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Young Artist Competition Winners

Learn more about this event and all the young artists who participated this year.

<Link to Article>

Senior Division:

• First place - Diego Fernandez, teacher Martha Long
• Second place - Victor Ceja, teacher Sandy Norman
• Third place - Fedor Chayha, teacher Corrie Cook

Junior Division:

• First place - Yirhe Ha, teacher Sydney Carlson
• Second place - Alaina Goff, teacher Sandy Norman
• Third place - Morgan Tran, teacher Beckie Hocker

Development Activities - We are pleased to inform you that GPFS applied for a Regional Arts and Cultural Coalition grant. We have not heard yet but cross your fingers for our success. We also formed a Development Committee which will be chaired by volunteer Sue Bonfeld. The goal of this committee is to increase GPFS’s capacity to find and acquire a range of resources to support our mission for the short and long term. More soon!

Upcoming First Tuesdays Events - The May and June First Tuesdays Online with GPFS are dedicated to "The Flute and Brazil" with guest artists Gabriela Gimenes and Camilla Oliveira. Free, no registration required. Zoom link here and on webpage - First Tuesday May June 2023 Invitation.pdf

• May 9, 2023 (second Tuesday of the month) and June 6, 2023 (first Tuesday of the month)
• 7:00 to 8:00 pm online (PST)

Please help spread the word by sharing this invitation!

First Tuesdays Online with GPFS - Call for Artists for the 2023-24 Season. Learn more about this here - Call for Artists GPFS First Tuesdays 23-24.pdf

Please help spread the word by sharing this Call for Artists!

Call for 2023-24 Volunteers - Would you consider volunteering for GPFS this new season. You can be a part of a planning team for an event/activity, or you can volunteer a couple hours to help put on that event, or you can consider writing a music review or article for The Portland Piper. Want to learn more, message - president@gpfs.org.

GPFS Annual Planning - We are entering the summer months when we concentrate on planning for the new GPFS season. Please watch for correspondence from us soliciting input from our membership, flute teachers and others. We welcome your ideas all around, particularly for Flute Fair, First Tuesdays Online with GPFS, and for our publication The Portland Piper. You are always welcome to share your thoughts. Message contact@gpfs.org.

Flute Fair Workshop Handouts - Thank you to those that attended Flute Fair. I know we all also extend a huge thank you to the performers, workshop presenters and many other volunteers it takes to make fair happen.

We promised to follow-up on getting the handouts from the workshop presenters to you and to invite you to provide your suggestions for next year's fair - our 40th Annual! Can you believe it!?

The handouts from the workshop presenters can be found on the workshops page for now and are also permanently available in the members only area of the GPFS website where you can login using your email and password.

Send your suggestions for next year’s fair to: newsletter@gpfs.org.

“What Not to Do” - Flutist and GPFS member Cassie Maloney shares her article What Not To Do | A Unique Educational Method by Cassie Maloney

Link to the article as a PDF: Teaching and Learning What Not to Do Cassie Maloney April 2023.pdf

Hear Cassie’s thoughts about the importance of not exclusively focusing on “what to do” in the teaching and learning environment, and remembering the value in well-placed “what not to do,” particularly in habitual matters of the body. Here she shares her journey and what brought her to the Alexander Technique and this perspective on teaching. “Imagine this familiar scene: a teacher is telling you what to do while you listen intently. When it is time, you try your hardest to do the activity she described perfectly. Even though the teacher is kind, your fear of getting it wrong causes you to fumble and make mistakes. This style of teaching, that is, teaching what to do is very common. As a teacher, I know that there are times when processes and options of ways to move forward need to be shared, of course! But, being so focused on what to do causes many to forget that learning what not to do is equally important. Fortunately, the Alexander Technique, which can be applied to the teaching of specific activities as well as daily living, focuses on this unique aspect of education and the ways it impacts learning and therefore, habit formation.” (Maloney, 2023, https://www.cassiemaloney.com/blog)

Theme and Variations for Alto Flute by Brian Raphael Nabors

Flutist Tim Hagen gives us permission to share his recording of Brian Nabor’s piece for solo alto flute – Theme and Variations for alto flute. You can listen to a YouTube recording of the piece performed by Tim. 

Recording Link: Tim Plays Nabors

“Written for the wonderful flutist, Lizzy Darling, the Theme and Variations for Alto Flute explores all the interesting timbres of the very lush instrument through a series of 9 variations. Each dives into a unique sound space that explores the sonic makeup of the lyrical theme initially presented. The work is featured on the Polychrome: Unaccompanied Solos for Flute and Clarinet album.” (Brian Nabors website)

“Amplify is a concert series with a focus on BIPOC and out LGBTQ+ composers. Concerts happen multiple times a year, streamed from my living room on my YouTube channel, and each concert features a different composer.”

