The Colorado State University Flute Choir and professors will take their playing to a national stage with an invitation to perform at the 40th Annual National Flute Association Convention at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev., Aug. 9–12, 2012. Nineteen groups from around the country were selected to perform at the four-day convention, which is the national and international landmark event for the flute world. The convention features more than 3,000 flutists, composers, flute scholars, flute makers, music publishers, and flute enthusiasts, gathering to present and attend performances, masterclasses and lectures. The CSU ensemble, comprised of twelve students, will perform on Thursday, Aug. 9.
The convention committee, comprised of a jury of flute choir specialists, selected the featured ensembles through a review of submitted recordings. "We were told that the competition was fierce this year as there were many submissions," said CSU Assistant Professor of Flute Michelle Stanley, who directs the ensemble (pictured). "To have my studio selected to perform is a great honor and a tribute to the students' commitment to hard work and excellence. I'm thrilled to be able to show the national flute community what we are doing at Colorado State.
The group will perform a wide variety of compositions, including "Unseen", a work composed by CSU graduate student Mando Surita.
During the convention, Dr. Stanley is presenting a workshop on “Preparing to Practice: the Art of Movement and Breathing in your Practicing,” based on techniques she has been putting to use in her studio. She will also give a solo recital of music by Colorado composers called “Music from the American West: A Colorado Perspective."
CSU Special Assistant Professor of Music History, K. Dawn Grapes, is presenting a lecture-performance called “Journey to Syrinx,” a look at the symbolist influences on Debussy, concluding with the world premiere of her original English translation of a scene from Gabriel Mourey’s Psyche, the play for which Debussy’s flute repertoire standard, Syrinx, was composed. Grapes will also be performing as part of the National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir, an ensemble made up of top professional flutists from across the U.S. Participants are selected from recorded auditions.
According to the organizations website, "the National Flute Association, founded in 1972, is the largest flute organization in the world. Approximately 6,000 members from more than 50 countries join together in person, online, at conventions, informally and in forums, through publications and classrooms, in performance, in friendship and collegiality. Guided by its goals to encourage a higher standard of artistic excellence for the flute, its performers, and its literature, members include leading soloists, orchestral players, jazz and world music performers, teachers, adult amateurs, and students of all ages."