Forty years ago in 1972, flutist Mark Thomas and a small group of colleagues held the first National Flute Convention in Anaheim, California. Through the years the NFA has grown to become an established association with a membership numbering over 6,000 from 50 different countries. This year’s convention will be held August 8–12 at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

   Seattle-based flutists Zart Dombourian-Eby, 2012 Program Chair, and Sandra Saathoff, 2012 Assistant Program Chair have assembled some of the finest performers, pedagogues, and exhibitors in the world to celebrate this 40th Anniversary. During the 80 plus hours of the convention, an assortment of events will be presented. These include four spectacular evening concerts, headliner recitals, chamber concerts, pedagogical sessions and workshops, masterclasses, scholarly presentations, and competitions.
   This year’s theme is “Rubies! Celebrating 40 Years of Artistry and Vision.” Saathoff said, “We discussed several themes and eventually settled on Ruby, as it is the traditional 40th anniversary gemstone. Rubies are thought to possess an eternal inner flame or passion. It seemed a fitting tribute to our vibrant organization, and allowed for a high degree of latitude in accepting proposals.”

New This Year
   Two events have been added to the convention programming. Friday afternoon is reserved for Cirque de la Flûte. This event will group participants by special interests to mingle and network while being entertained by a troupe of Las Vegas acts. Bring your smart phone, business cards, and mix and mingle. On Saturday afternoon there will be three Masterclass Circles, one each for piccolo, flute and the low flutes. Each circle will be staffed by several master teachers who will be ready and willing to answer your questions in a casual setting. Bring your flute and questions. Master teachers include: Angeleita Floyd, Nina Perlove, Emily Skala, Johathan Snowden, Alexa Still, and Jim Walker.

Pre-Convention
   Plan on arriving early on Wednesday afternoon to participate in the Flautino Royal, the annual flute orchestra event, conducted by Hal Ott and coordinated by Kathy Farmer. Flautino Royal will perform at the opening ceremonies on Thursday morning. This ensemble is open to all NFA members but requires pre-registration.

Three Evenings of Gala Concerts and Late Night
   The Generations of Excellence Gala Concert on Thursday evening will feature the Ruby All-Stars Flute Orchestra conducted by Angeleita Floyd followed by NFA archivist and the 2012 National Service Award recipient Nancy Toff narrating a multi-media presentation on the history of the NFA. The concert concludes with performances by Ian Clarke, assisted by Aaron Goldman and Gergely Ittzés, and Demarre McGill with Jasmine Choi. Jim Walker and Free Flight close the gala with arrangements and original compositions from their 30 years of collaboration. Thursday late night will feature World Flutes Ensemble performing jazz, dances, and popular songs from Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey.
   The Friday evening Lifetime Achievement Award Winners Gala begins with a performance by the Imani Winds. The quintet will be performing Hardwood by Lansing McLoskey which is the winning composition of the Joint Wind Quintet Project Competition. The balance of the evening is a tribute to this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, Betty Bang Mather and Bonita Boyd. Many of Betty Bang Mather’s former students, coordinated by Claudia Anderson, will present works dedicated to or inspired by Mather’s innovative teaching in the Baroque and contemporary genres. The Gala concludes with Bonita Boyd performing works for flute and percussion, with Eastman School of Music percussionist Michael Burritt.
   Friday late night offers three choices in separate venues. Jim Walker and Free Flight will be in Octavius 8, Leo MacNamara, Irish Flute in Milano 5-6, and the Gelós-Santes flute and guitar duo in the Pisa-Palermo.
   The Saturday evening Concerto Gala continues the Rubies! Celebrating 40 Years of Artistry and Vision theme featuring NFA founders, presidents, program chairs, Lifetime Achievement Award winners, mentors, orchestral players, professors, and soloists, playing music ranging from Vivaldi to Mozart to NFA, US, and world premieres. Concerto soloists include Walfrid Kujala, Linda Toote, Amy Porter, Peter-Lukas Graf, Aldo Baerten, and Alexa Still. The orchestra will be conducted by Ransom Wilson.
   Saturday late night also offers three choices in separate venues. Performing will be: In Milano 1-2, Andra Bohnet, Irish Flute; in Octavius 8, Holly Hofmann and her trio; and in Augustus 1, the Agnew-McAllister flute and guitar duo.

