Apply for Everything
   The top piece of advice I would give to aspiring musicians is to apply for everything. No gigs or job opportunities will fall into your lap because there will always be someone (probably many someones) who are willing to go the extra mile to make themselves stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. Being timid about applying only limits your chances of getting a position or gig. A college committee might see something in your resume that calls to them, or an audition panel might hear exactly what they are looking for in your recording. However, you will never know if you do not throw your name into the hat. The more applications that you submit, the greater your chances are of finding a position that will work for you.
   Additionally, an application is a chance for you to be seen and heard. While there may be financial costs to weigh when deciding whether to submit an application or audition, keep in mind the value of performance experience, receiving feedback about your playing, and of course, the added bonus of possibly winning the event. My philosophy has always been to have no expectations – to prepare my best and play like a winner – but ultimately to compete for the comments and feedback. Try to evaluate your performance honestly against your previous best rather than against the other players. Some of my most successful competitions were those that I did not win, but walked away from with excellent comments, contacts, new friends, and experiences.
   Applications are also important for networking in the job market. I do the majority of my teaching online, and one of my current online teaching jobs came to me through an application that I made for adjunct teaching with a local college. I have taken job interviews for colleges where the panel would suggest other openings in which I might have an interest. Even when I was not selected for a position, I had more fuel for the next application and interview. I have been offered orchestra gigs after playing in competitions. I have subbed for new acquaintances after being the runner-up in auditions. Networking is vital to surviving as a musician.

Say Yes
    It might go without saying, but along with the application is the acceptance of the job. I have found that while I am establishing myself in an area, saying yes to any gig that comes my way often opens doors for more job possibilities down the road. Saying no more often leads others to believe that you might be too busy or uninterested in working. Not all jobs are fun and not all jobs pay well, but you never know when someone in the audience or another player in the ensemble might need a flutist for a wedding or a sub for a concert down the road. If you are enthusiastic about the gigs and play well for them, you can pick and choose the ones you would rather play later on after you are well known in the area. Here again, the possibilities begin to open if you apply yourself.

Be Your Own Boss
    One of the most popular career avenues for flutists to pursue is private teaching. A great private teacher can be the major influence that leads a student to a career as a musician or perhaps more importantly to a life-long appreciation of music. Because the private teaching market can be rather dense, I recommend striving for more than just teaching lessons. Hold group classes, studio parties, recitals, and encourage your students to play in performances around the community, such as in bands, competitions, flute societies, etc. If you have enough students, form a studio flute choir. The goal is to ensure that your students are fulfilled, challenged, and active. This spreads the word about your teaching and attracts more prospective students to the studio.
   Starting a studio can be tricky, and again, applying yourself with energy and focus really pays off. Place postcards or business cards at local businesses, start a website, give a free masterclass to the local high school band flute section, and showcase your current students in community performances. You might want to advertise with a local flute club and invite prospective students to be audience members at your next group class or studio recital. Another good idea is to get to know the other teachers in your area. If their studios are full, they may refer students to you, or they might have suggestions on how they got started teaching in the area. Just like a formal job application, the more creative and proactive you are, the more successful you will be at establishing your studio.

Piece Together a Full-time Job
   Just because full-time gigs are few and far between, does not mean that you will twiddle your thumbs for the six hours a day that you are not teaching private students. Many professional musicians have more than one job. They play in orchestras, teach privately, possibly have an adjunct job at a university, take freelance gigs, and do contract work. Personally, all of my work is contract work. I teach for two universities and an online high school, play in a couple per service orchestras, and teach my private students. As a result, I need to buy health insurance and contribute to my retirement account on my own, and it is challenging working from home, balancing schedules, and finding downtime. However, this also allows me to be flexible so I am able to participate in many other musical endeavors like auditions, competitions, flute fairs, lecture-recitals, and so forth.
   Although I have never gone this route, many musicians have a day job that is not music related. Besides the regular paycheck, a big benefit for these musicians is that they have a few hours a day to remove themselves from music, which helps keep their playing fresh and exciting. The hard part might be scheduling gigs and students around work hours or taking time off for auditions or travel for performances. All pros and cons to consider when piecing together your working day.

