Playing piccolo ruins your flute embouchure.
    This is false. Too much of anything is not be good for you, whether it is carrot juice or ice cream, but in general, playing piccolo will not ruin a player’s flute chops or embouchure. Of course, it is important to practice sensibly. For example, do not take the piccolo out of the case and suddenly play fortissimo long tones in the third octave (or extremely soft high notes either, for that matter) without warming up. In all things, moderation is the key. In preparation for a piccolo concert, don’t cram practice into the last few days. Generally piccolo practice should begin after flute practice. Begin weeks in advance to build endurance so that you can practice at least 15 minutes without taking a break. Eventually expand the practice session until to 45 minutes before taking a break. At the conclusion of a piccolo practice session, play a few long tones on the flute to restore a sense of flexibility in the embouchure. I often also practice harmonics and whistle tones for the same reason. 

You should oil your piccolo.
    It is unnecessary to oil the inside or outside of a grenadilla piccolo body. There are several reasons: First the piccolo is simply not that thirsty and does not need it. Another reason is that surface oil treatment does not penetrate the wood. Finally, oil should not be anywhere near the pads. However, oil can be used for cosmetic purposes on the exterior of the headjoint to remove the whitish deposit that sometimes occurs around the embouchure hole. Apply almond oil over the deposit and rub the surface with the edge of a Popsicle stick. Then thoroughly remove the oil with a clean paper towel. Some players find that this white deposit builds up inside the upper tone holes and leads to constriction or a narrowing of the diameter of the tonehole. This residue should be removed by a professional repair person.

Temperature is a factor when playing a wooden piccolo.
    This one is true. Piccolo players should pay attention to the temperature when playing a wooden instrument. When traveling to and from rehearsals, keep the instrument inside a well-protected case and case cover. Several manufacturers offer fine products lined with fleece or thinsulate materials that protect the instrument from extreme temperatures. The gig bags that are made today are also lined with several layers of temperature mitigating fabrics, including Mylar (the shiny aluminum colored fabrics that space blankets are made from). It makes sense to use a thermal insulated bag for transporting instruments to and from the concert hall.
    When I get to the hall, I let my piccolo acclimate for a few minutes after I take it out of the case. Think about how cold a metal flutes feels in the winter when first taken from the case. I hold the piccolo in my hands or against my body to bring the outside temperature of the wood up a bit before I begin playing. I learned this trick from an oboist colleague of mine. She always warmed up each joint of the instrument on the outside surfaces before beginning to play. It makes a good deal of sense to keep the entire instrument, inside and out, near the same mean temperature. Of course the breath naturally warms up the inside of the instrument.
    Keeping the piccolo warm in between entrances is also important. Bubbles can form and seal keys open if there is too great a difference in temperature from the ambient room temperature to the temperature of the air column.

Earplugs should be worn when playing piccolo.
    If you are practicing high register passages, it is a good idea to use an earplug, especially in the right ear. I use custom-made musician’s ear plugs that are available through an audiologist or hearing specialist’s office. These ear plugs cut off the strongest decibel levels only so that the level of hearing is not affected throughout the whole spectrum. Disposable foam ear plugs work well also. I keep a large box of these and use them regularly in aerobic workout classes (where the music is always too loud) as well as at many movie theaters. I find that using an ear plug in one ear helps with audio overload, without too much distortion when practicing high or loud passages. Since the sound changes a little when wearing earplugs, use them in practice before trying them in a rehearsal. 

You should swab the piccolo out several times during a practice or rehearsal.
    This is often true when it is colder because there will be more moisture to swab. The temperature of the breath is warmer than the outdoor ambient temperature, so more condensation forms. Watch the moisture on the back wall of the embouchure hole. In addition to swabs, I sometimes use my right hand pinkie to dab off extra moisture that accumulates on the back wall of the piccolo.
    You should set the piccolo in the same place on the lip as when playing flute.
    Actually the piccolo should go slightly higher on the lower lip than it does when playing flute due to the much smaller size of the embouchure hole of the piccolo. Setting it higher will help create the optimum distance for the air to reach the back well. If you set the piccolo too low on the lip, the tone will be unfocused and may be too loud. 
    Hopefully these answers will help stop some piccolo urban myths forever.

The post Urban Myths appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Purpose of Cover
    The purpose of a cover is to sell the product, tell the performer’s story, and to protect the CD. There are graphic designers who specialize in designing CD/DVD covers and print material for arts organizations. Hiring a graphic designer may be as important to the project as hiring a recording engineer. Unfortunately many performers try to do the graphic design themselves, and this is where problems arise.
    A graphic designer will offer advice on how to make the jacket stand out in a display of many other CDs. The cover art and other materials should be attractive and the print information should have a legible, logical format.
    To protect a CD, a recording artist may choose between a plastic case and a cardboard wrap. In the past most performers have chosen the plastic cases; however, lately there is an increase in the use of cardboard wraps. In addition to environmental concerns, a cardboard wrap tends to survive the postal system better than the plastic cases. Most of the plastic cases that are mailed arrive cracked in some way, usually at the point of the hinge.
    If a plastic case is chosen, the CD cover will need a front cover design, spine, and back cover design and perhaps a booklet that is inserted in the front cover. With the choice of the cardboard wrap, there are three or more sides to tell a story.

