Saturday, 1:30-2:30: Guest Artist Workshop with Alexa Still 

With a special focus on Arnold Jacobs’ pedagogy (this is mainstream in brass playing), we’ll cover the basics of relevant anatomy and posture, and the exercises that Alexa learned from Jacobs and from Jacobs’ other students. We will go over the construction and customization of personalized breathing bags (equipment provided for the first 75 people), and as time permits, we’ll delve into application for various challenges in traditional repertoire and circular breathing (the latter is not Jacobs related).

Please be ready to do some very easy physical movements (some standing and waving your arms around).

Salvador Brotons (born 17 July 1959) is a Catalan composer, conductor, and flautist. He is the conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Vancouver, Washington and, since the 2022-2023 season, has also been the principal conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica Sant Cugat. Salvador Brotons is considered one of the great contemporary Catalan composers, with a repertoire performed worldwide. As a composer, he is extraordinarily prolific, having written more than 170 works, including symphonic, concertante, chamber, choral music, operas, sardanes, and even a children's story. Faithful to his language, always surprising with its expressive strength,[6] he has consistently maintained melody and tonality, without allowing atonality to condition his style. (Wikipedia)

Rebecca Olson Towers teaches in Clark County, Washington and at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. She performs with the Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra, and with multiple chamber groups as part of the Oregon Chamber Players. Upon the suggestion of her mother, Rebecca began playing the flute at the age of 10. She has been a member of the Greater Portland Flute Society high school, and won the GPFS high school solo competition her senior year. While in college, she had the opportunity to play in GPFS masterclasses with James Galway and Jean Pierre Rampal. Rebecca has served on the GPFS Board since 2005. Rebecca earned her Bachelors of Music and her Masters in Flute Performance and Pedagogy from Central Washington University.

James Manuele is a classically-trained guitarist near Portland, Oregon. James began playing guitar at the age of ten. At fifteen he was selected to study with Celin Romero, a renowned musician who’s been knighted in Spain for his musical accomplishments. James has performed in master classes for George Sakelariou, Bartolomeo Diaz, Benjamin Verdery and John Duarte. At Mansfield University, James studied voice, viola, and guitar under Pablo Cohen. He was awarded the SAI/Schmitz award for Best Performance. James earned his Masters of Music in Guitar Performance at Portland State University under composer and guitarist Bryan Johanson. He enjoys performing in concerts and festive events throughout the country, playing solo as well as in duos or ensembles. James Manuele’s repertoire ranges from Baroque music, such as Bach’s Cello Suites, to contemporary composers, such as Bryan Johanson.

Francely Zurita is originally from Monterrey, Mexico. Mrs. Zurita is a flutist specializing in Early Music and the Baroque flute (traverso). She earned flute performance degrees in Mexico and in Lyon, France under Sophie Dufeutrelle, and a Bachelor in Early Music at the Haute École de Musique de Genève under Serge Saitta, where she also completed her Master’s in Music Pedagogy with a focus on Dalcroze Eurhythmics. Mrs. Zurita taught at the Conservatoire Populaire de Genève, the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, and in France. She moved from Europe to the U.S. in 2019 and taught elementary music to over 250 students in Walla Walla. She gives workshops on Early Music and Dalcroze pedagogy, performs Baroque concerts and flute locally, including with the Walla Walla Symphony and Whitman College, and has performed in various European countries, including Beaux-Arts de Lyon, as well as as a soloist with Mexican orchestras and the Baroque Orchestra of the Geneva Conservatory. She recently moved to the Portland area.

Phyllis Avidan Louke, an Altus Artist, is principal flute with Tilikum Chamber Orchestra, Music Director of Rose City Flute Choir, and an active chamber musician. She teaches privately, adjudicates and freelances in Portland, Oregon. An active clinician and adjudicator nationally, she is also co-author of an award-winning series of teaching publications for flute published by Theodore Presser Company. Ms. Louke, a member of ASCAP, has been arranging and composing for the flute since 1990. Her arrangements and compositions have been winners and finalists in the annual National Flute Association Newly Published Music Competition. Her music is published by ALRY Publications, Theodore Presser Company, Falls House Press, Nourse Wind Publications, and SMP Press. She has also co-written an award-winning series of pedagogical publications with Patricia George published by Theodore Presser Company.

Adrian Dee has been Second Flutist with the Newport Symphony (Newport, OR) since 1996. He has also performed with the Tilikum Chamber Orchestra, the Tualatin Valley Symphony, the Portland Columbia Symphony, the Bloch and Mahler Festivals, the Sunnyside Symphony, and other chamber groups in the Portland area. His compositions have been premiered at NFA and Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions, and by the Newport Symphony. He is currently accepting commissions. More at adriandee.com.

David A. Jones (b. 1990) is a composer, hornist, and singer from the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest who listens closely to the forgotten corners of human experience and reveals them through music that is "dramatic, colorful," "expressive, evocative, and deeply emotional" (Oregon Music Teachers' Association). His quietly energetic music draws inspiration from literature, visual art, dance, and his lived experiences, especially from his experience living and serving as a volunteer in the Philippines and his research on Filipino language and culture.

Amelia Lukas - “Known for her especially pure tone, flexible technique, and passionate performances,” (Artslandia) flutist Amelia Lukas performs with “a fine balance of virtuosity and poetry.” (The New York Times) A Powell Flutes Artist and Portland resident, she “excels at bringing drama and fire to hyper-modernist works with challenging extended techniques.” (Oregon ArtsWatch) Weaving together globally informed stylistic elements with an impressive range of extended techniques and deeply embodied approach, Lukas offers an original, modern, and compelling voice.