From Isolation to Inspiration, Book Two

FROM ISOLATION TO INSPIRATION BOOK TWO

Curator Associate Professor Elizabeth Koch AM

Introduction Book Two is finally here, and I am proud to share it with you all.

My first curation of From Isolation to Inspiration was so warmly received and I achieved my goal of dispersing the information to as many players and teachers around the world as possible during the long drawn-out pandemic.

I was spurred on to curate the second book by such positive feedback comments: “Looks awesome. Another amazing resource” (Peter Bartels, Melbourne) “This is such an amazing work; it’s so fantastically useful to all” (Patricia Nagle, Paris) “Oh my goodness, what an AMAZING document, Liz – congratulations!!” (Emily Beynon, Amsterdam) “We all owe a debt of gratitude to YOU for assembling this remarkable document” (Leone Buyse, Houston USA) “A terrific document Liz, congratulations on pulling all those distinguished contributions together (Professor Graeme Koehne AO, Director Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide) “Absolutely astonishing Liz! So valuable” (Professor Mike Brooks, Acting Vice-Chancellor).

In challenging times, it is an honour to provide a collection of oral history, advice, teaching methods and examples. These have been from the flute studios of such a wide range of generous flute players from Adelaide and other cities to Hungary, the United Kingdom, Rouen, Antwerp, Turkey, Berlin, Singapore, Louisiana, Osaka, Moscow and USA. This book, as with the first book, will hopefully reach even wider audiences, having already ignited interest to other woodwind players.

I thank all the contributors who willingly and passionately gave their ideas, advice and experiences for the benefit of all flute players everywhere. Masako Kondo has again put her remarkable touches to this document and I thank her for her inspiration and generosity.

Curator Elizabeth Koch AM Associate Professor Elder Conservatorium of Music University of Adelaide Photo: Ana Koch

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Index Introduction Sally Arnold Aldo Baerten Andrew Baird Margaret Campbell Anna Cooper Bülent Evcil Jean-Christophe Falala Melissa Farrow Neil Fisenden Davide Formisano Roberto Alvarez Gonzalez Anna Henwood Katherine Kemler Elizabeth Koch AM David Leviston Tomomi Matsuo Phillip Moll Sarah Newbold Nao Nozu Linda Pirie Amy Porter Teresa Rabe Kelsey Robinson Jane Rutter Eliza Shephard Irina Stachinskaya Alexa Still Brett Thompson Michael Waye

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1 3 5 9 10 11 12 14 17 20 23 27 29 31 33 35 38 42 44 46 51 54 56 58 61 67 69 70 72 74

SALLY ARNOLD

Musicians Wellbeing now and forever Our world is never going to be the same as a result of life spent adapting to the Covid Virus. As challenging as this picture is there is still Hope available when we find ways to get beneath the space gripping many.

As a former Professional Flautist many years ago, thanks to the teaching of David Cubbin, at Adelaide University, Elder Conservatorium, the world of music is “My reason to be”. Even though I have changed careers a few times.

I would like to offer some suggestions for living in today’s world. Both for yourself and students. Ways to engage with the change. Ways to create greater Flow in both personal and professional life. And please contact me if you need clarification on these suggestions.

3 Wellbeing Essentials for now and the future.

1. Mindset, our Brain can make or break us. We all have the potential to be the best version of ourselves both personally and professionally. Sure we need gifts and passion to achieve this, but the icing on the cake is our Mindset. I did some work at the Institutes of Sport in Australia many years ago. And one of the swimming coaches said. “There can be 2 athletes both capable of winning a Gold medal, but it is the Head of one that will touch the Wall first”. No different in the Performing Arts World.

Our Mindset is full of our life story, both good and bad. At present our Minds can have a field day, reviving old memories. Mostly the “not so good ones. This chatter that can stop us in our tracks. Old stories merging into“Today’s world”. One suggestion is to find where that outdated thinking comes from and gently reframe it. Instead of “this is too hard, “tough”, “I’m frustrated”. Ask your students or yourself, “Why did you became a Flautist”?. What was the wonder, passion, love that drew you into the union with Your Flute? Daily give Gratitude, Thanks for your Gifts. The world will recover, this hic cup is frustrating but life will recover, yes in a revamped version.