Daily
   Each day there will be sessions on fitness and breathing, participatory workshops for piccolo, flute and the low flutes, flute choir sight-reading sessions, solo and chamber music performances, competitions, and lectures. Twenty flute choirs representing the United States, Korea, Puerto Rico, Australia, Mexico, and Venezuela will perform in lobby concerts, pre-gala evening concerts, or special flute choir showcase recitals.
In addition there will be 50 recitals, a Teacher’s Breakfast, a Flute Lovers’ Luncheon, the Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet, events for amateurs, and masterclasses. Masterclass presenters include Peter-Lukas Graf, Ransom Wilson, Lisa Garner Santa and Diane Frazier, Peter Verhoyen, Carla Reese, and Bonita Boyd and Friends.
   As the NFA Convention flier says: “Come Participate, Come Learn, Come Listen, Come Honor, Come Play and Come Feast.” How can you lose in Vegas?
For a complete schedule, up-to-date information and breaking news, visit .

Upcoming Conventions
2013: New Orleans, Louisiana, August 8-11, Marriott Hotel at French Quarter
2014: Chicago, Illinois, August 7-10, Hilton
2015: Washington D.C., August 13-16,  Marriott Wardman Park

What Are You Doing at the Convention?
Trudy Kane
   University of Miami (Florida) flute professor and retired principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra shares, “I am honored to judge the NFA Young Artist Competitions finals on Sunday starting at noon. I will join Mary Karen Clardy in the collaborative concert Reunion! featuring the traditional flute repertoire of Bach, Kuhlau, Liebermann, Sancan, and Schulhoff on Saturday at 2:00 PM. Then on the Sunday at 10:00 am, I will present a lecture on my ideas on vibrato from a recent article in the NFA Pedagogy Anthology, Volume 2.”

Daniel Dorff
   Composer Daniel Dorff is completing his three-year term as a member of the NFA Board of Directors, so each morning of the convention he will spend several hours in meetings steering the organ-ization. He hopes to catch as many concerts as he can especially “the Sunday ‘Made in America’ concert where Cindy Anne Broz, Mark Margolies, and Martin Amlin will perform my new Perennials for flute, clarinet, and piano. On the same program Broz and Margolies will perform the Three Romances for flute and clarinet. On Friday evening at 6:00 PM Broz and I will perform three arias from our new A Treasury of Puccini Duets for flute and clarinet.”

Carl David Hall
   Carl David Hall, principal piccolo/third flute in the Atlanta Sym-phony, is an Artist Affiliate faculty member at Emory University and chair of the NFA piccolo committee.
   “I will be checking to be sure that all things piccolo run smoothly at the convention. On Thursday I will moderate the Orchestral Piccolo Panel (with Deborah Baron, Regina Helcher, Sarah Jackson, Walfrid Kujala and Peter Verhoyen). If there is anything you would like to know about playing piccolo in an orchestra but were afraid to ask, this is the session for you. On Saturday I will judge the final round of the Piccolo Artist Competition. Sunday morning brings the Piccolo Masterclass Circle (bring your piccolo), and later that day I will perform Frank Hannaway’s Sonata for Piccolo and Piano on the Made in America concert and perform in an all-piccolo chamber music recital.”

Gergely Ittzes
   The Hungarian flutist and composer teaches flute in Gyor at the Szechenyi University and has recorded 10 CDs. His compositions for flute employ extended techniques based on his Chart of Double Stops. “At the convention it will be my pleasure to hear my composition Totem for Solo Flute performed by the six soloists in the High School Soloists Competition. I am also performing on the Thursday evening Gala concert playing Curves for three flutes and piano by Ian Clarke. On Saturday at 10:00 am, I will participate in a Composers Forum and later will play some of my transcriptions and original compositions.”

Double-stop Preparation Exercise
By Gergely Ittzes

Editor’s note: Ittzes performances at the NFA will include the technique of playing double stops on the flute. This exercise, written especially for Flute Talk readers, develops the flexibility of the embouchure in order to play double stops or multiphonics.
   To prepare the embouchure for the extreme positions you need to play certain double-stops, practice the following simple exercise. This exercise will force you to roll the flute in or out much more than you have before.
   Start by playing C#6 mf. Play a chromatic scale down to D5 keeping the left index finger up for each note. As you go down, the pitch goes down gradually until you reach G#. As you reach the G#, the sound will probably switch up to the next overtone. To avoid playing the higher overtone, decrease the air pressure and gradually, but radically, turn in the flute. For the G, you have to be even more extreme with turning the flute in. Pull the jaw down and backwards while stretching the upper lip forward. The lip may even touch the lip plate. Around this crisis point where the notes want to jump up, you need to use very little air with a larger than usual aperture. F# is almost as difficult as G and G#; however, after these notes, you can gradually return to normal playing position. Finally, you will reach another normal fingering at D5.
   You also can reverse the process. Start with D5 and play a chromatic scale up to C#6 while keeping the left index finger up. It may take a few days to become flexible and brave enough to discover the correct combination of air stream and embouchure position to keep the same overtone throughout the scale. If the sound breaks, return to a successful fingering. 
   Surprisingly enough, you can play this exercise by turning out to extremes instead of turning in. You will also need more air to keep the note on the correct overtone.
   This exercise produces a strange scale consisting of non-tempered intervals. Once you become comfortable with this scale, improvise on it and make your flute sound like a primitive flute from the Neolithic era.