Be Flexible
   When I was in middle school, my band director asked if I would learn a string instrument to help out with the dwindling school orchestra numbers. I had no interest at all, but my stand partner really wanted to learn the cello and begged me to learn it with her. I agreed. Two weeks later, she had quit, and I was still trying to figure out the bow hold. I ended up liking the cello and took private lessons in high school, went to all-state orchestra (since they take more cellos than flutes), played in the youth orchestra (again, numbers were on my side), and even minored in cello during my years at Peabody.
   Playing cello was always something fun and was never a job priority for me. However, many of my teachers and mentors along the way told me that cello playing would be an asset one day. I did not believe them until I was offered my first full-time teaching job – as a string orchestra director. I am never going to be a professional cellist, but because I had learned more than just the flute, my program flourished, I had fun, and it gave me great full-time teaching experience which led to some of my current positions.

Expand Your Skills
    Think about your strengths both musically and in general. Do you have a skill beyond your major instrument? Do you have a teaching license or experience in peer tutoring, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Orff Schulwerk, or the Kodaly Method? Are you a leader and organizer? Do you enjoy computers or like to compose or arrange music? Are you a skilled writer or editor? Maybe you have a talent for recording and mixing. Do not be afraid to explore new areas and be flexible.  Online courses, community college classes, masterclasses, summer programs, and seminars are all great ways to expand your knowledge. Allow yourself to exercise those skills and continue to grow because you never know when they will come in handy for a job or lead to new opportunities.
   I have been incredibly fortunate to play the flute in so many unique places with so many fabulous people. When it comes to paying the bills, however, the best gigs for me have been in academia. I currently work for three academic institutions: the North Carolina Virtual Public School, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Rutgers University. None of these positions currently involves flute performance; instead, I teach music appreciation, music theory, and jazz history.
   My qualifications to teach in all these subject areas come from applying myself as a scholar and expanding my skills beyond just playing the flute. I did research, both in school and afterwards on my own, to learn about music theory, musicology, and jazz, so that when asked for a sample lesson or syllabus, I had enough source material, personal contacts, and knowledge in the subject matter to make a cohesive presentation. I have attended a variety of conventions and lectures, read and evaluated textbooks, used college professors as resources, and networked with colleagues in these areas. I also work for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as a reader for the PRAXIS Music Content exam and the AP Music Theory exam, both of which have taught me enormous amounts about teaching in these areas. The vast majority of current teaching jobs at all levels are not just adjunct, but also academic. The more you broaden your knowledge of a variety of musical subjects, the more appealing you will be to hiring committees.

The Bottom Line
    My successful jobs have all come through perseverance, a staggering number of applications, a willingness to piece together a full day’s work from several contracts, and the flexibility to draw on and apply non-flute skills to these positions. My husband, a freelance violinist and adjunct professor at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and I are comfortable, own a home, and, most importantly, feel that we are putting our musical skills to good use in a way that they are appreciated and valued by our employers. I would encourage all prospective professional musicians to shoot for these goals because at the end of the day, using your skills is what really makes a successful musician in today’s job market.       

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A 1.6 Shakuhachi lying on the sheet music for an ensemble piece composed in the 19th century by Yoshikawa Kengyo II. The notation is Kinko School Shakuhachi notation and the title is Haru no Kyoku (Ode to Spring).