2. Gratitude. This simple practice is one of the most important in helping our Mindset consciously give thanks for all we have. When we offer Gratitude daily, for the small things in our life I can promise our world softens and a sense of Flow and Happiness emerges.

I suggest daily to note down a few areas of your life that give you a sense of Appreciation. From small things, e.g.

“A great coffee”, “A walk that made you appreciate your neighborhood, maybe you saw it with new eyes”. “A friend who rang”, “A student who mastered part of the previous lesson”, “A performance that made you aware of why you do what you do”. ( I went back into a concert hall in May, between our lockdowns, and was moved to tears as I entered this space, one I hadn’t been in for over a year. I was taken back to my first days as a young Flautist, about the age of 14 in Christchurch NZ. Hearing the NZ symphony orchestra. My world was complete after that experience, I didn’t want to leave the concert hall and walk out into the streets of rural Christchurch) “Just give Gratitude daily and watch the joy of your world re – emerge or Flow again”.

3. Meditation. This is an effective way of quietening Your brain, thoughts and world at present. We only need to spend about 10 minutes a day , preferably after waking up meditating. This is an effective tool for students too.

Because it helps lessen stress. Especially before performances, auditions, exams etc.

When our Mind quietens we have entry to connect with our world In a softer, more compassionate way. Without being dragged into the media circus that is around us at present. I have been meditating for nearly 30 years and found that my practice helped the stress experienced when Heading The Australian Ballet Business Team. I would mediate at airports, in a taxi, in my office, car before performances, sponsor events, and more. Even one night at the Sydney Opera house, after a full on day of Sponsor functions excused myself from the Post performance event and sat in a Loo, in that magnificent building meditating for 5 minutes. I came back to the function feeling grounded and less overwhelmed by the day. If you have heaps of events after performances this is a great reviver.

I have been using the App, “Insight Timer” during our long lockdown here in Melbourne. It is full of many high quality teachers, and a variety of meditation styles. Check it out. They cater for all levels.

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I hope that my suggestions may help, support or assist you during these times. I believe that we all need a way through the Road Blocks, Cancellations and more at present. And if these worlds resonate, find a guide, support person who has been on a similar path. They can walk beside You into a world where there is learning, reframing and Flow again in both Personal and Professional life.

Thank you Go well Sally

Sally is an award-winning international Author and Speaker who specialises in coaching individuals, executives and organisations who are Stuck, Stressed and want to move their career, or business ahead quickly.

Sally left NZ to study Flute at Adelaide University with David Cubbin. And began her Impressive global professional life, in the original show of Jesus Christ Superstar, studying in London with Ed Beckett, then returning to the Elizabethan Orchestra Sydney Opera House.

Combining her business experience with her passion for the performing arts, she then sought and won the coveted role of Head of Business Development for The Australian Ballet. Here she became aware of the intersection between business, psychology and creative thinking to help unlock the mind and bring forward creative solutions to business challenges”. Her career highlight at The Australian Ballet was heading the Princess Diana Australian Ballet Royal Gala in London 1992.

After leaving the ballet and studying Psychotherapy in Australia and the USA, Sally set up her High Performance Coaching business Creating Encores.

Sally’s book Creating Encores was launched in NYC September 2014, she won KPI author award later that year. And spoke at The Australian Consulate NYC July 2015 on “Career innovation for Expats”.

Sally completed the Harvard Business School Innovation and Disruption program November 2017. Her App “28 Day Career Challenge” is a partnership between Creating Encores and Melbourne University, 2017.

2018 She entered into a Partnership with Melbourne University Psychology Department where they have set up a 3-year Research project with a Neuroscientist, on Creating Encores “Science of Music on the Brain for Creative Problem Solving in the Business World”.