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   The remainder of the book is devoted to etudes from various composers edited for the piccolo’s limited range and divided by sections emphasizing the particular concepts of sound and flexibility, articulation, fingering, ornaments, and a section called grandiose studies which emphasizes expressive, virtuosic playing. Playing an etude from each section is a nice way to reinforce concepts in a specific and directed way. 
   The 3rd section, Fingering, is especially helpful to students new to the piccolo. It includes cross-fingering passages to help students adjust to balancing the smaller instrument, (the keys are closer together in addition to being smaller), while keeping a smooth relaxed finger motion. The book closes with a page of useful alternate fingerings that are a mainstay of piccolo technique. Lightly annotated throughout, each etude contains an introduction that is helpful and will help students focus on the key points of the study. I have a few of these etudes memorized and use them as part of my daily piccolo warm up routine.
   The Piccolo Practice Book is a wonderful resource for many reasons. Well organized by subject (middle register, articulation, tunes at the top, special fingerings, etc), this book also contains many of the best-known piccolo excerpts. There are small etudes interspersed that target the challenges of the excerpts, so that some of the practice is mapped out. The section marked Coda is a catch-all of knowledge as it lists information on purchasing a piccolo, solos and chamber music, audition lists and a practice routine. Likewise, the preface and introduction are meant to be read and contain valuable information. I especially like the suggestion to play some flute in the third octave before starting piccolo practice to help your lips remember how to downsize and hold a smaller aperture without extra tension.
   The Towarnicki book is divided into sections by major keys, followed by the companion relative minor keys. Each key area includes an intonation study, articulation study, etudes, and frequently, solos and duets. A separate volume of piano accompaniments is offered for the various solos and duets that are found in the solo piccolo volume. The organization by key area is terrific for intonation work. Some of my favorite warm-up arpeggios patterns are found in this volume. Several series of major, minor, diminished and seventh chords in each key provide a comprehensive daily warm up throughout the entire range of the piccolo. The example below consists of major, minor, and diminished triads. I enjoy working on this study by adding a diminuendo as I ascend and a crescendo on the way down.

   Like the Wye/Morris book, the Towarnicki book also contains excerpts from the symphonic literature as well as from opera and ballet. The only words in English in this book are the title as this book is published in Polish with a German translation. There are several other piccolo etude books worth exploring including One hundred Short Exercises for 1-2 piccolos by Tulou (Publ. Billaudot), Method Populare by Tulou (Publ. Ricordi), and Beaumadier’s Exercises (Publ. Billaudot)

General Guidelines
   It is perfectly acceptable to learn the notes of an etude on the flute first. Practicing too much piccolo all at once often tires the embouchure. If this should happen, play whistle tones and harmonics on both instruments to restore a sense of balance to the embouchure. If you own an alto flute, play a few notes on it after the piccolo to really relax the lips. Intonation is critical, so keep a tuner close by and listen to the intervallic relationships between notes to work on your ear.
   I try to take a break after 30-45 minutes of piccolo work to stretch, walk around, and just give my ears a rest. It is wise to use ear plugs, especially one in the right ear, to protect from the high frequencies while practicing. It also helps to become used to the ear plugs in practice rather than just using them during concerts. Lastly, it is more important to work a little bit each day than to ignore the piccolo for a week and then practice for two hours. Consistent piccolo practice is critical to teach the embouchure its new smaller position which leads to tonal stability and consistent intonation.  

