2013 Kentucky Flute Festival recap

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This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Kentucky Flute Festival for the second year in a row. This year included very different events compared to last year, so it was nice to be able to attend and participate in such a different festival. It was also great to catch up with a lot of flute friends who I haven’t seen in a while. I also enjoyed Chick-Fil-A for lunch, which is a southern staple and something I haven’t had in months.

The festival was held at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky (population 9000).

Friday, 18 January featured “Flute Society of Kentucky Flute Olympics,” which is geared towards younger students. I think this is a great way to get beginners involved in the organization and really work on establishing good players early in their musical experience. It included such workshops as “Fun with Scales,” “Name That Tune,” and flute choir reading sessions. The flute choir performed on the last concert of the weekend, so that was a nice way for the students to have some immediate performance experience. I attended a workshop that morning about flute upgrades. It was good to hear what kind of flutes some of the younger elementary, middle, and high school players are using these days. The market has changed very, very quickly, and flutes that wouldn’t have been given a second look years ago are now much more reliable. I don’t teach as many very young students at this point, but I felt it was important to know what kinds of experiences private teachers are having with various flute brands.

On Friday I also judged the final rounds of the Flute Society of Kentucky’s competitions. This was approximately 5.5 hours of flute-playing goodness and included the Junior Soloist, High School Soloist, Collegiate Artist, Young Artist, and Chamber Ensemble competitions. There was a lot of fantastic playing, and I was happy to see that the FSK was able to attract participants from around the country. I had a great time listening to the players and spending some time with my colleagues.

The opening concert that evening featured some very nice works. I was particularly interested in Danza de la Mariposa by Valerie Coleman (of the Imani Winds), as one of my students is currently working on it. There was also a very cool piece called Kembang Suling by Gareth Farr for flute and marimba. Keeping things in mind for future recitals…

Last on the agenda for the evening was a flute choir rehearsal. My friend and colleague Heidi Álvarez (Western Kentucky University) put together a flute choir of applied flute instructors from various institutions. It included Jana Flygstad Pope (Georgetown College), Julie Hobbs (University of Kentucky), Heidi Álvarez (Western Kentucky University), Jennifer Brimson Cooper (Morehead State University), Jessica Dunnavant (Middle Tennessee State University), Kristen Kean (Eastern Kentucky University), and me (South Dakota State University). Dr. Becky Weidman-Winter, from the Little Rock, Arkansas area, filled in for another player who was not able to attend. We performed flute choir music by Kentucky composers Michael Kallstrom and Sonny Burnette, including a world premiere.

Saturday, 19 January started early with another flute choir rehearsal. Then I caught a bit of the master class with the guest artist, Molly Barth. The mid-day concert followed. I particularly enjoyed the Tailleferre Suite performed by flutist Jessica Dunnavant, saxophonist Paula Van Goes, and pianist William Coleman. There was also a very interesting work called Arcana by Elizabeth Brown, performed by Kristen Kean.

Guest artist Molly Barth’s recital was inspiring. As a performer who specializes in new music (and one of the founding members of the chamber ensemble eighth blackbird), she introduced me to many works that were completely new to me, even though I primarily play modern music at this point in my career. I think the biggest lesson I took away from this recital was to be fearless in performance. I might make technical mistakes in a performance (which is not to insinuate that Ms. Barth did!), but if I play without fear, it will be much more powerful. I have this realization every once in a while and then tend to get bogged down in technical passages or mired in the trees, instead of seeing the forest. I’ve had my reminder to really increase the energy of a performance, though, and just in time for my faculty recital on February 25.

Our flute choir performance followed Ms. Barth’s recital, and it went very well.

A second master class with Ms. Barth followed, and featured a very high level of playing across the board. It was a lot of fun to hear students from various universities in the south. Overall, quite a variety of works were included. This was the last event of the festival and was a great way to finish things up.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch the last flight back to South Dakota on Saturday, so I caught the first one out on Sunday morning, which required me to leave my Campbellsville hotel at 4am. The crazy things we do as travelling musicians…

I look forward to next year’s event, which will take place January 2014 at Western Kentucky University.

