2021 Seattle Flute Festival
with Valerie Coleman
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April 10 & 11, 2021
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Flute Festival was
presented online using CrowdCast, in order to accommodate high-definition video streaming. Viewing is best on a computer browser, Android browser or the iOS Crowdcast app. If you have not used CrowdCast before, we recommend watching the following video.
Links to recordings of many Festival events are available below. Please note that due to technical difficulties during transmission, not all events were able to be recorded. These links will remain live for several weeks, but eventually will be moved to our Members-Only portal, SFS Online, where they will be available to replay for current SFS members only.
Schedule - Saturday, April 10, 2021
1:00 - 2:00 "A Tribute to Paul Taub"
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Two-time SFS president, champion of contemporary music, and beloved friend, Paul Taub passed away suddenly on March 13, 2021. He was integral in the planning of the 2021 online Flute Festival and was to have opened the festivities with a performance of the newly-commissioned BitterSweet by Ken Benshoof.
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In honor of his immeasurable legacy, we will begin the Flute Festival with a tribute to Paul, featuring remembrances from his colleagues and friends, including a performance of BitterSweet by Zart Dombourian-Eby and pianist Lisa Bergman.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society
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2:00 - 2:45 Flute Choir Showcase
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A collection of virtual performances by flute choirs and small ensembles from around the Pacific Northwest, including a special collaborative performance by the SFS Flute Choir.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society
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2:45 - 3:30 "Performance Tips for Low Flutes" with Chris Potter
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Dr. Chris Potter, first chair of the NFA Low Flutes Committee, will provide answers to many problems that are unique to low flutes. This includes the set-up and tuning adjustments related to the curved head-joint, right arm fatigue when supporting a bass, improving response of the foot-joint notes, and minimizing clacking keys.
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Dr. Potter's presentation will reference her Alto Flute Method and Bass Flute Method, both of which are available for purchase on her website; she will also talk about the Cobra thumb support.
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Low flute specialist Chris Potter was the founding Chair of the NFA's Low Flute Committee. Author of 19 published books, she performs, presents and teaches internationally.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-2
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3:30 - 4:15 "A Flutist's Guide to the Voxman Etudes" with Rose Bishop & Lizzy Darling
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A new performance guide in conjunction with Voxman's Selected Studies by Rose Bishop and Lizzy Darling. A Flutist's Guide to the Voxman Etudes includes professional recordings of all 55 etudes, background information on each composer, tempo ranges, challenges and practice suggestions for each etude, errata, and definitions of musical terminology.
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Rose Bishop teaches at several colleges in Iowa, and Lizzy Darling is Principal Piccolo of the Dubuque Symphony. They are the co-authors of The Flutist's Guide to the Voxman Etudes, a new performance guide in conjunction with Himie Voxman's Selected Studies for Flute.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-2
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4:15 - 4:45 Young Members Recital
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Performances by the youngest members of the SFS flute family, the Young Members Recital features talented flutists in 5th grade or younger.
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4:45 - 5:30 "Flute Music by Contemporary Asian Composers" with Melody Wan
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This lecture recital features pieces by two young contemporary Asian composers, Janghyun Thomas Kim and Jingchao Wang. An interview with each composer follows the performance, exploring the composers’ works, backgrounds, and their contributions to the flute repertoire.
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Download the program for this event here.
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Taiwanese-American flutist Yuh-Jiun (Melody) Wan is currently pursuing her DMA at Louisiana State University. As a soloist, Melody Wan has won first place in the Taiwan Music Competition, the Louisiana Flute Society Solo Master Class Competition, and the Cadenza Competition at the CSU Summer Arts Festival. She also received top prizes at the California State University Long Beach Flute Competition. She has performed in concerts across Asia, North America, and Europe.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-4
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5:30 - 6:15 "Centering the Body" with Lea Pearson
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How can we make distance teaching more fulfilling for teachers and students alike? We'll explore exciting strategies to boost engagement and help students prevent tension, anxiety and injury. *Please bring your flutes to this interactive class.*
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Lea Pearson has been helping musicians find relief from pain and learn effective ways to move and play since 1998. One of the country’s leading Body Mapping Specialists, she works with professional and amateur musicians as well as students and teachers.