What Goes Where
    The performer (if working without a graphic designer) should start this project by assembling a grouping of favorite CDs that seem appealing and attractive. Look over each one for a common thread in their design. The best are simple and direct. Then the performer should make a list of the positive and negatives of each CD cover and compare the results. 
    The cover should have the name of the album printed in a large font, followed by the performer’s names and instruments. This is followed by either the names of the main composers on the album or if there are two composers or less, the name of the compositions may be included. A font and a text color should be selected that are easily read against the background color. 
    The spine will repeat this information in a smaller font and should also include the record company’s or distributing agent’s product number. Suggestions for the back cover include the album name and a list of the compositions on the CD. This list should have the composers’ names, dates, movement titles, and duration of each movement. Also included on the back cover are the copyright date, photo credits, bar code, and contact information. Once again, the performer should choose print colors that are easily read and a font that is large enough to be viewed without a magnifying glass. Many artists include the statement, “All rights reserved, unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.”
    There is more freedom in what the performer includes on the inside of the cover or in the booklet. However, the best results will be obtained if it is kept simple. The two main features of these pages are the program notes for each composition on the recording and biographical information of the performers and perhaps the composer. If the CD features a chamber ensemble, a short history of the group might be included. Other suggestions that add interest are photos that bring the performer’s story to life, names of fellow performers, an album dedication, names of recording engineers, types of recording equipment, place and date of recording, and other acknowledgments.
    Once the information has been collected, the performer should arrange the information in a logical order. After assembling several different layouts, ask friends and colleagues for comments and suggestions. (The CD cover in the picture, follows the motto keep it simple. Claudio Barile has chosen a picture of himself, dressed in concert attire, holding a flute with a background of a concert hall. The brief seven-word text includes his name, title of album (Plays Sonatas), and the list of composers on the album. The font sizes are large and the color scheme is easy to read.)

Program Notes
    Writing program notes is an art. If writing is not a strong point, hire someone who specializes in this field. Many orchestral program note annotators free-lance by writing program notes for performers. Well-written program notes include a short biography of the composer, information about the genre and style of the composition, historical information about the piece such as when and where the first performance was, who played the premier performance, and a short analysis of each movement. The program notes might also include what influenced the composer to write the piece or if the composition is a commission, who commissioned the work and why. If a new composition is being premiered, the performer should consider asking the composer to write the program notes for his composition.
    Many artists sell albums around the world. If there is space in the booklet, consider printing the program notes in two or more languages. Of course you should be sure to have a native speaker check the translation.

Cover Art
    Cover art is the background material for the front and back pages of the album. This might be a painting, a photo, or a graphic design. The most importing thing to remember is the cover art should tell the performer’s story and sell the CD. Of the recordings that I receive for review, approximately 80% have cover art that does nothing to enhance the CD. I look at the art and wonder what the connection is between the art and the recorded music. While much of the cover art is beautiful, it does little to sell the product.  This is an area where a graphic designer can be of the greatest help.

Colors that Pop
    The choice of colors for the CD can enhance the appeal and determine whether people can (or will) read the type. A consumer may spend just a moment glancing at your CD. If they cannot read the type or the image does not catch their eye, they will walk away. Color theorists have studied this medium for years and their research is available on the web and at the public library. Again, if you design your own art, ask for unbiased opinions from people you respect. It is easy to become enraptured with a vision that makes sense to you but nobody else. If you are using a graphic designer, however, do not be afraid to offer your opinions. After all the final product represents your artistic image.

The Finished Product
    Making a CD is a large financial commitment, so be sure to make the most of the opportunity. Unfortunately, graphic design is a topic that teachers and performers do not study in music school, but one that is important for career development. Many of the ideas that are relevant for CD design also affect other aspects of marketing oneself as a performer. In everything from resumes and business cards to websites, it is important to consider the effect of the visual presentation.    