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Sound Recording Device
   Many students are too young to remember when telephone answering machines were completely new, but they became common when I was at university. Although it seems humorous now, initially I felt trepidation at recording an outgoing message and then leaving one for someone else. Speaking to the machine on the other end felt intimidating, and it was even more painful to hear my voice on a recording. 
   Students today think nothing of leaving voice messages, but I wonder how many record their solitary flute practice. Those who have not done so may experience that cold-sweat feeling when hearing the playback that I had with my first answering-machine. It goes away with experience. I have been recording myself in performance since my first music festival in 6th grade, and during practice sessions since high school. During this time  the technology has changed from cassette recorder, to mini-disc, to the portable hard-drive recorder I use today. I input a studio microphone for the most accurate rendering, since I want to hear what my overall tone and color really sound like.
   When I am teaching, students often play something that compels me to ask if they ever use a sound recording device. I usually know the answer before I ask is no. I can guess this by certain subtle aspects of their playing which they would quickly hear on a recording. With a little discussion, I can usually get students of any age enthusiastic about using a recording device. Learning increases exponentially once they do because it is like an extra pair of ears available in their practice time when no teacher is present.
   Students often do not get off to a good start recording themselves. Either they buy a machine but fail to use it, or they record themselves but do not listen to it. They give assorted reasons and excuses for these failures, but the tool is of no use. It is closer to being useful if they at least record themselves because their hearing suddenly becomes much more acute as they listen to themselves while recording.
   The reality is that our courage often fails when it comes to recording and listening to ourselves play. I stumbled through these lapses in my early days. Courage is what is called for here. This noble attribute means pressing forward despite one’s fears or trepidations. It is at first painful to hear oneself from a machine that, for starters, will not offer a single encouraging or hopeful statement in response to how you just played. It will simply play back what you have recorded. I will admit that although I record and listen to myself often, a feeling of anxiety appears in anticipation of what I might hear right at the moment of pushing play. It may be better or worse than I suspect; but it is rarely the same as I had anticipated. What one thinks is happening, and what actually is happening rarely matches. It is a self-confronting moment, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to push play. It is like a free flute lesson.
   To muster the courage, I tell myself that I will simply find out what needs improving, and work on it. No self-chastisement is necessary, only focused work. This is the best part of practicing to me: figuring out what is needed, and then coming up with the most efficient method to get there. Imagine that in record mode you are the performer, and in playback mode you are the teacher, listening on an entirely different level. Is the playing consistently in tune? Do the phrases need more architectural shape to them? Is the breathing working? Is there more than one dynamic? Are you getting the precise sound you want on a particular note, or in general?
   I have learned to listen to the playback with an open yet analytical frame of mind, and then set to work on happy improvement. After all, it is all simply a moment in time. Nothing sounds great when it is new, and the problems needing work may have only recently been identified. In five days however, all will be vastly improved if you work on it, and just think what a year will give you. This is the magic reward of being a musician: we can actively do something to improve ourselves. Not many vocations allow this deep level of satisfaction and personal control over improvement. It is our daily work, and we can smile at the end of every day. No one will ever play perfectly, but everyone can focus on improving what the last minute sounded like. Of course, we all hope for that great, free feeling when playing straight from the soul comes out exactly as it felt. If it does not, get the tools out and start honing your craft. Add what is needed and whittle away at what does not belong. A recording device will teach you just how to do  this.

Video Camera
   The next-best tool is the use of a video camera. I have used one for twelve years now. I started out by borrowing a friend’s state-of-the-art Buick-sized camera with VHS tape. I now have two hard-drive HD video cameras, and use them religiously, especially in practice sessions. As my monitor (playback screen), I use an old 12" television. It can be a revelatory experience to see yourself play and may lead to similar nerves initially. Again, it is a truth-teller about what is, not what we think is happening. You may think you know how you stand, but when busy playing music your posture may gravitate to something different. A video recording will show how you express yourself and what impressions you communicate. Is it strength and confidence, or weakness and fear? You may be expressing things you do not wish to communicate, such as a wince at a wrong note, tired or sloppy posture, a strained face, or lack of enthusiasm for the music. Don’t forget, we are always communicating when we perform. Train to communicate only the information you want to an audience. This training comes from careful listening and watching.
   I occasionally video record my students in a lesson. After I have recorded them, I turn the volume completely off for the playback and let them watch their playing. I ask them questions about what they see. What mood are you playing, here? Is it coming across? Does your body change, when the music changes? Is there a sense of playing out to the audience, or into your music stand instead? Are there subtle ways your communication skills can be more deliberate, while remaining natural?
   If you don’t own a separate audio recording device, you can use a video camera for both, unless it is just a cell phone which as mentioned before has poor audio quality. If you only have a video camera, I highly recommend that you listen separately to the recording while not viewing the visuals. This will really allow you to focus on the sound and not be distracted by how it looks. It is best to have a separate audio device because the visual element supersedes our ability to really listen deeply, and it is helpful to work separately with these two tools to simplify the information received.
We are fortunate that we are all living in an era when these two machines are so prominent and affordable. They are a teacher you can always have at your fingertips. Use them to learn how to improve your abilities and make the gorgeous music you want with a presentation that will captivate an audience.