A Brief History
    The shakuhachi made its first appearance in Japan around the eighth century. It came to Japan with an influx of Chinese culture that included the formal Chinese court system of social hierarchy and governing laws. Part of this court system included a type of music and a well-defined court orchestra. The ancestor of the shakuhachi was one of the instruments in this orchestra. It differed from the modern instrument in that it had six holes, was more slender, was lacquered throughout, and was made from a lighter bamboo.
    Although the medieval Japanese court system eventually died out, a form of this type of orchestra still exists today, and a variant of the music is still performed. This music is called gagaku, the contemporary form of which is usually performed with a modern version of the shakuhachi replacing the six holed variety.
    During the years following the adoption of the Chinese court system, several of the instruments included in the court orchestras became popular amongst the common people. Even though the music was quite rarified and intended for only the ears of the ruling class, it seems to have leaked out amongst the working people of the time. Three of the stringed instruments quickly became integrated into regular Japanese society: the koto, shamisen, and biwa. The shakuhachi, however, seems to have stayed within the castle walls.
    Around the end of the ninth century, Japanese court music underwent an extensive renovation. The orchestras were pared down, and the shakuhachi and several other instruments were eliminated from them. Because the instrument had not become known beyond the courts, it seems to have disappeared entirely from Japan at that time.
    Japan experienced several other big influxes of Chinese culture, one of which brought in what would become the Japanese form of Zen Buddhism. By the 13th century, and perhaps as early as the 11th century, monks from Buddhist temples in Japan made pilgrimages to China and brought back  not only religious literature and meditation techniques used in Chinese temples, but also the shakuhachi. At this time monks used the instrument as a tool for meditation that was similar to that of chanting the sutras. It was thought that one could experience kensho (seeing into one’s own nature) by playing chant-based music on the shakuhachi.
    Some of the lore of the period details how a samurai named Yoritake Ryoen reached this state of enlightenment after hearing the sound of the flute following a battle. Under the direction of the Zen master Shinchi Kakushin, Ryoen went on to found a sect devoted to the practice of the shakuhachi. This sect became known as the Fuke sect and played an integral role in the early history of the instrument.
    By the sixteenth century the use of the shakuhachi had spread amongst the general populace. Although it continued to be an instrument of monks, it also took on a more secular role. It became popular in Japanese folk music (minyo) and also rejoined its fellow former court instruments (the koto and shamisen) in classical music (sankyoku) ensembles. Much of this type of music is performed regularly, unchanged, today.
    The late nineteenth and early twentieth century, starting in the Meiji era and extending through the Showa period, saw a strong rise in the influence of the West on all aspects of Japanese culture. So it is not surprising that the music of the shakuhachi also felt this influence. Many Western musical aspects were adopted into Japanese classical compositions for traditional ensembles, which include the koto, shamisen, voice, and shakuhachi.
    Solo shakuhachi pieces, the pieces collected from the temples, began to be written down and practiced in a secular environment. Virtuoso performers on the instrument emerged, and performers and composers began to create new material for the instrument. New schools of playing emerged and began to attract followers.
    Toward the middle of the twentieth century several of these shakuhachi virtuosos traveled and spent time in Europe and North America. Today the instrument is taught both at universities and in independent schools and is played in the traditional manner for both solo and ensemble performances as well as in various non-traditional ways and settings.


On the left: This shows the root end of two shakuhachi. Note the difference in bore opening. This varies from maker to maker.
One the right: This shows the blowing end of two shakuhachi.