The post CD Production appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Kürten: Kathinka Pasveer
    I next traveled to the little village of Kürten, east of Cologne, the home of Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007). The countryside is gorgeous, alternating forested hills and pastures. Here I met Kathinka Pasveer, the composer’s assistant and muse. He wrote most of his many flute pieces for her, which she has recorded. A student of Dutch flutist Franz Vester, she now performs exclusively Stockhausen’s music throughout the world and runs the Stockhausen Foundation for Music, which publishes all of his music and holds a summer course.
    We worked on Flautina (1989), a six-minute work for flute, alto flute, and piccolo (one player). The piece portrays a magic flute spirit, beautiful and enchanting. Like many of Stockhausen’s works, there is an element of theater. The performer must memorize the piece and wear a sort of quiver holding the three flutes. While changing from one flute to another, the flutist sings, clicks the tongue, or half-whistles. The score specifies lighting, amplification, and limited staging. Kathinka was kind and patient but demanding. She emphasized absolute faithfulness to the score and its four pages of introductory explanations. For instance, one must play at exactly the specified tempos (53.5, 75.5, etc.) and use the marked fingerings for a quarter-tone scale, timbral variations on a high A-flat, and the final flageolett, a very soft multiphonic between high A-flat and E-flat. The pacing of ritardandi and accelerandi is precisely notated, and there are distinctions between glissandi which start at the beginning of a note and those that begin only after a note is established. For a passage marked irregular kissing noises staccato, and simultaneously slap the keys with right hand, Kathinka suggested planning a specific but random-sounding rhythm to respect the overall timing. Stockhausen’s use of wind tones (Rauschen mit etwas Ton) is unique; it must be mostly noise, without much flute tone, and this is challenging in the upper octave. Pasveer suggested holding the lips as if whistling, focusing the air with a small opening, and blowing with an F sound against the teeth.

Syke: Carin Levine
    The next morning I headed to the small town of Syke (pronounced Zee-kuh), just south of Bremen. The American-born flutist Carin Levine met me at the train station, and we lunched at a delightful country inn, where I relished soup, veal, and an amaretto cream with hazelnuts. Afterwards, we went to her beautiful country home for a lesson.
    Carin studied with Jack Wellbaum in Cincinnati and with Swiss flutist Aurèle Nicolet in Freiburg. She is the author of The Techniques of Flute Playing (two volumes), a respected guide to extended techniques, and formerly taught at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. She has premiered and recorded many important avant-garde works from Brian Ferney-hough to Giacinto Scelsi.
Since she studied with Nicolet, the dedicatee of Takemitsu’s Voice, I asked for her ideas on interpretation and specific techniques in this work. We also worked on techniques used generally in modern music. She uses various types of pizzicato, from a dry one to a more resonant one, in which the player pronounces Tah, dropping the jaw and opening the mouth as wide as possible for maximum resonance. Support is also important. There is also lip pizzicato, pronounced Pah with an explosive attack. In multiphonics, she suggests experimenting with the angle, rolling the flute in and out until one finds the greatest success. She also blows between two notes and thinks of expanding the embouchure horizontally as well as vertically.

    After our lesson, I ate at Bremen’s famous Ratskeller and admired the charming Schnoor quarter with its narrow cobblestone streets. The next day, I traveled to Vienna, attending exquisite performances of Richard Strauss’s Arabella at the Staatsoper and a Mozart Mass at the Augustinian Church, sampling a delicious cake at Demel’s, and touring the Schönbrunn Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Györ: Gergely Ittzès
    I next went to Györ, Hungary, where Gergely Ittzès (pronounced Gehrgay Eetsesh) is flute professor at the Univer-sity. He arranged for me to perform a recital in the University’s concert hall, a former synagogue, teach lessons, and give my Visualizing Vibrato presentation. From there, we proceeded to Budapest, where I enjoyed beautiful historic buildings and vistas, the Gellért Baths, and food spiced with paprika.
    Gergely and I became fast friends, and he is generous and funny, a brilliant flutist and an insightful teacher. He graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, but his main influence has been the innovative Hungarian flutist István Matuz. In several long lessons, we focused on Gergely’s Totem for solo flute (2012), commissioned by the NFA for its Young Artist Competition, a compelling and well-written work. The piece is based on twelve pitches, each presented in a given register. Its many multiphonics grow out of and embellish a melodic line, and their fingerings and response are challenging to the uninitiated. Gergely’s method of producing clear and resonant double stops, however, is effective and secure. For normal flute playing, flutists tend to coordinate the jaw and the lips, but for multiphonics, Ittzès drops the jaw and shapes the lips, especially the upper one, forward, making a surprisingly tall but narrow opening. The focus should expand vertically to include both pitches but build a wall on each side to prevent the sound from spreading. Each multiphonic has a unique airspeed and angle, so experiment with rolling the flute in and out. Gergely carefully tunes each chord through small adjustments in blowing angle and the amount that fingers cover their holes.

Paris: Pierre-Yves Artaud
    I returned to Paris a second time for a lesson with Pierre-Yves Artaud, flute professor at the Conservatoire Supérieur National de Paris. He is the author of Present Day Flutes and several other books, editor of much music, and widely recorded artist, especially in contemporary music. We met at his home in the southwestern suburbs, and although his English is good, the lesson was entirely in French. He considers Takemitsu’s Voice to be the strongest work for solo flute in the last half century, so I was intrigued to receive his input. His interpretation stems from the bilingual poem that the flutist recites during the piece:

Qui va la? Qui que tu sois, parle transparence!
Who goes there? Speak, transparence, whoever you are!