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   A few years ago I remember seeing a picture of the Doppler brothers with one playing to the right and the other to the left on a record jacket. I recently corresponded with Trevor Wye about this picture. Here are his comments:
Dear Pat,
   Thanks for your letter. I wrote the programme notes for an LP double record sleeve, which William Bennett, Clifford Benson and I made in the late 1960s, the first of several. In the programme notes, I wrote that the Doppler Brothers were “believed to have played the flute like that…”
   This is completely untrue. There is no evidence that they did anything of the sort. It is an opinion gleaned from elsewhere and which I much regret quoting as it has been a source of annoyance to Doppler aficionados and for a while, strained Anglo-Hungarian relations!
   Because of this note, the record producers used my engraving of Charles Nicholson c. 1825 and taken from his Preceptive Lessons, and reversed it on the double record sleeve as shown.
   The record became popular, many quoting this nonsense about the Brothers. My heartfelt apologies to Carl and Franz – and to Hungarians everywhere.
All good wishes,
Trevor

   All joking aside, practicing playing flute off to the left on a dowel rod is an excellent practice technique and one that should be employed when nothing else seems to work. When working with oboe, clarinet, and bassoon players, I have the player simply reverse his hands putting the right hand on top and the left hand on the bottom. The successful results always surprise both the student and me.    

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Did you always want to be a flutist?
   When I was in the 3rd grade, the classroom music teacher, a Joni Mitchell type who visited once a week with her guitar, told my mother, “Get this girl an instrument,” so evidently my interest was unambiguous. The best my Mom could do at the time was to sign me up playing fife in a Fife and Drum Corps which met once a week and cost $1. It was a few more years down the road before an instrument came my way. A second cousin, who had just graduated from high school, no longer wanted her flute. She asked if we would be interested, and we gladly accepted her offer. I was fatally bitten by the bug in a pivotal moment in 8th grade during the Borodin Polovetsian Dances. From that time on, even though I had no idea what it meant to be a professional musician or what the lifestyle would be like, I just knew that this was what I wanted to do around the clock.

Who were your early influences?
   I cannot express just how much I owe to my first instrumental teacher, Robert Filangeri, who taught my beginning flute lessons. He was a clarinet and saxophone major during his college years and was now the band and wind ensemble director at my junior high school. He took me under his wing in every conceivable way. To say that he gave generously of his time would be a ridiculous understatement. He nurtured, guided, and inspired me, shopped for instruments with me, and got me started in a professional concert band on Long Island that was made up of music teachers. Then of course, once I got to college I have John Wion to thank for continuing in that role.
Where would we be without these kinds of mentors? This is a beautiful almost anachronistic tradition in our industry. I try to do the same for my up and coming students. They look to us for so much more than advice on what fingering to use in a difficult passage.

