The first ever Wood Flute Festival and Conference is being held June 16 – 18, 2006 at the University of Washington in Seattle. David Shorey of Los Angeles, formerly the curator of the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, will act as Conference moderator. Prominent flutists from all around the USA and Canada who specialize in jazz, Brazilian music, the avant-garde, early flutes from five centuries, woodwind quintets and multiple flute ensembles will celebrate the versatility of "modern" wooden Boehm-system flutes and metal flutes with wooden headjoints in five concerts and two cabaret performances, with lectures, performers' and makers' symposiums and presentations by prominent scholars and collectors. The wooden modern flute was championed by UW professor of flute Felix Skowronek, who conceived and led the Wood Flute Conference until his untimely death in April. The final event in the weekend festival and conference will be a memorial concert dedicated to him (see details below).
This conference will examine the extent to which "modern" wooden Boehm-system flutes — and metal flutes with wooden headjoints — are being played in the United States and Canada, and will allow participants to discuss their common experiences and problems as members of a distinct but growing minority in the flute world. Flutists and flute makers will participate in performances, lectures, and meetings to explore the current state of interest in the wooden flute and to establish a network and means of communication to help coalesce an effort that is still somewhat scattered and unorganized. All are welcome, even if you don't presently play a wooden flute or headjoint. Registration forms, accommodation and fee information may be found at www.woodflutefest.com. Please contact Jeffrey Cohan at woodflutefest@aol.com or (206) 525-2216 with any questions.
The wooden Boehm-system ("modern") flute was prevalent in the United States a century ago, but was superseded by the silver flute. By the 1920s, manufacture of the wooden flute in the U.S. ceased and the instrument disappeared from the musical life of the nation for nearly fifty years. In the 1960s, a few American flutists began to rediscover the instrument and its unique qualities, and play upon it professionally. In Seattle, the manufacture of wooden headjoints began in the mid-1970s, the first such systematic effort in the U.S. in more than five decades.
Much of the early – and continuing – research was led by University of Washington flute professor Felix Skowronek, who changed to the wooden flute in the early 1960s and has played it exclusively ever since. A number of his students changed to wood as well, and are a presence in the local flute scene. Today two major American flute makers, as well as a handful of smaller workshops, have begun to manufacture wooden flutes, joined by two prominent makers in Japan. There are now nearly twenty makers of wooden headjoints in the United States, when thirty years ago there was just one, in Seattle. A wooden flute culture has built up in Seattle and also in nearby Victoria, B.C., and wooden flutes have notable representation in the jazz, Latin, baroque, and avant-garde arenas.
"The Wood Flute Conference now serves in part as a tribute to Felix, an ardent spokesman for wood and everything it means for the flute, as he demonstrated in the concert hall, through his scientific studies and work in the UW School of Forestry, his many wood-gathering expeditions in mountainous wilderness in the United States and Australia, his involvement with flute-making, and his information-gathering excursions among the wood flute players of Europe," said flutist Jeffrey Cohan. (He, with Felix's son Neil, "took over the reins" for the flute conference after Skowronek's death.)
PERFORMERS
Prof. Tim Lane (Univ. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
Prof. Lanny Pollet (University of Victoria, Canada)
Bradley Leighton (jazz flutist based in San Diego)
Clifford Dunn (avant-garde performer and composer)
Jim O’Halloran (flutist with Seattle’s charanga "Yerba Buena")
Others to be announced
Danilo Mezzadri (Assistant Professor, University of Southern Mississippi, Brazilian music)
University of Washington Residence Halls
Accommodations include residence hall housing for all three nights of the conference (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), as well as catered breakfasts and lunches on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are available for either single or double occupancy rooms. Extra nights of stay on June 14, 15, 19, 20 may be available. These stays do not include meals. Housing reservations are required; there will be no walk-in housing registration available. Area hotels and motels – information available at http://www.washington.edu/univrel/visitors/accommodations.html
Meals available on campus or in nearby University District (http://www.udistrictchamber.org/toDoRestaurant.cfm).
FEES
All events except the late evening cabarets at 10 PM on June 16 and June 17 will take place in Brechemin Auditorium in the University of Washington School of Music
Concert admission: $20 and $10 for students for all but the final memorial concert and the audio-visual tribute on the 16th. Admission to pre-concert and post-concert events is free with a ticket to the adjacent concert. There will be a small Cabaret cover charge for those not attending the conference.