In the first half of the piece, the color of the flute sounds and its gestures echo the staccato and marcato French words. Transparence serves as a transition into the much less explosive English text, and the second half of the piece is generally much more legato. In Jolas’s Episode Second, he explained the importance of tuning the quarter tones precisely and of exaggerating the dynamics to introduce an element of surprise. He mentioned that the Conservatory stopped commissioning morceaux de concours in the 1980s. Lastly, I played Saariaho’s Couleurs du vent, and he emphasized the importance of fluidity.

Farnham: Ian Clarke
    Across the Channel, I took a train from London to Farnham, Surrey, a far-flung suburb and the home of flutist/composer Ian Clarke. Genial and full of humor, he teaches flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Dance in London, and his works draw upon a huge array of influences, from World Music to jazz, blues, and modern flute techniques. We worked on Zoom Tube for solo flute (2001). He related that musical notation is an imperfect representation of the composer’s ideas and that especially in his style, a performer must free oneself of reading the notes to achieve a free, improvisatory air and a rhythmic groove. Clarke encourages but does not absolutely insist on memorization. If performing with the music, the score should be used only as an occasional reference. He suggested practicing half-bar fragments in a loop to find the right style (articulation is often punchier than classical flute playing) or improvising freely with the elements of the piece. His theory of performance is philosophically grounded, and he suggested reading Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary, a dense volume about the interactions of the left and right brains. Contrary to most Western thought, the right brain is the master and left brain the servant.
    Clarke shared an effective method for learning multiphonics. He pointed out that no competent flutist reads fingerings while playing Debussy’s Syrinx, so nobody should read multiphonic or quarter-tone fingerings in modern music, but rather know them with the same facility. When first learning these, Clarke suggests looking at the fingers and verbalizing an explanation for each. For instance, a double stop combining middle D and high F is high F with the second trill key. He also suggests practicing multiphonic passages with the lower voice only, as it tends to be weaker.
    For the opening glissando of Zoom Tube played with wind tones, Clarke suggested an approach opposite to normal flute playing; one must kill the resonance by bringing the teeth almost together and the jaw forward, but still focus the air with a small opening. After our lesson, Ian, his wife Caroline, and I shared a delightful lunch at a nearby pub, accessible by footpath.

Brooklyn: Robert Dick
    Fighting jet lag, I found myself in the Brooklyn apartment of Robert Dick, the leading exponent of extended techniques for the flute since the 1980s. Straddling many musical worlds, Robert is a brilliant improviser and performer with influences extending from jazz, blues, and rock to classical avant-garde.
    His books The Other Flute and Tone Development Through Extended Techniques and flute solos Lookout and Fish Are Jumping are now classics. His numerous excellent compositions, mostly for the flute, expand its boundaries while being eminently practical – all of his techniques work. He has explained these techniques clearly and thoroughly in instructional CDs, DVDs, and YouTube videos.
    My main focus with Robert was Gravity’s Ghost. He lifted the title from an unnamed science fiction story in which a character is suddenly thrust into warp speed, feeling “gravity’s ghost.” Thus, the title has no literal connection to Otha Turner but rather captures Robert’s image of what Turner would produce had he escaped the constrictions of his primitive flute and gone wild with multiphonics. The piece exudes intense happiness.
    I had struggled to produce some of the multiphonics on my fine orchestral wooden conical bore piccolo. Although he designed the piece to be played on a variety of piccolos, Robert plays on a 1920s-era silver cylindrical Haynes, which produces the effects easily, and he generously loaned me his backup silver piccolo until I could find one myself.
    I also worked with Robert on Takemitsu’s Voice, as he played the piece for the composer several times. He was able to speak with authority about the exact techniques Takemitsu intended and its ghost-story atmosphere and Noh theatricality. Using his thorough knowledge of the acoustics of the flute, Robert suggested numerous fingerings for multiphonics, quarter tones, and glissandi in my other repertoire.

Brooklyn: Greg Pattillo
    Also in Brooklyn, I visited Greg Pattillo, world’s leading flute beatboxer, to study his Three Beats for flute solo (2011), commissioned by the NFA for its High School Soloist competition. Beatboxing is a musical style in which artists use various mouth sounds to imitate hip hop beat patterns. Greg said that most beatboxing derives from imitation of the Roland 808 drum machine and suggested listening to James Brown’s song, The Funky Drummer, and Gregory Sylvester Coleman’s drum solo The Amen Break from The Winstons’ 1969 recording of Amen, Brother, two seminal performances that are the source of many beatboxing gestures. One of his favorite voice beatboxers is Rahzel M. Brown. Greg was particular about the quality of basic beatbox sounds from the bass drum kick (B), demanding a deep, resonant tone, to the snare drum sound (Ps).
    Greg’s method of teaching, appropriate to his idiom, differs from traditional classical pedagogy. To explain a concept, he loops a gesture and invites the student to join in, often improvising over a basic pattern. The best way to learn Three Beats is looping basic units of two measures and even smaller gestures of two notes or two beats – at first at a slow tempo, and always with a metronome. To retain the rhythmic flow Greg only breathes during rests and inhaled sounds. Memorizing the piece allows a performance with  an air of spontaneity. He suggests using a standing microphone for performance and tweaking the EQ to favor bass over treble.
    Pattillo is admirable for his willingness to share his special abilities. His goal is to make flute beatboxing widely known and continues to develop videos and printed materials and give classes to show us how it is done.