What is the most difficult position to play –  principal flute, second, or piccolo?
   This is a wonderful question and one about which young flutists should give serious thought. Anything done as well as you can is a challenge. If it’s easy, you’re not trying hard enough. Each position has its own set of skills specific to the position. When you sit in the principal chair, in addition to having your act together as a flutist, you must be able to command attention when the music demands it and offer a musical opinion that is communicated through phrasing, choice of colors, dynamics, pacing, and articulation. You learn to adapt to the role as one of the four wind principals (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon) and always do your part to knit the wind section together.
   As a second flutist, the skill set is in some ways quite different. You must possess the willingness to subordinate your own musical agenda to second place, taking subtle cues from the principal. The second flutist strives to respond to the style tendencies of that player, anticipating what they might do. A good second flutist will never over power the dynamic level set by the principal player, will not employ rogue vibrato when the principal does not, would never shape the phrase or articulate to their own liking, or hang over the ends of notes. This is just scratching the surface of a long list of invisible skills.
   An expert second flutist understands how to place notes in a chord vertically, tuning often with the second clarinet, oboe, bassoon or horn. Gertrude Stein might think, ‘A rose is a rose, is a rose,’ but an A is not always an A. An A 440 is not always 440 Hz. It might be if you are the root of the chord, but it will change if you are the 3rd, 5th or 7th. Successful second flutists know the harmony, their place in it, and how to tune chords. It is often said that when a second player is doing his job, he should not be noticed unless his musical line is prominent.
   No matter what position you play, it is important to be aware of the decorum required as a good colleague. If a colleague has a big solo coming up, then sit still and do not fidget. This is not the time to clean out the flute, cigarette paper pads, adjust the music stand, etc. As a second flutist, do you sit relatively still when others play, or do you stir the soup, or make windmills out of your arms? Count the bars rest (or even better, know the music intimately, with cues written in the part) so that if a  section mate is lost, you can assist. What if a gust of wind were to blow closed the music of the principal’s or piccolo’s music? Second flute to the rescue! I have played many a concert on all sides of the equation, and I gladly perform this service or am happy to be saved from an embarrassing mistake myself. These skills are a feather in your cap, and make you a valued and trusted colleague. They may also lead to being hired a second time.
   Piccolo, is it the demon, diva or the delinquent of the orchestra? Well, it can be all three of course. A good piccolo player is a considerate colleague who does not sit on stage in close proximity to others warming-up on fiendishly difficult and high passages, thereby deafening all around them. This wins many friends right off the bat. A few words of warning every now and then to the second violins about a fortissimo high B at letter R in the score, will keep people speaking to you at the break. You may even want to keep a stash of ear plugs to pass out if Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 is on the docket. Remember ear plugs can be bought in bulk.
   A critical skill for this most twitchy of instruments is an impeccable sense of pitch because obviously the piccolo cannot hide. Every note is heard. Piccoloists are also somewhat at the mercy of the potential inconsistencies of the rest of the wind section. Just as being at the top of a ladder in a hurricane is a less desirable position than being on the ground, piccolo players are subject to sounding out of tune even if they are right where they think a note should be placed or in sync with a hypothetical tuner. The sense of pitch should be so good, that you are able to flex it if necessary. If piccolo players have exquisite control of all extremes of register and dynamics, it sets them apart from the crowd. Someone once said that playing the piccolo is like hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Beethoven 9, Tchaikovsky 4, and Brahms 4 are the first three excerpts that come to mind. Piccoloists sit for a good long time, often long enough to get nerves worked up, a cold instrument, dry lips, you name it, and then they take a running leap onto the musical tightrope. It is not a bad idea to quietly double along a bit at a lower octave with the flutes somewhere earlier in the piece, like joggers who keep running in place when they come to a stop light. Another helpful bit of practice advice for the piccolo might be to record whatever treacherous excerpt you are practicing on the flute, the instrument on which you might consider yourself more accomplished. Check for perfect intonation. Then  play the piccolo part along with your prerecorded stable lower octave.
   Boston has a fabulous tradition of this kind of section playing, promoted by one of my colleagues and predecessors, Fenwick Smith. He understood and embraced the concept of the wind choir and set a standard for those who play in the flute section.
   I enjoy playing all positions, and when performed well, all positions are rife with challenge and reward. After spending most of my career in principal positions, it has been energizing to get my feet wet, learning to sit in the other chairs.

Had you played piccolo before winning your first position?
   I never technically had a piccolo position before or even after I came to Boston. Each of the other jobs I had required some piccolo playing, but it was mainly on things like Stars and Stripes. When I came to Boston, I had performed as a guest principal with them before, so I wasn’t a total unknown. Shortly after I arrived, the regular piccolo player of the Symphony was out on extended leave. The personnel manager asked my husband “Does Linda play piccolo?” He answered, “I think she has one.” Remarkably, we are still married. Thirty minutes later (it’s good to live near the Hall) I began filling in on things like youth concerts and soon thereafter I was playing the full season, including tours, recordings and the Tanglewood and Pops seasons. I was not initially the piccolo player I eventually learned to be. The phrase trial by fire comes to mind. Nothing focuses the mind like the knowledge that you will be facing a firing squad the next morning. After nearly a decade, an audition was held for the position. I did well in the audition, advancing into the last round of the finals behind the screen, but I was not the eventual winner. Since then I have continued substituting with the orchestra and the Pops in all positions, even on principal, and continue to play piccolo as requested.

How do you change your playing from playing principal flute in a symphony to principal flute in an opera?
   I find that the biggest difference comes in balance and articulation. Often the music from the pit orchestra serves to move the action along on stage. When the singers perform an aria, we are often requested to reduce the dynamics to subterranean levels. Yet, this music cannot be without intensity or clarity, so even though one may be playing pianissimo, one must enunciate and articulate clearly sort of like a stage whisper. Otherwise, the strategies for playing as a wind choir still apply. Also, since we are accompanying singers who are weighted down with costumes, wigs, and props as they flit about the stage, we endeavor to be supremely sensitive to what are sometimes unintentional rhythmic deviations, especially when accompanying a singer’s line in unison playing.

