed that at the first performance the piece was 40 minutes long. and at the second the same piece took only 20 minutes. Another interesting thing was that Mr. Sharp moved around as if he was having the time of his life. He usually maintained the traditional orchestral deportment without much movement.
     “At my next lesson I commented that he looked like he really enjoyed playing the piece and I had thought he didn’t like it. He winked and smiled, saying, “It’s all part of the job.” That was one of the best lessons I ever had.”
     The next year and a half, Vinci played a lot of gigs in Cleveland and studied with the Cleveland Orchestra’s second flute Martha Aarons. Many of those gigs were with string players, from whom she learned much about phrasing, tone, and articulation. “With string players you can associate what you see with what you hear. I tried to imitate what I was hearing. During that time I also practiced 10-13 hours a day. I was lucky to avoid physical repurcussions by being careful to play in a way that felt natural. I knew that if I was going to play well, I had to play a lot. I experimented a lot and established a strong physical foundation to my playing.”

New York City

     By this time Jan and Mark had married, and Mark was on the road with the Woody Herman Band. The band was on tour in New York City, and Jan went to visit him. While there, she called Carol Wincenc for a lesson. “Carol encouraged me to move to New York for further study, so I auditioned at Juilliard and Manhattan and was accepted at Juilliard on the spot. Carol was teaching at Manhattan School, and I really wanted to study with her, but she encouraged me to attend Juilliard. My plan was to study with each of the Juilliard teachers for one year, Sam Baron, then Julius Baker, and finally Paula Robison. However, plans oft go astray.
     “I had a very good year with Mr. Baron. Then, after a productive year with Baker, I realized that he wouldn’t take kindly to a student leaving his studio, so I stayed with him. However, I did get to work with Paula in masterclasses.

On Being a Student
     “I worked very hard, but in some ways, that made me a poor student. I tried to do every single thing that my teachers suggested. I wanted to learn what they were all about, but it is easy to lose your own voice that way. If you have the ability to do everything a teacher suggests, you should definitely go for it, however, then you have to figure out what works for you.
     “For instance, when I studied with Baker, I worked hard to capture his sound, the way he phrased, and hit certain notes. I started getting comments from people after concerts saying that I sounded just like Julius Baker. After a while I thought, but I would like to sound like me! It was a long process to delve into and try to capture the essence of all the great masters I studied with and then find my own voice. Acquiring the tools of musical language from them has made my voice stronger. I would not change what I did at all.
     “While all of my teachers were completely unique in their own style, there were two common elements that they all had: amazing articulation and extremely clear phrasing. They knew what they wanted to say and expressed it. As long as those elements are present, you can play effectively.”

Teaching
     Each year Vinci teaches 12-16 students and two or three flute ensembles at Skidmore College. “I like teaching at a liberal arts college. Having received two graduate degrees from conservatories, it is refreshing to teach students who can talk passionately about many subjects, and it is exciting to see them incorporate their other interests into their music.
     “A good example of this is the time that Carol Wincenc gave a masterclass for my students. She asked a student performing Prokofiev’s Sonata what she knew about the piece. The student proceeded to tell her all about the history of the piece. Sometimes conservatory students get so focused on playing the notes and interpretation that they forget to learn about the music.
     “Having studied with many great teachers, I believe that there are always various ways to solve students’ difficulties. I try to stay open and in a creative mode; this often allows me to come to a particular problem from a completely new direction. I find this especially true in masterclasses, where I hear so many different styles of playing.
     “I believe that everyone has the ability to express musical ideas. However, those with less experience may not be comfortable expressing their ideas. So, I work with students to reach inside themselves, sometimes without their instrument in their hands. If you take away the metal pipe and draw out their emotions, then when they pick up their instrument, they express themselves more freely.
     “This point never rang so true as when I started the Skidmore Flute Institute. The Skidmore Summer Programs give people a broad view of a particular subject, yet with a high degree of specificity. The administration asked that I gear the week of master classes toward flutists of intermediate to advanced level and include high school students, amateurs, and professionals. That meant I had to find a common ground within that diverse age and experience spectrum. Of course, the one common element was that all participants loved to play the flute. Key to that love is feeling that you can express your musical ideas. That has become my main goal for the flute institute.
     “First I organize the week so that each person is comfortable – whether in masterclasses, ensembles, private lessons, or recitals. Because masterclasses involve performing, establishing a comfort zone for each participant is a challenge. I believe strongly that teachers must be honest with students about their strengths and weaknesses right away, and then I can help them feel good about their present playing level, whatever it is. It helps to ask students to explain how they do a particular aspect of their playing – whether it is their sound, technique, stance, breathing, etc. This helps me know how best to take them from where they are to where they need to go.
     “The Institute also includes daily ensemble coaching, and players are assigned to groups according to their level. Because the ensembles are usually quartets with one on a part, each player has
to be able to hold their own. From this the younger ones gain a sense of pride, and the older ones have the opportunity to choose repertoire that has as much challenge as they want.
     “Each morning a faculty member presents a talk on various topics that might include interpretation, Bar-oque performance, taking auditions, performance anxiety, technical exercises, or tone warm-ups. This year our pianist Barbara Lee will offer a yoga class focusing on breathing and body alignment. With such activities as all these, all attendees are generally eager to perform on recitals during the week. That tells me that my mission for the Skidmore Flute Institute is accomplished.