The Music
    The shakuhachi is used in various forms of Japanese music, including court music (gagaku), folk music (minyo), small ensemble music (the older style sankyoku and the modern shinkyoku), and the music of the Buddhist tradition (honkyoku). The techniques involved in playing honkyoku music, however, are the ones that people associate most closely with the shakuhachi sound. (To learn more about the details of each of these types of music and how the shakuhachi fits into each framework, the bibliography at the end offers some resources.)
    Honkyoku came about as an attempt to translate Buddhist chanting into something that could be produced on the shakuhachi. As this chant-based music evolved, particularly in the twentieth century, it began to acquire more musical qualities.
    Several practitioners of this music began to add different techniques in order to imbue it with more emotional content as sutra chanting, by its very nature, is a bit static and monotone.
    Dynamics were added since the more modern flutes (whose bores were lacquered with a hardened material) could produce a wide volume range. Note bending and slurring were other added techniques. The shakuhachi lends itself well to these techniques because it has open holes, and the blowing edge allows for a greater amount of movement than can occur with Western flutes. Percussive techniques, taking advantage of the fact that the shakuhachi has relatively large open finger holes, were another addition. Players also incorporated vibrato produced by shaking the head from side to side. They also added overblowing or noise techniques. All of these techniques were present in the original forms of honkyoku, but they were not used nearly to the degree that became popular in the twentieth century.
    Beside chanting, another source of inspiration for the monks was nature sounds. Monasteries were often located in remote areas surrounded by forests, rivers, and mountains, so the monks listened to the sounds of the wind and wild animals. Some pieces of honkyoku are based on the sounds of cranes, deer, and pulsating winds. Monks also wandered into nearby villages and heard festival music. Some of the honkyoku repertoire reflects this as well.
    For most of its existence honkyoku was an oral tradition. The pieces were passed on to new players who listened to and then tried to emulate the more experienced players. In the twentieth century several prominent students of the instrument visited temples and collected pieces. Notations were invented to try to capture all the playing techniques and subtleties of the instrument. Today there is no single notation for this type of music. The notation varies and is usually tied to a particular teacher or school of playing.
    Of the different types of flutes around the world, the shakuhachi seems to be somewhat unique in its close association with a religion. It is a very flexible and evocative instrument capable of a great depth of emotion and demanding a great deal of dedication to learn. The word honkyoku refers to the fact that this music was meant to be internalized. Kyoku refers to music and hon refers to one self (or the first). Roughly translated, honkyoku means “my own music” or “original music.” Whether the music was chant based or nature based, it was created for personal reflection. The twentieth century brought about a slight change to this, freeing the music from the temples and placing it in the performance space; however the personal aspect of shakuhachi playing is still very much present. There are many more fascinating aspects to the shakuhachi, including the various schools of playing, different notations, types of flutes and their sound qualities, and virtuoso players who influenced how the music came to the modern world, to list a few.     

Bibliography
    Below is a collection of book titles, articles, recordings, and websites in no particular order that provide more in-depth information regarding the various aspects of the shakuhachi. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It has also been limited to publications in the English language.
The Shakuhachi a Manual for Learning by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel and Yuko Kamisango. ©1988. Ongaku No Tomo Sha Corp. Tokyo Japan. ISBN 4-276-13351-3
Zen Masters of Japan, The Second Step East by Richard Bryan McDaniel. ©2013. Richard Bryan McDaniel. ISBN978-4-8053-1272-8
The Annals of The International Shakuhachi Society Volume One by Various Authors. Published in 1987. ASIN B000GR4TJA
The Annals of The International Shakuhachi Society Volume Two by Various Authors. ©2005. The International Shakuhachi Society. ISBN 0-9711625-1-4
Blowing Zen Finding an Authentic Life by Ray Brooks. ©2000. Ray Brooks. ISBN 0-915811-85-5
Yearning for the Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition by Riley Kelly Lee (Doctoral Dissertation). ©1998, Riley Kelly Lee. UMI Dissertation Services UMI Number 9828066
Zen – Katsuya Yokoyama Plays Classical Shakuhachi Masterworks (2DC Set). Original Recording 1976 RCA Records Tokyo Japan. ©1988 WERGO Schallplatten GmbH, Mainz W. Germany.
Shakuhachi Music: A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky – Goro Yamaguchi. Nonesuch Explorer Series Original Release 1969. ©2007, Nonesuch Records Inc.
Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Pieces: Shakuhachi, Biwa, Koto, Shamisen – Ensemble Nipponia. Nonesuch Explorer Series Original Release 1976. ©2008, Nonesuch Records Inc. The International Shakuhachi Society Website:

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    Wendy Webb Kumer has served the Pittsburgh Flute Club in every capacity and has been secretary of the Moyse Society and the National Flute Association. Kumer is the founder of The Flute Academy and regularly organizes flute choir performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony. With more than 40 years of teaching experience, she is devoted to flutists of all ages and levels and sincerely believes that world peace can be attained if there is a flute in every household. Kumer is a graduate of Duquesne University (Bernard Goldberg) and Carnegie Mellon University (David Cramer and Carole Morgan). She also attended Marcel Moyse’s seminars in Vermont. Kumer has played professionally in Pittsburgh area orchestras and has taught at Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon, and Mercyhurst College. She is currently on the faculty of West Liberty University.