What advice would you give someone who wants a career as a professional flutist?
   Practice smart, practice now. It is money in the bank. After school, you may have a job that makes it hard to practice with the same kind of focus. You may not believe it, but you do have more time now than you will later. Life will intrude. Second, have a clear understanding of where you stand in the field. Do this by taking auditions, taking lessons with various teachers, and asking for an honest evaluation of your chances. Attend every masterclass in your area to see how you measure up. Third, be possessed by this art form. If you do not have to do it, do something else. On the face of it, that sounds harsh, but that is not what is meant.

Tell us about your teaching positions.
   At Boston University I normally have some combination of about 10 students, a few classes, and a few more chamber groups. The classes are a studio class and an Orchestral Techniques class. I am the Woodwind Coordinator at Boston University, which means that I am responsible for some administrative work (setting up juries, auditions), advising students, and sitting on a few different committees. I also run the Flute Workshop at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in the summers in Lenox, Massachusetts and teach private lessons to the students who attend the longer four- and six-week wind ensemble and orchestral program. The administrative piece of the puzzle can be a huge one when dealing with a university.
   At Boston Conservatory I am a member of the flute faculty, and in the summer, I am on the faculty of the ARIA Institute. I also have established the Trevor Wye Flute Masterclass at Boston University and teach private lessons to the participants.

What do you look for when a student is auditioning for you?
   I look for solid fundamentals, musical sensibility and a willingness to receive input. Hopefully good hand position and body alignment are in place as well. While these can be modified, it is a struggle the longer a flutist has been playing incorrectly. The biggest problems I see are poor rhythm and inconsistent intonation, both sagging pitch in piano passages and at phrase endings and sharpness in forte passages.

What is the best repertoire to play for an audition?
   Mozart Concerti or Bach Sonatas are almost always universally required. The French repertoire always allows the opportunity to show nuance, color, flexibility, and technical prowess. I believe it certainly shows an enterprising nature in a flutist when he performs compositions that include extended techniques.

What are your personal goals as a performer and teacher?
   As a performer, I would like to do some more recording. Most of the recording I have done is orchestral, and I would like to devote some serious time to a chamber music or a solo recording. In each performance my goals are to bring out what I believe are the intentions and wishes of the composer and to use as many of the tools I might have in my toolbox as possible to do this. These would be to play with as much variety as may be called for in the music especially dealing with the color, articulation, pacing, and vibrato.
   As a teacher I feel it is my job to teach students how to learn, how to listen, how to diagnose, and how to fix. Sooner or later each student will be out in the world on his own and will have to become his own teacher. It is extraordinarily satisfying and rewarding to me if I am on the same page as my students in terms of the priorities I hold dear. If my students don’t start there, I think they eventually come around. I also feel it is vital that they learn that the bar can always be raised. That is why the production of art can be maddening. Perfection is unattainable, though we should always strive for it.

How do you develop concentration?
   I feel lucky in that I have always been able to tune into the subject at hand to the exclusion of everything else, including the house burning down around me. However, this does not help me help my students. There are so many distractions in life and frighteningly, we seem to have shorter and shorter attention spans due in great part to the advances of electronics to simplify our lives. How many of us used to memorize phone numbers? Now with speed dial or employing the favorites feature on our phones, the recall of those numbers evaporates. I am a constant nag to my children to put their gadgets away and to focus their whole attention on a single task. With students, I see a growing trend away from natural curiosity and the lack of the recognition that what we do is difficult and cannot be achieved by the push of a few buttons on the computer. Dexterity at the computer does not translate to dexterity on an instrument. I think memorization goes a long way to capturing someone’s focus. I advocate the use of all our tools, physical muscle memory, visual recall, ear training and an understanding of music theory to truly grasp a passage. Many students stop at reading the music in front of them. This is learning at a most superficial level. Sometimes it can be amusing to have a student over to the house and have them play while the phone is ringing, kids are walking through the room asking me questions, and the dog is being a pest. Learning to keep your concentration in these circumstances might be considered effective training.