Full conference registration: $100 ($50 for students); provids access to all events
Single day registration: $65 ($25 students).
Pre-Concert Event: "Felix Skowronek, Pioneer of the Wooden Flute", an audio visual tribute by William McColl and members of the Soni Ventorum, and Theo Skowronek. (free admission)
8 pm
Evening Double Concert with "Brasilidade", a program of Brazilian works from three centuries by Mathieu-André Reichert, José Siqueira, Osvaldo Lacerda, Radamés, Liduino Pitombeira and Pattápio Silva for flute and piano with flutist Danilo Mezzadri (The University of Southern Mississippi) and pianist Jerrod Wendland, followed by the flute and guitar duo "Duozona" with Theresa and Chuck Hulihan (Arizona), performing works written for the duo.
10 pm
Cabaret at the University of Washington McCarty Hall with flutist Jim O'Halloran and the Jim O'Halloran Quintet, performing jazz influenced by European and sacred music as well as Brazilian, Cuban, salsa, and African music.
Saturday, June 17
2 pm
Pre-Concert Event: "The Wooden Flute in America" with David and Nina Shorey (Los Angeles).
3 pm
Afternoon Double Concert with flutist Lanny Pollet (University of Victoria, BC) performing the Cambini Wind Quintet No.1 and Choros #2 by Heitor Villa-Lobos with clarinetist Patricia Kostek (University of Victoria, BC), followed by "New Music from the Heartland on the Wooden Flute" with flutist Tim Lane and pianist Namji Kim (both from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) performing "Chromos" (1999) by Ivar Lunde, "Permutations on a Theme by Brahms" (1995) by Timothy Bowlby, ""Remembrance" (2005) by Tim Lane, and "YES A DANCE NOT" (2006) by Larry Baker.
4:30 pm
Post-Concert Event: "Orchestral Use of the Classical Flute" with Janet See performing on both early and modern Boehm-system wooden flutes.
8 pm
Evening Double Concert with Wisconsin Woodwind Quintet performing "Rengaines" (1937) by Andre Souris, "Cinco Danzas Breves" by Mario Lavista, and Three Bagatelles by Ivar Lunde, Jr., followed by "Fleyt Muzik" with klezmer flutist Adrianne Greenbaum and Alexander Eppler, cimbalom.
10 pm
Cabaret at the University Towers District Lounge (4507 Brooklyn Ave NE) with jazz flutist Bradley Leighton and the Tom McElroy Trio. Bradley will perform a wide array of jazz and jazz fusion, and "jamming" and impromptu sit-ins by conference participants will be encouraged.
Sunday, June 18
2 pm
Pre-Concert Event: "Historical Development & Orchestral Use of Wood Boehm-System Flutes" with David and Nina Shorey.
3 pm
Afternoon Double Concert: "The Wood Flute: Six Centuries on the Cutting Edge" with baroque flutists Courtney Westcott, Kim Pineda and Jeffrey Cohan, performing selections on wooden flutes from the Renaissance through the 19th century, followed by The Avant-Garde Wooden Flute with flutist/composer Clifford Dunn performing "Aulophobic, Misanthropic Me" (2006) for Flute and Toy Piano by Brenden Smith, "Incidental Music III: Floating Apparations" (2004) for Solo Flute by Matthew Pelandini, and "Getting my Kicks from the Root" (2006) for Flute and Computer by Clifford Dunn.
8 pm
Felix Skowronek Memorial Concert: the conference's final memorial to Felix Skowronek will feature Soni Ventorum bassoonist Arthur Grossman, flutists Tim Lane, Clifford Dunn, Danilo Mezzadri, Lanny Pollet, Adrianne Greenbaum, Bradley Leighton, Jim O'Halloran, Martin Lund, Duozono, cimbalom player Alexander Eppler, the Wisconsin Woodwind Quintet, Shelley Collins, Pam Ryker, Sheridan Stokes, and a special selection to be performed by all conference participants and the UW Flute Choir. A reception will follow. Free admission. Donations to the Felix Skowronek Endowed Memorial Flute Award will be gratefully accepted.
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