 

 

2012 in Review

IMG_0628[1]This is a little delayed, perhaps, but it’s time for a bit of perspective on the events of last year. As I went back and read through my summary of 2011, I can’t help but be reminded of how incredibly, insanely different this January is compared to last January.

Last January, I wrote my end-of-year summary while enjoying a vacation overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This January, I live over 1500 miles away from that beach and hope to see it again some time this year. Some of my goals last year were to get a full-time music gig, find a vintage Powell flute, present and perform at flute conventions, continue writing, and collaborate on more musical performances. I’m thrilled that so much of that was accomplished in 2012.

In my quest to obtain a full-time, tenure-track faculty position, I ended up going on two interviews last year. The second was successful, and I am quite happily the newest Assistant Professor of Music at South Dakota State University. My job is a blast. I’m happy to go to work every day, my colleagues are fun to be around, and I hit the lottery with my students. I’ve said this before, but the midwestern work ethic is alive and well in South Dakota.  My workload includes world music, woodwind pedagogy, music history, and applied flute. We’re starting a flute choir this semester, which I’m pretty excited about.

During the first half of last year, I was on faculty at University of South Carolina Aiken and Newberry College. There I was teaching Theory II, Theory IV, form and analysis, world music, applied flute, flute studio, and flute ensemble. It was a heavy load, but I really enjoyed being about to spend some time with theory. And it was sad to leave the flute students I had spent several years with but I know they will continue to work hard and do well.

I managed to attend and perform (or present) at several flute conventions last year, including the Kentucky Flute Festival, the Atlanta Flute Fair, the South Carolina Flute Society event, and the British Flute Society. I presented various workshops on efficient practice and the flute music of Joan Tower, performed with Ian Clarke and on a flute choir piece for the SCFS, and judged the adult amateur competition of the BFS. It was great to be able to see colleagues and friends and hear amazing players. Some performer highlights were Walfrid Kujala, Ian Clarke, Christina Smith, and so many amazing British flutists at the BFS event. I also attended some great masterclasses throughout the year with Keith Underwood, Patricia George, and the Imani Winds. Hearing players at this level is always a much-needed inspiration.

One of my goals last year was to be involved in more musical collaborations. I felt like that was something that I neglected to do in 2011, probably because my teaching schedule was too heavy. My first big collaboration of 2012 was a benefit concert for the March of Dimes. The music students at Newberry College put together a nice program, and we ended up raising over $700 for the local chapter. I hope to be able to make this an annual fundraising event. Other collaborations included several works with my new colleagues at SDSU, including Nate Jorgensen, Emily Toronto, and Mike Walsh. It was a great way to jump in and play some chamber music repertoire I haven’t played before. I was also invited to be guest artist by Heidi Alvarez at Western Kentucky University, where I joined several of the faculty members in performing music by my Twitter-friend Michael Kallstrom. Heidi is a great flutist and teacher, and I enjoyed working with her and her students.

Miscellaneous things: I recorded the soundtrack for a short animation at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta; bought a vintage Powell flute; enjoyed soaking up the country music culture in Nashville; moved across the country; got a quick introduction to Native American culture from an expert at SDSU, which I could use for my world music class; got to know the state of South Dakota through numerous recruiting trips; watched the marching band participate in the 100th Hobo Day parade at SDSU; and drove through an actual blizzard to play in a concert. This year included trips to (or through) twelve states and two countries. Good thing I like travelling!

So what’s the plan for 2013? Basically, keep going. Collaborate as much as possible, recruit amazing flute students, teach, write, travel. I’ve also found myself playing more and more new music as the years go by. I commissioned a work last year by Rob Cronin and had another dedicated to me by Rob Steadman, and I’m looking forward to performing those this year. Working with composers is pretty great, and I’m looking forward to more of that this year.

As always, I’m interested in collaborations. If you want to work together, contact me! Email or Twitter @TammyEvansYonce.

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