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Schedule - Sunday, April 11, 2021
9:30 - 10:15 "It's Performance Day" with Cathy Herrera
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It's performance day! Now what? Join concert flutist Dr. Cathy Herrera in a workshop that offers strategies for success on the big day. All ages and levels of performers welcome.
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Cathy Collinge Herrera enjoys an international career as a concert artist, orchestral performer and flute professor. Currently on the faculty of Juniata College in Pennsylvania, she is a Miyazawa Artist and her book It's Performance Day is published by Theodore Presser.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-5
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10:15 - 11:00 "Improvising & Melodic Variations Using Tico-Tico no fubá" with Kristine Rominski
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Using the familiar choro tune Tico-Tico no fubá, participants will be guided through improvisation building blocks and ideas for developing melodic variations to make the piece unique, exciting, and stylistically accurate. Participants will be provided with the chart (plus variations), improvisation ideas, and a flute trio backing track to further explore the tune at home. *Please bring your flutes to this interactive class.*
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Flutist Kristine Rominski performs as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She is flutist with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra and performed with the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra for the 2019-2020 concert season. She can also be found moonlighting with the Fremont Philharmonic Orchestra, Choroloco, the Tango Tigers, and Um Mundo Choro (Bainbridge Island).
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-5
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11:00 - 11:45 "Where Are All the Women?" with Sophia Tegart
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This presentation will emphasize the need for diversifying the standard pedagogical repertoire. Sophia Tegart will provide a spreadsheet, online resources, and helpful ideas to guide flute teachers in expanding their repertoire to include more works by women composers.
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This presentation will reference this handout.
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Dr. Sophia Tegart, Professor of Flute at Washington State University in Pullman, WA, has led a varied and award-winning career as a flutist, musicologist, and clinician. A popular performer, she has been soloist with the Spokane Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony, Chehalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Kansas City Civic Orchestra. She is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-5
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11:45 - 12:30 "College Audition Preparation" with Jenny Shin
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Attendees will learn smart and efficient strategies to make their college audition stand out. These will include, but are not limited to, practice strategies, picking appropriate audition repertoire, making a good impression to the audition judges, networking with college professors and gaining audition-like experiences prior to the actual audition. Contact emailjennyshin@gmail.com with any additional questions.
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Dr. Shin will be on faculty this summer at DePaul's Online Flute Intensive. More information can be found here.
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A native of San Diego, flutist Jenny Shin is a performer, educator, chamber ensemble coach and wind pedagogy instructor. She is an avid solo recitalist in Chicago and teaches at DePaul University. As an orchestral musician, she shared stages with prestigious ensembles such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera and the San Antonio Symphony.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-5
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12:30 - 1:30 Horsfall Winners Recital
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Performances by winners of the 2021 Frank & Lu Horsfall Competition. The 2021 Adjudicators were Dr. Catherine Ramirez (Upper Division) and Martha Long (Lower Division). More information can be found on our Horsfall page.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-6
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1:30 - 2:00 Weeping Willow Grant Presentation
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Presentations from the 2020 & 2021 Weeping Willow Grant recipients, Iris Ingram and Jean Balogh, detailing their winning projects. Question & Answer session to follow.
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https://www.crowdcast.io/e/seattle-flute-society-6
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2:00 - 3:30 9th Annual Young Artist Competition Finals
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Performances by the finalists of the 9th Annual Young Artist Competition. This year's finalists are Allison DeFrancesco, Susan Kang, and Yidi Song. This year's judges are Valerie Coleman, Christina Medawar, and Colleen McElroy. More information can be found on our Young Artist Competition page.