We can also enjoy Tim’s podcast episode where he and Brian talk about “Brian's musical beginnings, the many influences in his music, his vision for creating community, and as always, the role resilience has played in his life. This episode's "60 Creative Seconds" segment features Brian reading his poem "Luminance," accompanied by Tim's flute improvisation.”

Learn more about the composer here:  Brian Nabor.

Throw Back Article! Solo for Alto Flute - This low flute article features an introduction to Seattle-based composer and flutist Sarah Bassingthwaighte and a review of one of her pieces for alto flute - Amhran na hEascainne (Song of the Eel) for Solo Alto or C Flute, with Optional Drone - <Read>

Throw Back Article! Bass Flute Music - snowy egret, january messenger, a piece by Oregon composer Deena T. Grossman reviewed for this issue (see article below), works well on bass flute, alto or C flute. Flutist Amelia Lukas performed it on bass for a benefit concert premiering Wildfires and Waterways. Flutist Camila Oliveira recorded it for Deena's T. Grossman's most recent album release Becoming Durga.  <Read Article>

Download the piece here.

Deena, Amelia and Camila are all GPFS members!

One  of Adrian Dee’s compositions will receive its world premiere at the National Flute Association annual convention this August! It is called "2020: The Year We Could Not Breathe" and will be performed by a young man from New York, Anthony Trionfo. The convention is in Phoenix this year at the Phoenix Convention Center. In case you are in that area and want to attend, you can get a single day ticket at the door. My piece will be performed Friday afternoon, August 4, at 4:30pm, in Room 221AB (unless that changes). This piece is completely unlike anything else I have written. It uses some modern "extended" techniques, some improvisation, and even an electronic Loop. It deals with all the ways in which we could not breathe in 2020: George Floyd's last words, the whole world on masks and respirators, and the wildfires filling our homes with smoke. It is very demanding for the performer, including dictating when he (or she) can, and cannot, breathe. Convention Webpage.

Message from Librarian - 

<Read the most recent Message from Librarian>

Learn more about the library and how to borrow and contribute.

You may be interested in knowing about GPFS sharing its library resources with students and teachers. As GPFS moves forward, we want to continue with this type of activity. Contact the Librarian if you have an interest in contributing - library@gpfs.org. Written by Librarian Cheryl Thompson Merrill. <Read>

Further a small group of volunteers will be working together to revisit the library as well as the flute loan program, particularly to streamline and rejuvenate as needed.

GPFS Free Sheet Music Lending Library

Throwback Article - Practice Journaling

This is a review of a practice journal. The article also includes links to a few web-based articles and video about practicing journaling. Briefly, this journal approach is familiar, comfortable and effective with the exception of the practice log not having space for tracking a specific goal, reflection on a specific goal and next steps for that goal. Therefore, my favorite approach remains using a simple notebook using a similar overall approach to this publication. But, for most, particularly with middle/high school and early collegiate players (maybe elementary players too), this approach certainly does much to add structure to students’ weekly goal setting, practice tracking and systematic .

Read the article - <Practice Journaling Review and Links>

Throwback Article - An introduction to a new CD from All Classical Portland - Amplify: Changing America’s Playlist, Vol. 1.

In this article you will find some of the promotional information for a new CD released by All Classical Portland, guided by their Recording Inclusivity Initiative. The CD has 21 tracks representing works by five composers. 

Learn more - <Read the Full Review>

The entire CD will likely be of interest to GPFS members, but we call out the Sonata for Flute and Piano by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, performed by Portland-based flutist and GPFS member Adam Eccleston. This is the first time this piece has been professionally recorded, posthumously.

This is an unknown sonata, and it deserves consideration for concert performances by more advanced flutists. It can also serve as study and recital repertoire for undergraduate and graduate study.

A review of this piece can be found in the Spring, 2023 issue of NFA Quarterly magazine (current issue).

Update - I read through "Carmen Studies" and loved it. If you are a more advanced player or teach more advanced players I recommend getting both, but if I had to pick one I would say Carmen over Nutcracker. Cheers, BJ

Throwback Article - A review of The Nutcracker Advanced Studies for Flute, Vol. 1 by Sandra Kipp Iles (2022). 

This is a clever, thoughtful, fun, refreshing, entertaining and challenging book of etudes for the more advanced flutist. Compiled by the experienced and passionate pedagogist and flutist Sandy Kipps Iles, it is no wonder it is so. 

This volume offers sixteen etudes. Each one has an introduction that explains what is occurring on the stage at the time of the music as well as her comments about the musicality and technical aspects of the etudes.

<Read the Full Review>

Flutist Martha Long’s 45^th Parallel Concert “Brave New World” with fellow extraordinary flutists is available to listen to online. Learn more about it below in our Noteworthy Column! Link to Video: Brave New World

Martha also wants us to know about...

• Arcturus Quintet on May 4th from 7 – 8 pm at the Old Madeleine Church - Works by Damase, Villa-Lobos, and Reinecke for more information - here. “A program of delectable works for wind quintet (and English horn!) that will charm you, featuring music from the very early days of the wind quintet’s formation as a genre.”