What is your daily practice life like when you are on tour with the Esplanade?
On some days, 15 minutes of warm-up is a joy, a rare treat. On others, there is more of an opportunity for leisurely practice. On tour most of our contract conditions leave us a reasonable amount of time to check into a hotel, do a little warming-up, have a nap or exercise, and grab a bite to eat before a concert. If I have more teaching in a given week, I will at least try to get some solid warm-up in. If it is a week with more playing, or some recital or chamber music work, I try to clear the calendar accordingly in preparation for these events. This is why I say practice smart and practice now when you are younger. The beneficial muscle memory established as a freshman is something that the fingers can go back and tap into. You may not think you have all the time in the world now, but trust me, you do.

Do you and your husband play chamber music together?
   We play more often together in orchestra than in chamber music settings; however, we play together on occasion. Twice we have played chamber music on the Prelude series at Tanglewood. Recently we performed the Salieri Double Concerto for flute and oboe with the Boston Classical Orchestra. At home, sometimes we try to energize or break up the monotony of our kids’ practice routines by playing chamber music with them. We play the Haydn London Trios, Baroque trio sonatas, and duets.
    Currently Toote is serving a three year term on the National Flute Association’s Board of Directors. Previously she was the Program Chair for the 2009 NFA Convention in New York City. This August she will perform Martin Amlin’s Concerto for Flute/Piccolo and Orchestra on the Saturday evening Gala concerto program.    

• • •

Advice for Students
To be successful, you need four things in equal amounts:

1. Raw Materials: You must have good tone production, rhythm, pitch, ear, and musical sense.

2. Discipline: You must look forward to locking yourself into a tiny cubicle and listening critically for many hours a day. Listen, observe, diagnose, and improve your work. Practice what you can’t do, not what you can do. Practice for 20 minutes, record your efforts for 5, then listen back. This also affords the opportunity to rest and stretch before the next 20 minute session. I cannot stress how important it is to record yourself and learn from your observations. Today this could not be any easier so there is no excuse for not doing so. I often tell my incredulous students that “Back in my day, when the great lizards roamed the earth, a recording device was the size of a small television.”

3. Resilience: If you took a series of auditions for summer festivals and nothing panned out, pick thyself up and get thee to a masterclass. I keep meaning to purchase a stand-up punching clown for my studio at school, both for the stress relief and for the physical reminder of what it means to bounce back. We all experience rejection. It is part of the process. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. That sort of spiritual toughness is what is needed to carry on.

4. Creativity: These days, the people who survive the long drought after graduating from school are those who know how to see and create opportunities. They subscribe to Flute Talk, the flutelist, NFA and mine all possibilities. They enter competitions; they create websites; they make contacts; they offer their services for lessons or concerts free of charge to keep their name out there and their playing in top form; and they band together with other musicians they have met at school, classes and festivals to form a conductor-less orchestra or a flute ensemble.
   Lastly, it does not hurt to develop or pursue an interest in a tangential side line. If math and physics interest you, take some acoustics courses at school and apprentice at a flute maker’s shop. If you have good people skills, see if your school has an Arts Management program. Offer free masterclasses at local schools and have business cards or a website advertising you as a teacher. All of these side lines may help you pay the rent while you prepare for that next audition.
         

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   Also in the first movement Poulenc asked me to play p the upbeat to number 3 and to give a different darker color on the A flat two bars before number 9. On the very last flourish “céder” he would say, “Parle…” (Speak, as if the tempo is no longer important, whereas the ensemble with the piano still is.)
   The Cantilena is the same in all editions, pure and vocal. The q=52 can move forward a little after the first phrase, a simple Bb minor scale.
   The Presto Giocoso is typical campy Poulenc. He wanted it “as fast as possible.” He would say, “I can’t play the notes that fast myself, but don’t wait for me.” This music is akin to the French cancan and to the popular cabaret music he so much loved in his youth.
   The very first time Poulenc invited me to rehearse, I was quite nervous. He lived near the Luxembourg Gardens in a small apartment on the Left Bank. I checked and rechecked my pocket metronome at 84 before ringing. We started to play. Almost immediately, he stopped and said, “That’s too fast!” I whipped out my metronome (still set on 84). In those days, I believed in machines. Poulenc brushed it off. “Just the publisher’s request,” he said. I have rarely worked with composers who obeyed their own metronome indications which were often conceived at the table and not in live performance.
    Francis Poulenc was an adorable person. He was funny, sensitive, vulnerable, complicated, and modest. For a recital I was to play in Paris with Christian Ivaldi, we had chosen for the second half of the program the Prokofiev Sonata followed by the Poulenc. We sent Poulenc an invitation. He was away and sent his regrets with a telegram and later added, “Please don’t play me after Prokofiev. His Sonata is so much stronger than mine!”

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