San Diego: John Fonville
    In November, I met with John Fonville, currently chair of the Department of Music and professor of flute at the University of California, San Diego. As a composer and flutist, John has forged new paths in the language of the flute. His many recordings of his own music and pieces by Brian Ferneyhough, Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Jojji Yuasa, and many others include the CDs Temporal Details (1995), Living in Fire (2000), and Flue (2010).
    We worked on common extended techniques in my repertoire and his solo flute pieces, Venus Noodles (1996) and Music for Sarah (1981). By this point, my tongue pizzicato was well developed, but John helped me develop more fluency and effortlessness.
    He recommended less involvement of the throat (some flutists even say to close the throat to cut off resonance). One approach to learning double stops is to start with the first open or partially open hole and then add additional fingers one at a time, thus working gradually from the highest to the lowest note of a double stop. For simultaneous singing and playing in octaves, he advocates rolling out slightly to minimize interference in the third partial.
    John wrote Venus Noodles for the NFA’s High School Soloist Competition, and it deserves to be more widely performed, particularly among advanced high school and college-level flutists. Music for Sarah is more ambitious and derives from a series of six improvisations, each focusing on a different technique. The most novel of these are in the third piece, where “the foot joint is removed and the body of the flute stopped to produce E below middle C, which is overblown while singing, creating difference tones,” and in the fifth piece, where “the headjoint is removed and the top edge of the body of the flute is blown across, like a shakuhachi.” The score of Music for Sarah, written by Leslie Olson, is a set of rules for improvisation based on what John plays. Details are left to the performer, but the outline of each piece is defined.

Conclusions
    Before beginning this project, I sensed that flutists in Europe were generally more advanced than those in America in playing modern music with special techniques. Now I am not so sure. Certainly Europe provides greater support for new music and more established festivals and ensembles. On both continents, a few cutting-edge players stand out, but in general, many flutists and teachers lack proficiency in multiphonics, quarter-tones, etc. A common theme in my discussions was that young flutists are now ahead of their teachers, due in part to YouTube videos and other resources where they can learn these techniques, and in the next generation, modern techniques will finally become more widespread.
    It was particularly valuable to work directly with composers, as there are always fine points of style and expression not conveyed in scores. I have discovered a common language and developed abilities that translate from one work to another; the quarter-tone scale in Clarke’s Zoom Tube is an ascending version of the one in Stockhausen’s Flautina, and the same multiphonics crop up in several different pieces.
    This ambitious project is only a beginning. I would like to work with other flutists and composers that I was not able to see this time around. All flutists shared enticing repertoire ideas, and I look forward to tackling yet more challenging works (Brian Ferneyhough’s Cassandra’s Dream Song is a rite of passage) and teaching newly found pieces that serve as gateways for students learning extended techniques.  

The post An Extended Journey, Part 2 appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    Nancy Stagnitta has been the flute professor at the Interlochen Arts Academy for the past ten years. She shares her background and ideas about teaching these remarkable young musicians.

How do you balance a full-time teaching position with a career as a performer? 
    As my career has evolved, the elements of teaching and performing have become increasingly more symbiotic. Working on my own playing helps me to be a more effective teacher, and working with bright and eager students, as I am fortunate to do at Interlochen, brings profound inspiration and insight to my playing. 
    I could not have foretold the path I would encounter after leaving Peabody. Although it has been filled with adventure and unexpected turns, it has always included a balance of performing and teaching on some level. After finishing my graduate work at the Peabody Institute, I joined the Baltimore Opera Orchestra, and later the Sarasota Opera, playing piccolo in both. I traveled to Africa to give recitals and masterclasses for the U.S. Information Agency as an Artistic Ambassador. Throughout this time, I was teaching flute at the Waldorf School of Baltimore, where I worked for fifteen years. I had an active freelance career in the Baltimore/Washington area, performing with the Annapolis Symphony, occasionally subbing with the Baltimore Symphony, and playing jazz. In 1999 I first taught at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. I loved the variety of activity and the wonderful opportunities for travel and versatility, and I still do. I also enjoy having a home base amidst the peaceful woods of northern Michigan, and working full-time with the students at Interlochen.
    I can still remember the first time I travelled to Interlochen from Baltimore. Those last hours as I drove into the upper lower peninsula of northern Michigan seemed endless, but there is something quite magical about it. The serene beauty lends itself to tremendous focus and artistic inspiration.

