Ysmael Reyes

Biography

Praised for his “agility, speed…liquid phrasing and tonal sophistication,” (Fanfare Magazine) Venezuelan flutist Ysmael Reyes enjoys a varied career as a soloist, orchestral player, and teacher. Mr. Reyes has performed in the United States, Russia, and South America.

Formed in Venezuela’s System of Youth Orchestras, Mr. Reyes has been a prize winner in the First Latin American Flute Competition, the National Flute Association Convention Performers Competition, and the Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Competition at the University of Colorado. His first album Incanto: Venezuelan Contemporary Music was released in 2013 by Clear Note Records.

Mr. Reyes serves as solo flute with the Boulder Bach Festival’s Compass Resonance Ensemble and principal flute with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. He also performs as second flute with the Colorado Bach Ensemble and the Bach Society Houston. He has been featured as a soloist with orchestras in Venezuela, the U.S., and Brazil on concertos by Khachaturian, Nielsen, Rodrigo, Mozart, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Vivaldi, Márquez, Chaminade, and Chin. He has been invited as a guest artist, clinician, and adjudicator to festivals in the U.S. and abroad such as the second International Flute Festival in Venezuela, the first Flautas Gerais in Brazil, the Brownsville Flute Festival in Texas, the Albuquerque Flute Association’s Flute Fiesta, the Colorado Mesa University Flute Day, and the Colorado Flute Association’s Flute Fair.
An exceptionally versatile flutist, Mr. Reyes is an avid performer of new music, an accomplished baroque flute player, and frequently records and performs with Latin music bands and World Music ensembles. Mr. Reyes has premiered compositions by renowned composers in the U.S. and Venezuela. In 2013, he performed the world premiere of the flute concerto “In the form of a shell” by Costa Rican composer Pablo Chin, commissioned for him and the Claremont Concert Orchestra in California. Mr. Reyes performs regularly on the baroque flute with the Boulder Bach Festival Ensemble and the Bach Society Houston.

Mr. Reyes is currently the Instructor of flute at Colorado State University and was previously on the faculty at Regis University in Denver. Mr. Reyes holds degrees from the University of the Arts in Caracas, Venezuela, the University of Iowa, and the University of Colorado.