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3:30 - 5:00 Valerie Coleman: The Story Behind the Music
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We are thrilled to present Valerie Coleman as the 2021 SFS Flute Festival Guest Artist. This inspiring presentation will navigate the career and ascension of Valerie Coleman from the proud and loud streets of Louisville, Kentucky, to national and world acclaim in the arts as a flutist and composer. A brief Q&A will follow this presentation.
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5:00 - 5:45 Closing Ceremonies
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Our Flute Festival comes to a close with our All-Members Meeting, including the announcement of the Young Artist Competition winners and SFS Raffle drawing (including the chance to win a new Powell Sonaré flute!).
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Valerie Coleman
Our 2021 Flute Festival Guest Artitist is the Grammy®-nominated flutist, composer, and musical entrepreneur Valerie Coleman. Founder of the performer-composer trio Umama Womama and the acclaimed Imani Winds, Coleman was recently named to the faculty of the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. Her multi-faceted career has included performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, to name a few.
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Coleman’s passion for chamber music performance is what guided her to become a top advocate, mentor and specialist of the field, with an extensive performance history of premieres and collaborations at festivals and chamber music societies across the United States, with esteemed artists such as Dover Quartet, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, Gil Kalish, members of the LA Chamber Orchestra, and jazz legends Paquito D’Rivera, Stefon Harris, and Jason Moran, among many others. She has given countless flute and chamber music masterclasses at institutions in 49 states and over 5 continents, including The Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Yale University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Carnegie Mellon, New England Conservatory, Oberlin College, and Beijing Conservatory.
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Her work as a composer has garnered multiple awards and critical acclaim, and her work UMOJA was listed by the Chamber Music America as one of the “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works." Alongside recent commissions from American Composers Orchestra, Carnegie Hall and The National Flute Association, she has enjoyed commissions and premieres from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Library of Congress, The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and The Universities of Chicago, South Carolina, Michigan, Virginia Commonwealth, Hawaii Manoa and Ohio State.
Advocacy and mentorship of artists and emerging ensembles is important to Valerie: in 2011, she created the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, a summer mentorship program that has welcomed musicians from over 100 institutions both nationally and abroad. She has also served on the as an adjudicator for National Flute Association’s High School Artist Competition, Concert Artist Guild, APAP’s Young Performing Concert Artists fellowship, ASCAP’s Morton Gould Award, MapFund Award and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She is on the board of advisors for Composers Now, MacDowell Colony, and Sphinx LEAD, and has previously served on the APAP’s Classical Connections Committee, National Flute Association’s New Music Advisory Committee and Board Nomination Committee.
Valerie studied flute with Julius Baker, Judith Mendenhall, Doriot Dwyer, Leone Buyse and Alan Weiss; composition with Martin Amlin and Randy Wolfe. She is published by Theodore Presser, International Opus and has her own company, V Coleman Music.
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More information can be found at https://www.vcolemanmusic.com/
Ken Benshoof
In celebration of the Seattle Flute Society's 40th Season, we commissioned a work, BitterSweet for Flute and Piano, from Seattle composer Ken Benshoof. Originally written for Paul Taub, it will be premiered in his memory at the 2021 Flute Festival. Ken Benshoof's music is familiar to the Seattle flute community; he has previously written acclaimed works for the piccolo which were premiered by Seattle's own Zart Dombourian-Eby and Alicia Suarez.
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Composer/pianist Ken Benshoof was born in 1933 on a Nebraska farm. He went through high school in Fairbanks Alaska. Studies at Pacific Lutheran University and the Spokane Conservatory were followed by a two year stint in the U.S. Army, a bachelors degree from the University of Washington, a Masters at San Francisco State University, and studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music as a Fulbright Scholar. His most influential teachers were Volfgangs Darzins, John Verrall, Roger Nixon, George Frederick McKay, and Afred Neiman.
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Primarily a composer of chamber pieces, Benshoof has received commissions from a wide variety of sources, most notably the Kronos String Quartet for whom he has produced eight works. He also served as resident composer at San Diego's Old Globe Theater over several seasons and at the Seattle Repertory Theater for a number of years.
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More information can be found at https://kenbenshoof.com/