Sally has won many awards for her creative inspired resultsbased Vision mapping coaching methodology, using the power of Music to unlock Stuck Stressed Mindsets.

Sally Arnold www.creatingencores.co esally@creatingencores.co m 0411685335

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ALDO BAERTEN I thought a little about what to do during the pandemic and more generally how to organize our busy lives as performers, players, teachers, and organizers. And also, a way to keep ourselves going into basics of the flute.

1) Share your time into 4 equal parts. that means: if you have 2 hrs divide them into 4 portions of 30 min. if you have 6 hours in a day divide them in 4 equal parts of 1.5 hours. Do not skip or neglect any of your basics a day, so the equal parts are always present.

There are many books about it, and practice books.

However, somehow I felt it was necessary to make a synopsis to have a short program which takes me quickly through all the basics and keeps or makes you fit!

Basics is the first part, which should include Tone and Technique Etudes/Studies is the second part Repertoire includes solo pieces, recital pieces, concertos and other Orchestral excerpts should be on your daily work-roster

I strongly recommend also Peter-Lukas Graf's books such as: Check-Up, The Singing Flute, and Interpretation, and others for its analytical and organized way of working, as well as all the books of Trevor Wye which saved my time as a young student a long time ago.

A little more about this schedule: my pc can not put the sign of a quarter note. here you have tempo markings, it should have quarter note = and then the figure.

Let me go through the schedule with you

WARM UPS Tone Exercises should include working with harmonics (compare the intonation and colour between real fingers and harmonics, usually the harmonics are well in tune, and have a beautiful round sound).

1/4 tones up and down, and octaves in diminuendo for flexibility

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whistle sounds with finger griffs of lower notes (c1, c sharp1) and comparing the intonation and the colour of the real note to the harmonic Attacks such as described in Moyse de la Sonorite chapter 4 page 15 Air control: check how long you can keep a note such as c2 and make your daily number of seconds increase for air control pp exercises in the 3 registers: f ex, search for a nice melody which you than play the softest you can in register 2, 1, and 3 Legato exercises over 3 octaves, without and with vibrato Harmonics: comparing colours and intonation in all registers, with and without vibrato Vibrato: Use different speeds such as: quarter note = 60, play vibrato 4, 5, 6 in a beat. OR play triplets in different tempos such as: quarter note triplet is 84, 96 and 104 for a quarter note Work with a tuner!: check all the notes of the flute f, p and also with and without vibrato to check if your vibrato is not changing the pitch!

Remember that good pitch is the start of playing together in any kind of orchestra or group you are in!

Articulation: I use Trevor Wye ‘ Articulation book, and also the Moyse 'Etudes et Exercises techniques' where you find a variety of exercises on 3 topics: articulation, big jumps and finger work.

Remember that the articulation can only work if it is supported by airstream (HUHU or HAHA), and then work on single tonguing (tutu, and gugu), double tonguing (dugu-dugu and also gudu-gudu) and then triple articulation in all ways (dugudu, gudugu)

SCALES! Very important: I use Taffanel & Gaubert, no. 1 and 2, playing from the lowest note in the tonality until the very highest note in the system. A good system to play all of them every week can be: Monday C maj – a min Tuesday 1 sharp and 1 flat, maj/min you end up on Sunday with g-flat major and e-flat minor and you can add chromatic and whole tone scales as well as trills, such as described in Taffanel & Gaubert number 17

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STUDIES: Play a variety of books with different characters, and play at least 3 to 4 of them a week : Paul Jean-Jean (always associating two of them together, one with a musical background and one for a more technical background) Andersen op 15 S.Karg-Elert (very tricky and challenging) N.Paganini and many more

EXCERPTS: Use the excellent books of Jeanne Baxtresser (former Principal Flute of the NY Philharmonic and Professor at Juilliard and Pittsburgh) where you also get a piano part with the score.

