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I've been playing flute since I was 10. I started piano at
21/2 with my dad. Falling down the steps from the stage after my first
recital was my debut at age 3. My dad and I played at every school and
library, church, synagogue in Easton, Pennsylvania where I'm from. After
that I had the good fortune to solo with the New York Philharmonic and the
Philadelphia Orchestra. I moved to New York City when I was 17 to attend Juilliard, where I studied flute with Julius Baker and piano with Earl Wild. I joined Earl's group, The Concerto Soloists of Wolf Trap, and gave my Camegie Hall debut in 1980.  At
age 5 or 6 1 started composing. My first opus, The Lollipop Waltz, did not
win the Science Fair Prize in second grade. However, I have steadily
improved. Jimmy Galway played my concerto, Green Places at the Adare
Festival in Ireland and with the New Jersey Symphony in 1993 (I played it
too).I've written about 20 flute/piano pieces. Among the many works I've written for wind instruments are the Clarinet Sonata and Two Clarinet Sonata, which won the International Clarinet Association Composition Contest two years in a row. There are also three trios for mixed ensemble, and about a closet-full of piano music. I also write theatre music and songs and have two shows currently in search of a production. Many people remark about the accessibility of my music. I think theatre and classical music meet in what I write. Back to my flute career: After winning Young Concert Artists in 1985, 1 played all over the United States. Later I toured with I Solisti Italiani, playing my piece Airborne, and with the West German Sinfonia. My Mozart cadenzas got a lot of laughs--I like that. Other highlights have been guest performing at Jessye Norman's Camegie Hall Recital in 1994; playing with Gerard Schwarz and the New York Chamber Symphony; concerts and concertos in Bogoti, Colombia; teaching at the Australian National Academy in Sydney, and in Taichung, Taiwan. It was also great fun substituting for Jean-Pierre Rarmpal with the New Jersey Symphony on two hours notice (I wrote the cadenzas in the car on the way to the concert). I also played at LaFenice (Venice) before it burned, and at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Chamber-music-wise, I've played with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Newport Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival. I even headlined for Sarah Vaughn at Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga and did duets with Maureen McGovern in Italy. I can be heard on two CD's on the Chesky label, a baroque collection and the Mozart flute quartets with the Chester Quartet. I'm also featured on two Latin CD's with the Orquesta Nova, also on Chesky. I am excited about my upcoming (1997) recording of all-Schocker, which will include Green Places, Airborne, Musique Française, and other greatest hits, Comments I hear most when people describe my music are "like theatre music", "great melody", and "would make a great song". I've also heard "Poulenc", "Bernstein", and "Bolling". Although I love music by all the above, I don't think I really sound like any of them. I think the similarity is more in the way I use elements of all kinds of music in my writing. Chief among my classical music are works for flute. After all, I am a flutist! There are Three Sonatas with piano; music for flute/guitar; flute/harp; Three (Latin) Dances for Two Flutes; piano solos; and three pieces with orchestra. James Galway gave the premiere of my concerto Green Places with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and at the Adare Festival in Ireland. Airborne is a jazz-influenced piece for flute and strings. There are also Trios for flute/violin/cello and flute/marimba/tuba, and fifteen other flute/piano pieces in publication. Other works include the Clarinet Sonata, and Two Clarinet Sonatas, which each won First Prize at the International Clarinet Association Composition Competition. There are Sonatas for bassoon, oboe, piano (4), 2 pianos, piano four-hands, French horn, and alto saxophone. Theodore Presser is my primary publisher. There are also five musicals! Currently I'm arranging for productions of FAR FROM THE MADDENING CROWD and THE AWAKENING. The book and lyrics for both are by my collaborator Barbara Campbell. We've also written many songs and two children's musicals. A revue of my theatrical songs, LOOKING FOR LOVE, was done twice Off-Off Broadway. Theodore Presser also publishes Diary of an Urban Maiden, a song-cycle I did with Barbara which includes Mama Called, a popular cabaret song. |
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