In this economy do you encourage your students to pursue a career in music? 
    This is a very significant and weighty question for every arts educator to consider with great care. It is both a privilege, and oftentimes a daunting responsibility, to guide future artists into a world filled with so many unknowns. I feel that one of the most crucial parts of my job is to help students to grasp the depth of their potential, identify their strongest gifts and greatest aptitudes, and embark on the career path that is most appropriate and offers the greatest potential for creating success and fulfillment. 
    When I encounter a student who has the drive, focus, and capacity for hard work combined with the musical sensibility and technical mastery necessary to pursue a professional career as a flutist, we work together toward that goal full force. Many students choose careers in the arts outside of the performance realm, such as administration, education, music therapy, and public radio. Others utilize the skills they have honed as flutists in a wide variety of career paths. In the past decade, graduates of the flute studio have gone on to study law, medicine, organic farming, child psychology, elementary education, and foreign language and policy, among many other fascinating fields of study. There are great flutists out there in every profession. Interlochen is a remarkable training ground for young artists, and it can also help students to discern whether a career in performance is the right choice for them.

How do you help a student build a technique?
    Carefully, and from the ground up. Mindful practice is the name of the game, and it begins with the body. I start with posture, balance, and alignment. The flute is an extension of the body, and the vessel through which we tell the tale set forth to us by the composer. If the body is not free of tension and prepared to resonate with flexibility and ease, coupled with appropriate strength, both the tone and the technique will suffer. 
    My technical warm-up regimen addresses all of the essential elements necessary to building a strong fundamental ability and a solid understanding of flute playing. I encourage slow practice of small gestures and passages first, gradually leading to faster work. Many times, a student will work on a passage slowly and thoughtfully, gradually working to play it faster, only to find that he reaches a point where all the careful work seems to fly out the window. The progress gained in the slow practice is replaced by tension, old habits, and inaccuracy. This can be frustrating. It is so important to work on good skill very slowly, always listening and assessing, and then to take that same skill with you when you play faster. Don’t leave it behind. This seemingly obvious concept can be stubbornly difficult in practice. The brain needs training just as the tongue and fingers do. I encourage students to work calmly with impeccable focus and to keep their sights set on making the music happen. This lets the brain and the body work together toward effortless execution. 

How do you help students find personality in their sound? 
    I encourage students to do a great deal of listening – first to the great flutists and singers, but also to violinists, cellists, and a broad spectrum of others. This is an important step toward defining and honing each student’s concept of sound, and finding his true voice on the flute. We start with the elemental building blocks of producing sound on the flute. This includes the exploration of air pressure and control, the shape and direction of the air column, inner resonance, the embouchure, tongue placement, and of course, vibrato. When it comes to the more nuanced aspects of each student’s sound, this becomes much more personal. My job shifts from one of instructing the basics to one of gaining a glimpse into the student, who they are, and the qualities that most accurately define the sound and the voice they wish to express. Then we work to balance these qualities with what is necessary to create a strong, beautiful, and personal tone.

Since you have so many senior students auditioning for conservatories each year, how do you select their audition materials?  
    Selecting audition repertoire can be a very stressful part of the college audition preparation process for students. There are variety of considerations. First, the student should be excited to work on it, so the music remains fresh throughout the process. The music should show versatility and understanding of a wide variety of styles, as well as confidence and artistry. It also should demonstrate appropriate ability level. I recommend choosing the minimum amount of repertoire that will cover the audition requirements for all the schools on a student’s list. 

Where do your students go to continue their studies? 
    Nearly all of my senior students attend a conservatory, college, or university following their years at Interlochen. In the past ten years, students have attended institutions such as The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, New England Conservatory, Eastman School, Oberlin, San Francisco Conservatory, Cleveland Institute, Rice, Northwestern, the University of Colorado at Boulder, McGill, The Longy School, Harvard, and many others. A few students elect to continue their studies at Interlochen for a post-graduate year of concentrated study.

What are you looking for in a student who auditions for entrance into the Interlochen Arts Academy? 
    I enjoy meeting students who are confident and enthusiastic about the audition. In the heat of the moment, it can be difficult for a student to remember that this is an exciting time, but it is immediately palpable when a young player enters the room with a positive, confident, and engaged approach. I look for flutists who are communicative, talented, focused, and genuinely interested in improving their skills, both technically and artistically. I listen for careful preparation, solid knowledge of the repertoire, and strong potential for growth. I especially like to hear a beautiful sound, good rhythmic integrity, and an obvious and genuine commitment to the music. 