What led you to start The Flute Academy?
    By the age of 20, I already had a large studio. I knew that teaching flute was what I wanted to do. In January 1980 I started teaching at Duquesne with one student. The pay was $8.50 per hour and my parking was $4.00 per hour. After taxes, my paycheck was a wash, but my foot was in the door. In my youthful enthusiasm, I intended to create a flute empire with my community studio, and with the university students we would share resources to host guest flutists, present recitals, and start flute choirs. For the next 20 years, that is exactly what I did.
    Within five years, I was able to recruit 12 flute majors including graduate students. We hosted numerous guest artists, including Lady Jeanne and Sir James Galway, William Bennett, Trevor Wye, Jeanne Baxtresser, Carol Wincenc, Bonita Boyd, Leone Buyse, Jonathan Snowden, Robert Dick, Per Oien, and Jim Walker. Also during that time Julius Baker was teaching at Carnegie Melon, so these were rich flute days in Pittsburgh. Many of my students (Karl Barton, Amy Orsinger Whitehead, Pamela Murchison, Dan Parasky, Lindsay Leach-Sparks, Torin Olsen, Gay Kahkonen, Megan Neal, T. J. Wible, and more) from those early days have built successful careers themselves. 
    In the mid-1990s the Duquesne music administration shifted away from having freelance musician as adjunct professors and began hiring Pittsburgh Symphony members to teach. Since the mid-1980s I had been teaching at Duquesne’s City Music Center where I had started community flute choirs and summer flute camps. So, I reinvented myself and dove into expanding my community student base and my middle, high school, and adult flute choirs at Duquesne. In 2000 another restructuring occurred at Duquesne and flutists could study privately only through the City Music Center where the tuition for a 30-minute lesson was a prohibitive $50. This got me thinking about creating a flute haven where flutists could study, practice, teach, play in flute choirs, have masterclasses, work with guest artists, attend recitals, participate in chamber ensembles and have access to recording facilities, all for a reasonable tuition rate. That spring, I was called for jury duty where I sat idly for days with only my laptop as a companion. Thus, The Flute Academy was imagined, the schedule created, and we opened in September 2001.

How is The Flute Academy organized?
    It is a community of flute teachers who are like-minded and believe in the vision of flutists of all ages and levels of development getting together to make beautiful music, to learn, to grow, and to study. The teachers set up their own policies, calendars, lesson fees, and keep their own account books. Very low or no rent is charged if a teacher’s students enroll in the flute choir and other classes (music theory, ear training, and chamber music). Frequently we have interns from Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne who work with the flute choirs and classes to get some on-the-job training while still in college. Although the interns are paid only a small stipend, they are building a resume and gaining valuable experience. Several times a year, flute vendors come to The Flute Academy to show and sell instruments.
    We are located at First Trinity Lutheran Church in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh, adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh campus and within walking distance of Carnegie Mellon. Since I attend church there, the pastor and the congregation allow us to use their vacated school building. We have free parking and huge spaces for lessons, classes, and rehearsals. To get us started, I bought a grand piano for the sanctuary, some recording equipment, a high capacity copier, a subscription to Smart Music, an iPad, and had a business phone installed. As a member of the congregation, I make regular donations for the utilities, overall maintenance, and space usage. The Flute Academy is under the supervisory board of the Augsburg Academy, an educational branch of our congregation and is covered under the church’s liability insurance policy. The tuition from The Flute Academy students pays the staff, expenses, and a donation to the church each semester.
    Lessons are taught each weekday after school. On any given day there may be piano lessons in the sanctuary, flute lessons in the studios, students using the recording studio for auditions and competitions, and of course, students finishing homework while waiting for lessons. We have free Wi-Fi for all to use. On Saturdays, there are piano, flute and violin lessons all day. The middle school flute choir, Flute Loops, and the high school flute choir, Flutations, rehearse for semester-end concerts, and  the adult flute choir, City Flutes, meets every other Saturday. There are also Saturday chamber music rehearsals, makeup lessons, group classes, and theory and ear training.
    We keep tuition reasonable so many flutists can afford to participate. Flute choir is $110 for students and $75 for adults for a 10-week semester. For the other classes the tuition is $100. Our goal is to have everyone want to come back and play their flutes for the rest of their lives.