• 45th Parallel presents Franz and PDQ on May 25^th 7 – 8 pm at the Old Madeleine Church – “One sublime masterpiece of Romantic melodic genius, one hilarious black sheep of the musical family, together they form a great evening of chamber music!” For more information and tickets, click here.

• 45th Parallel presents Idyll Thoughts on June 15,  7 – 8 pm at the Reser Center for the Arts - works by Wagner, Schoenberg, and Gabriella Smith for more information and tickets, click here.

• The Oregon Symphony’s concert on June 10^th, 11^th and 12th - In addition to Mahler’s 5^th, Martha, principal flute, will be performing Mozart's playful Flute Concerto in G Major. Learn more and tickets: OR Symphony

Introducing Noteworthy - This is a new column for The Portland Piper that was conceived and developed by GPFS member Sue Bonfeld. The column is a short list of curated videos, interviews, podcasts and performances of interest to musicians of all levels, but outside the scope of GPFS’s curated Flute Resources webpage.

Note, this robust webpage is updated regularly and all suggestions are welcome – please just email us at newsletter@gpfs.org.  

Claire Chase on Traditional and Huilu Flutes, with Portland’s Esperanza Spalding on Double Bass

Watch this wonderful video showcasing Claire Chase on a range of flutes and Esperanza Spalding on double bass and voice as they play Double Concerto by Felipe Lara with the Helsinki Philharmonic. It is fascinating from the first moment. (37 minutes). Claire is a flutist known, among other reasons, for premiering hundreds of new works by the new generation of artists.

Link to Video: Chase and Spaulding

New Classical Music App from Apple

Link to App: Classical Music App

Have you tried the new classical music app from Apple Music? If not, you may want to read up on what it offers. 

Learn more: News About App

Brave New World 45^th Parallel Concert - In case you were not able to attend, here is Brave New World, performed by flutists Martha Long, Adam Eccleston, Zach Galatis, Tim Hagen, and Alicia Paulsen.

Link to recording - click here.

On creating the program, Martha says – “I’ve often wondered how I can use those isolated hours and minuscule muscle movements to make the world a better place. As an adult, I have found little ways to give back and pay it forward in my daily life but I still wish that my art form was more accessible and more of a vehicle for social change. This program and its heavy themes are a small part of the answer. By listening to sometimes-dissonant sounds about difficult topics, we bring the flute and classical music into an ongoing discourse and have a chance to reflect on our world. During this time, I invite you to be in the moment and experience whatever thoughts, feelings, and reactions come to you.”  

WORKS: 00:00 Timothy Hagen: La brute, c’est Pan, after Debussy’s La Flûte de Pan (“Syrinx”); 14:20 Eve Beglarian: Can I Have It Without Begging?; 12:09 J.S. Bach: Sarabande from Partita in A minor, BVW 1013, arranged by Gary Shocker; 16:14 Timothy Hagen: The Other Side of No; 28:19 Allison Loggins-Hull: Homeland; 35:26 Dai Fujikura: Poison Mushroom; 45:05 Jennifer Higdon: Amazing Grace. 

This read is a contribution from flutist and Alexander Technique teacher Cassie Maloney who frequently shares book recommendations with her wellness and musical circle of friends. Cassie recommends Rupi Kaur's book of poems Home Body – “I just couldn't put it down. I hope you check out this lovely book. Home Body is described with this short poem below.” https://rupikaur.com/pages/home-body-books

Rupi Kaur (born 4 October 1992) is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, performer, and author.

Learn more about the author: Rupi Kaur

after feeling disconnected for so long

my mind and body are finally

coming back to each other

-home body

Flashback Article! A review of the book Another Year of Wonder, by Clemency Burton Hill (2022).

This book is just as interesting, insightful and satisfying as her first book. In fact, I would say the same things in this review as I did in my review of her first book for GPFS. So, take a look at that “throw-back” article below. You can also find it in the archives for the We Read column.

<Read the Full Review of Another Year of Wonder>

Throwback Article! - <Read the Review of Her First Book>

Symphony Storytime, Season Three - The OR Symphony is in their third season of Symphony Storytime. This is a great resource to know about. OR Symphony players accompany the reading of a children's books. A recent favorite is a reading of I Am Enough by Creative Chair Gabriel Kahane, accompanied by Artistic Partner Nathalie Joachim on flute.

Listen - <video recording>

Oregon flutist and GPFS member Adam Eccleston also does a couple of the readings. Must listen. Great to share with the little people in your lives. Tell youth teachers about these too!

Learn more: https://www.orsymphony.org/discover/watch-listen/symphony-storytime/

Flashback Article! Book Review - A review of Musician's Yoga: A Guide to Practice, Performance and Inspiration by Mia Olson. A hands-on, practical guide to yoga for musicians, including smart exercises to work into one's practice routine. Highly recommend.

<Read Review>