Learning from a Jazz Musician
     “When we were first married Mark was on the road 50 weeks a year. To see him, I had to go out on the road with him, and I often traveled on the bus with the band. Those guys played in all types of performing situations, and yet they delivered every night. When I played one of my doctoral recitals at Juilliard, the hall was a bit cold, and I mentioned it to Mark. He responded, ‘I played in an outdoor concert with Woody Herman in Chicago and hail was bouncing off my saxophone bell, but we still played Caledonia.’ (a very fast chart). That put things in perspective for me.
     “I learned about phrasing from hearing Mark play with Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Rosemary Clooney, and other great singers. Mark also played lead alto with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and other big bands. He says the best education you can get is to get out there and play. However, when the Skidmore saxophone position opened up, he took it and found that he loves teaching. He also teaches saxophone at SUNY Purchase. He still tours but not as much.”

Contemporary Music
     Vinci credits Judith Bentley with her interest in contemporary music. “She gave me a curiosity about music from all periods and enough knowledge to venture in as deeply as I wanted. She helped me see the correlation between phrasing in contemporary and traditional music. One excellent exercise she asked us to do was to compose a piece by improvising on one note. At Bowling Green, she brought in Harvey Sollberger to work with us and encouraged us to play music by student composers as well. Once composers find out that you know a few contemporary techniques and are willing to play new works, they all come knocking on your door!
     “She also encouraged us to promote new music. Throughout my career I have spearheaded many commission projects with various chamber ensembles. I have recorded Five Premieres: Chamber Works with Guitar, and most recently, Global FluteScape: Premieres and Rare Gems, both C.D.s on Albany Records. The latter promotes the works of Hsueh-Yung Shen, Norman Thibodeau, my husband Mark, Heinz Benker, Kazuo Fuku­shima, Vittorio Reiti and Jennifer Higdon. I am also commissioning Jennifer Higdon to compose a sonata for flute and piano called Flute Poetic. The November 2010 premiere will celebrate the opening of the new Zankel Music Center at Skidmore.

Advice
     When asked if she had advice for students and young professionals, Vinci’s responses were unusual. “I encourage musicians to learn about using non-profit organizations for creating performance events. Members of non-profit groups have the advantage of building their careers through grants that are available through federal, state, and local sources. Grants can be used for performance events, commissions of new works, and recording opportunities, all of which are valuable for chamber music musicians.” (There are many websites that offer information about grants for non-profit organizations. Michigan State University Libraries is one of the best. )
     “Also, with the technology available today, recording works when they reach top performance level is a good idea. It builds a library of your progress, and when the time is right you will be ready to offer recordings to the flute world for pleasure, study, and the dissemination of new works.
     “Most of all, however, I advise students to appreciate and respect the positive power and purpose of music.” Vinci offers a page with performance tip PDFs to download on her website saying, “May they stimulate thought, stir the imagination and, most of all, contribute to your joy of music!” ()                                 

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Physical Fitness for Flutists
    “Being in shape, both with your body and your instrument, is extremely important because you want to be able to play for a long time. Doing something physical every day is good for our physical balance and heart rate. When we are active, the heart rate goes down, which means that we cope with stress much better. The flute is a physically stressful instrument, because it is held in a funny position; we need exercise of some kind to find and maintain balance.
   
“I tell students that they have to move – ride a bike, run, or swim. Those activities are easy and inexpensive. You don’t need a fitness membership at a spa. You can go and run in the park for free. I also think that the air is free when the body is free to move. 
    “My teacher in Munich, Phillippe Boucly (principal of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and one of Rampal’s last Paris Conservatory students) said there are three important things for flute players. Eat well. Sleep well. Do sports. I asked, ‘What about practicing?’ and he said, ‘That is less important.’ I think he’s right, because we can only practice effectively when we are in good physical shape.”

Lessons from Peter Lukas Graf
    “I was just 19 when I studied with him at the Basel Music Academy. He was working on his book Check Up at the time, and he would bring in parts of it for me to try out.
    “He played the accompaniment for every piece we brought in to lessons. You get a different insight into the music that way. He is a very disciplined man and still practices regularly. He never wanted you play something unless you understood what you were doing. A phrase was played in a certain way, not because you felt it that way, but because you had thought it through and because the composer wrote a certain harmony or particular structure. You had to play the composer, not yourself.
    “Peter Lukas Graf was a very strict man but in a friendly way. He wanted you to do the best for the music, and if you didn’t do that, then he got angry. It was a very good lesson for me at an early age.”

Orchestral Playing
    “It is important that orchestral flutists do something outside of orchestral playing to stay balanced and fresh. It is easy to hide cetain things in your playing in an orchestra that you can’t hide when playing somewhere else. So it is a good exercise to be in the spotlight from time to time.

In the Future
“I’d love to take some free time in the summer and have that free feeling I had when I was a kid. Nothing to do. I am working on a book of warmups for children and a series of flute and piano C.D.s of music school repertoire. Often students lack an example of the pieces they are working on.       

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