Do most of your students enter competitions?
    Goodness no! The Flute Academy mission is to provide quality music instruction through the teaching of the flute with the goal of students becoming life-long music lovers and concert attendees. We teach students of all ages, abilities, and interest levels. Each student I teach is my favorite one, ever. However, many of the students do enter and win competitions. 
    We have had numerous road trips with 15-passenger vans full of Kumer Kids of all ages competing in PMTA, MTNA, PMEA, and National Flute Association events. One student, T.J. Wible, won the MTNA National High School Woodwind competition in Salt Lake City and was a finalist in both the National Flute Association High School Soloist and piccolo competitions. From my studio I have had approximately 100 high school flutists win the NFA High School Flute Choir competition over the past 30 years.
    For some students, entering a competition can be a motivation tool. If their skill level, practice habits and personality align in a proper proportion, I urge them to try out for something. If this appeals to them and it works as a motivator, we are off and running. About 15% of my flute students thrive in this environment. Some love learning the music, recording it, but never submitting the applications, and that is fine too. Part of my scrutiny into who is suited to this curriculum is a student’s (and family’s) attitude and definition of winning. We define winning as playing up to your expectations and noticing improvement since the last performance. We enjoy and often learn from reading judges’ comments but are not bound by them. Placing first or last is arbitrary and is not the goal.
 
Do you teach adults?
    Yes. When I first started teaching, I was not keen on teaching adults. I could not relate to where they were in their lives with grown children and now returning to the flute after a long hiatus. I liked them, but didn’t get them. It is amazing how a few decades can change one’s perspective. I cherish my current, adult re-entry students. Their stories are fascinating because of their life experiences. I love that they still feel connected to the flute and flute music. This is one of the reasons why our 35-member adult flute choir, City Flutes, is so vibrant.

Organizing and conducting flute choirs has been a huge part of your life. What do you think is the future for flute choirs? 
    Flute choirs are our future. Check out the big flute choirs on YouTube (Netherlands Flute Academy, Korea and Japan). In 2006, I persuaded the National Flute Association to allow the 200-member Pittsburgh Flute Club flute choir to play as a pre-concert event on the Saturday evening gala with orchestra. Flutists from middle-school age through senior citizens played Kirk Vogel’s Secret Language of Snow to a packed audience. This is what it is all about.
Later that fall, more than 100 flutists from the Pittsburgh Flute Club played Irish music in venues around the symphony hall before the concert appearance of Sir James Galway and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Later that evening 35 flutists played the Galway Piper by David Overton on stage with Lady Jeanne and Sir James Galway. In 2009, the Pittsburgh Flute Choir (75 flutists) performed at the NFA Convention in New York City. This past fall, 150 flutists performed in the lobby of Heinz Hall just before a concert in which Pittsburgh Symphony principal flutist, Lorna McGhee, performed the Nielsen Concerto. 
    My next project is to gather as many as possible Pittsburgh Flute Club flutists and friends to perform at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC on Saturday, August 15 during the NFA convention. We will perform Joe’s Treat by Gay Kahkonen, which was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Flute Club, and Kathy Blocki is also commissioning a piece. We are featuring Joe Bonadio, a soon-to-be 92-year-old beginner flutist. Bonadio attends everything flute-related within driving distance of Pittsburgh. Lorna McGhee has also promised to drop by for our zoo concert.

