Don’t miss the upcoming Colorado Flute Choir Festival which will be held on Saturday, April 28th. The festival is presented by the Colorado Flute Association and open to all association members. Attendance is free and open to all flutists from middle school through adults. The festival will be held at Longs Peak United Methodist Church, 1421 Elmhurst Drive in Longmont, CO from 9am – 5pm. The festival will have workshops for piccolo, c flutes, alto flutes, and bass flutes. There will also be a low flutes reading session, mass flute choirs, a class on contemporary techniques for c flutes, and a festival recital. Clinicians include Christina Jennings, Kay W. Lloyd, Christine Potter, and Michelle Stanley.

I attended the Colorado Flute Fair at the University of Colorado in Boulder this past weekend and it was a great day packed full of instructional classes, masterclasses, and concerts. The fair featured guest artist Carol Wincenc, professor of music at Julliard School of Music.

The day began with a warm-up class that focused on relaxation techniques for comfortable and injury free practice. Following that was a tone development class which focused on the importance of breath control. Then Carol Wincenc gave a surburb masterclass. She has a flair for the stage and spreads her enthusiasm to those she teaches. She also has a knack for pushing her students to reach their highest potential while allowing them to remain true to their personal musical style.

After lunch we heard a demonstration of Carol Wincenc’s edition of Andersen’s Op. 15. Anderson’s original etudes are combined with a duet part that Ms. Wincenc wrote for the teacher to play. The duet part highlights the chord structure of each etude, and is a valuable resource for flute teachers.

Following the demonstration was a Flute Association members recital and then a fabulous performance featuring Carol Wincenc. Carol chose an engaging variety of songs from different time periods, in different styles, and with a variety of instrumentation. Her playing is suburb and her technique flawless, and her performance was much enjoyed.

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