How much do your students practice? 
    This varies depending on the student. Some students come to Interlochen as entering freshmen, however many also enter in later years, up to and including the post-graduate year. The amount of practice for each student is determined by where the flutist is in his development, what his future aspirations are, and what type of academic load he is taking.
    Generally speaking, my students practice between two and five hours a day. This will vary depending on upcoming performances, auditions, or competitions. I always recommend stretching and taking breaks in long practice sessions, to keep both mind and body up to the task at hand. 

Do you have any tricks for motivating students? 
    I encourage students to consider the quality of their work at all times, on every note and in every breath, rather than allowing practice to become tedious or operate in automatic pilot mode. This can lead to diminishing returns quite quickly. The adage practice makes permanent is a good one. My students are required to write weekly practice summaries, in which they reflect on their progress throughout the week and their goals going forward. This helps them to become insightful observers of their own practice. I also require students to record their lessons and practice sessions, and then to review their progress. 

What prepared you for this teaching position? 
    My time as a student, both in high school and as a conservatory student at Peabody, as well as the culmination of all the experiences I had had as a performer and a teacher, helped to prepare me for my current position at Interlochen. I was an academically motivated student as well as a serious flutist, and this allows me to relate to both the rigors and the rewards associated with balancing intensive artistic study with academic life.

Where did you grow up? 
    I spent my childhood in Hyde Park, New York, in the mid-Hudson Valley. When I was eight years old, my family moved to Germany for a year, and I spent that year in a German school in the small town of Grafenau-Döffingen, near the Black Forest. While there, I continued the piano lessons I had begun back home at age five. I decided to begin playing flute when I returned to the U.S. for fourth grade. 

What interested you about music? 
    My parents are great music lovers, and they always had very eclectic taste. I grew up hearing symphonic music, Italian opera, big band era swing, and various representations of the pop music of the time, both in the house and on endless repeats of 8-track cartridges on car trips. As a young child, I loved singing along, making up harmonies, daydreaming and dancing to the music. I recall one particular day when I had been inspired to come up with some very dramatic dance moves to the opening of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra playing on the stereo. I can also remember how mortified I was when I realized that my mom and dad had been observing this spectacle on the sly. 

Who were your major influences? 
    My first instrumental music teacher in public elementary school, David DeWitt, was an accomplished flutist. A former member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the West Point Academy Band, he was an encouraging first teacher who nurtured my love and early affinity for the flute. I also worked with another fine flutist in my town, Judith Handman, and then throughout high school I studied with a former student of Joseph Mariano, Beatrice Keram. She was a devoted and demanding teacher who helped me to understand how hard I would have to work in order to move to the next level. 
    When I was a teenager, my parents took me to New York City to hear both James Galway and Jean-Pierre Rampal perform solo recitals. During that same time, I played in a masterclass for Paula Robison and heard her perform in Woodstock, New York. Looking back, the combination of having excellent flutists and caring teachers in my young life, coupled with hearing these luminary flutists at an early age, led me toward a career as a flutist. I spent a summer at the New York School for Orchestral Study at Saratoga, where I worked with Murray Panitz. I then went on to study at the Peabody Institute, where I was fortunate to work with Tim Day and then with his former teacher, Robert Willoughby for the last year of my undergraduate studies and for my Master’s degree. I also took a few lessons with some of the many wonderful players in the Baltimore and National Symphonies at the time, including Mark Sparks and Emily Skala for flute, and Laurie Sokoloff and Carole Bean for piccolo. 

What is the legacy of Robert Willoughby? 
    What I remember most vividly about my lessons with Robert Willoughby is the questions.
    His approach was not for me to ask questions of him in order to learn, but rather, he was the one asking questions of me. Where is this phrase going? Why are you emphasizing this note? Why not that one? He was craftily teaching me to make decisions – good ones – about every aspect of what I was doing, both in my flute playing and in my interpretation, after exploring all the possibilities. He also understood how crucial it was for me to have the ability to assess whether my intent was sound, and to discern whether my execution matched that intent with authenticity and conviction. I can recall moments of frustration, when I would think to myself, “Why won’t he just tell me the answer.” But that would have been the easy way, and not his wise and challenging, yet kind method. His gift was the greatest one a teacher can give to a student: to know how to become your own teacher. Not only has he cultivated a treasure trove of thoughtful musicians and fine players throughout the years, but also very astute and effective teachers.
 
Since Interlochen has the winter Arts Academy and the summer camp programs, how do you spend your summers? 
    I teach at a one-week Summer High School Flute Institute at Interlochen along with Paula Robison and Judith Mendenhall, where we focus on artistry, technique, and a variety of repertoire in daily masterclasses, as well as incorporating improvisation, panel discussions, and Pilates exercises designed specifically for flutists. I also travel to various music festivals throughout the summer to teach and perform, currently at the Vianden International Music Festival and School in Luxembourg, and the Montecito International Chamber Music Festival in California. In previous years, I spent several weeks at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy. I also enjoy spending some time at home, where I give a masterclass at the Interlochen Arts Camp, play at several local jazz festivals, and take time to enjoy the gorgeous northern summers. 