What was it like to study with Bernard Goldberg and Marcel Moyse?
    Goldberg’s teaching was heavily influenced by Georges Barrère and Marcel Moyse. His curriculum included a firm technical foundation starting with the 17 Big Daily Exercises by Taffanel et Gaubert and etudes by Berbiguier and Andersen. He taught the French solos as well as compositions by Handel, Bach, Mozart, Kuhlau, and Demersseman. For tone color and phrasing he used the Moyse De La Sonorite and both the 24 Little Melodies with Variations and the 25 Melodies with Variations, in addition to Tone Development through Interpretation. He was a genius at teaching orchestral excerpts, as you might expect.
    At Goldberg’s suggestion, I went to study with Marcel Moyse in Vermont for four summers. This was a life-changing event. I was in attendance when Moyse celebrated his 90th birthday with an orchestra concert (conducted by Blanche Honegger Moyse). Classes were held in his grandson’s art barn in the woods. Huge 1970s colorful oil paintings were stacked against all the walls, and we sat on folding chairs for at least five hours twice a day.
    Moyse limped (slowest gait, ever) into the plywood building and made his way to the front, breathing loudly with lungs full of congestion. We all knew that every breath could be his last. But, as soon as he seated himself in his padded, rolling office chair, took a sip of what he proclaimed loudly as “whiskey,” a flutist or woodwind chamber ensemble would begin to play. Suddenly he was 40 years younger. He literally bubbled with life and energy. It was remarkable how Moyse danced and waved about. His gesturing was historic. His teaching was inspired, deep, insightful, and all about the color, phrase, composers’ intentions, and conveying the deepest meaning in your playing. He could be brutal, but it wasn’t personal. He was simply passionate about music. My dream during those heady days at the Moyse seminars was to do my part in continuing his legacy of teaching with my students. I have been blessed with many students, years of opportunities, and a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying career.

*     *     *

Favorite Flute Choir Repertoire
    Since most middle school flutists study in a public school band program, they are used to playing in unison. To become independent rhythmically and harmonically, I introduce students to flute choir literature that is in three or four parts. I carefully mark the breaths for each part and have them play each of the other parts at one time or another. If a student has a piccolo, I add piccolo on the top part. If a flutist is large enough to play alto or bass flute, we may add them into the mix also. The Flute Loops middle school flute choir also plays several pieces that they can perform with the high school group and then a few additional pieces they can play with the three combined flute choirs, including the adult ensemble.
    The three combined choirs’ repertoire this spring includes: King’s Processional by Alexandra Molnar-Suhajda (self published), Beckett’s Whisper by Ron Korb (Nourse Wind), Brazilian Alleluia by Ralph Manuel (arranged by Wendy Kumer), and Colonel Bogey’s March by Alford (ALRY). Flutations and City Flutes combination repertoire includes: Flute 66 by Jonathan Cohen (self published), Fanfare 36 by Kelly Via (Nourse Wind), Unexpected Journeys by James-Michael Sellers (Flute.net), and Souvenir de Porto Rico by Gottschalk/Davis (Fall House Press).

Growing Up with Art
    Wendy Kumer is the daughter of two graduates from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She thought everyone’s parents sketched restaurant patrons on napkins when out for dinner and designed elaborate covers for their children’s school projects. Wendy’s father, Frank Webb, a commercial art studio owner, studied watercolor painting in Maine every summer while she was growing up. His teacher, Edgar A. Whitney, was in his late eighties and led painting critique classes in the woods. The similarities between the painter’s classes and Moyse’s class were remarkable. Eventually Frank Webb became the teacher and now in his late eighties, teaches watercolor painting all over the world. Google Frank Webb to see his use of design, color, shapes, and textures – visual responses reflecting Moyse’s beliefs about musicality.

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