What goals and special projects do you have coming up? 
    I just recently returned from a trip to Shanghai, where I participated in the Shanghai Conservatory Middle School Program’s Third Annual Baroque Festival along with two colleagues from Interlochen. It was a fascinating trip, and I continue to be enchanted and inspired by traveling, and by meeting fellow musicians in other cultures. I look forward to doing more, and particularly to returning to Europe this summer. I have plans to begin working on a solo recording project in the near future, and will continue to perform as a member of the Traverse Symphony, the South Florida Symphony, and various other groups. I will also be exploring several new collaborative endeavors, as I did previously with a project entitled “Pilates, Physics, and the Healthy, Resonant Flutist,” conceived with my colleagues in the dance and physics departments at Interlochen.

* * * *

Interlochen Center for the Arts   

    In the mid-1920s music in most American public schools was an extra-curricular activity that carried no academic credit. To stimulate interest in developing music programs, the Music Supervisors National Conference (later to become the Music Educators National Conference) asked Joseph E. Maddy to select and train a national high school honors orchestra to play at the group’s 1926 biennial meeting in Detroit. The success of this project produced an invitation to play for a national meeting of school superintendents in Dallas the following year, and a return to the MSNC in Chicago in 1928.The orchestras of 1926-1928 provided so powerful an experience for the young musicians in just a few days together that Maddy, along with Thaddeus P. Giddings, decided to create a place for these gifted young musicians to rehearse and perform together for an entire summer.
    The National High School Orchestra Camp was incorporated in 1927, and Maddy began to search the country for a proper site. He was soon drawn to a state park area near Traverse City, Michigan where Willis Pennington had established a tourist hotel flanked by a camp for girls and one for boys, each on separate lakes. The National Orchestra and Band Camp opened in 1928 with 115 students and twenty-four faculty from across the country. Vacationers in the region soon flocked to the amphitheater in the forest to hear these young musicians play their weekend concerts. The summer was an artistic success, but with only about half the number of campers he planned for, Maddy had to call upon professional musicians, private donors, instrument-makers, and music publishers to help the organization survive. National network broadcasting that began in 1930 and continued through 1941 attracted more and more campers, and John Philip Sousa’s visits in the last two summers of his life drew crowds of thousands to hear the celebrated March King lead the band and orchestra. After 85 summers the camp now offers programs in all the arts to more than 2500 young students and adults.
    In 1962 the Interlochen Arts Academy opened as the nation’s first independent boarding school in the arts. The school has grown from the initial 135 students with a faculty and staff of 34 to a four-year program for 475 young artists from around the world, representing 20 countries. The Academy offers students the opportunity to major in music, creative writing, dance, motion picture arts, theatre, the visual arts, and comparative arts. In 2006 the Interlochen Center for the Arts received the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence. Besides a strong academic curriculum, music students receive an all-encompassing experience with private lessons, studio classes, master classes, music theory and other music electives plus performance in small and large ensembles. It is an environment where students are constantly challenged, motivated and inspired by their peers, teachers and guest artists. The experience prepares Interlochen students for entrance into leading music programs in conservatories, colleges, and universities.

Interlochen Arts Academy Flute Curriculum

    Students enter with a wide range of musical experiences, and the flute curriculum is tailored to each student’s individual needs. Strong flute fundamentals are covered in great detail using a set of warm-up and technical exercises I have compiled over the years. The following is a selected list of materials that most students will study during their time at the Academy.

Technical and Tone Studies
Taffanel & Gaubert 17 Big Daily Exercises, Reichert Seven Daily Exercises, Op. 5, Moyse De La Sonorite

Etudes
Andersen, Altès, Berbiguier, Koëhler, Boëhm, Jeanjean, and Karg-Elert. I often ask a student to work out of one of the many excellent compilations available in order to have exposure to a broad variety of etudes. 

Repertoire 
    Since most students will be auditioning for conservatory or college music programs during their senior year, repertoire is selected based on the student’s age, performance level, and the audition requirements for each school. The following list represents a sampling of the repertoire from which each student’s course of study may be drawn. 
    Baroque Era: Telemann Fantasies, Handel and Bach Sonatas
    Sonata Repertoire: Reinecke, Poulenc, Hindemith, Muczynski
    French Conservatoire Repertoire: Fauré Fantasie, Chaminade Concertino, Huë Fantasie, Dutilleux Sonatine, Sancan Sonatine, Jolivet Chant di Linos
    Concerto Repertoire: Mozart, Nielsen, Ibert, Liebermann
    Additional Representative Solo Repertoire: Griffes Poem, Copland Duo, Debussy Syrinx, Martin Ballade, Varèse Density 21.5, Jolivet Chant de Linos
   Orchestral Excerpts
    Basic Elements of Improvising and Playing Jazz

Photos courtesy of Interlochen Center for the Arts

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