Also Marko Zupans orchestral books arranged for 4 flutes which you can play in quartet or in a bigger setting of a large flute orchestra.

The most recent excellent excerpts book was made by Bavarian Radio s Principal Flute Henrik Wiese, and is very complete with excerpts from symphonic and opera!

BODY WORK and MENTAL WORK We are the athletes of the small muscles!!! We need our body to function well. Find yourself an Alexander Technique or Feldenkreis Teacher so you treat your body in such a way that you don’t damage or hurt anything when you practice your many hours a day!

Also, get into some mental work to stay strong and cope with the stress and performing, such as Autogenes Training or the excellent book: The Inner Game of music written by Barry Green.

Daily Schedule & Study plan Overview How to warm up and practice (tone and technique) Subdivide your daily time into 4 equal parts: 1. Basics (Tone and Technique) 2. Etudes 3. Repertoire 4. Orchestral Excerpts and various (concert-preparation etc)

WarmUp: Harmonics ¼ Tones (up and down for flexibility) octaves in diminuendo (for flexibility) Whistle Sounds (pp) Langue Sortie (Moyse “de la Sonorité-Chapter 4 Page 15) Air-control exercises : a) metronome 60-measure seconds and add seconds / day b) metronome 60 pp-exercise over 3 octaves Legato-exercises over 3 octaves a) without vibrato b) with vibrato Harmonics-exercise : compare harmonics to real notes (check intonation and colour) a) without vibrato b) with vibrato Centred-Tone exercise : make the centre of the sound bigger without making the sound. Bigger or louder Work with nose-resonance, and air-direction Vibrato-exercises : = 84, 92, 104 Work with tuner : f, p, cresc, diminuendo : check the tuning !! a) without vibrato b) with vibrato

Moyse: Etudes et exercises techniques” : 3 exerc. : one for articulation, one for big slurs, one for technique Grandes liaisons etc” : 3 exerc one for big slurs, one for trills, one for cres/dim

T. Wye: Articulation (HU, TU, KU, KuTu, TuKu, Triple TKTKTK and TKTTKT)

Taffanel & Gaubert: Scales : system as follows : Taffanel n° 3 (4 times up and down, one breath in the middle) Monday : C-Maj & a-min Tuesday :1 (Maj and min) and 1 (Maj and min) Wednesday : 2 (Maj and min) and 2 (Maj and min) and so on Sunday : chromatic, whole-tones, trills (Taffanel n° 17) Every day one different exercise from the book

Etudes: Jean-Jean : always 1 tone-expressive etude and 1 technical etude to practice at the same time Andersen Karg-Elert Paganini

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Aldo Baerten is Principal Flutist of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Professor for flute at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp, and Lehrauftrag Musikhochschule Koln/Aaachen. Aldo is former Professor for flute at the Sydney Conservatorium and since 2015 he has taught at the Münster Musikhochschule Germany. He is a regular guest at the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Mahler Chamber Orchestra, I Fiamminghi, European Union Opera, Arctic Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

During his studies at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels with Prof. Peter-Lukas Graf, he won competitions in Barcelona, Vienna, the Axion Classics, Quantz, and the National Instrument competition of Belgium.

Aldo Baerten has been a soloist with eminent orchestras, including the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester, RSO Basel, National Orchestra of Belgium, Walloon Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony and Samaai Sinfonietta. He is a regular guest at festivals around the world, collaborating with famous musicians such as J.van Dam, Martin Helmchen, Severin Von Eckardstein, Martin Spangenberg, Niek de Groot, StorioniTrio, Michel Strauss, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Hervé Joulain, Kandinsky-trio, Jana Bouskova, Dietrich Henschel, Tatjana Masurenko and jazz pianist Jef Neve.

Aldo Baerten has recorded extensively on Cypres, Phaedra, ECM, Pentatone and PMP and Principal Chairs. His recording of Schubert’s Introduction, Theme and Variations on Trockne Blumen with pianist Martin Helmchen was nominated for the BBC Music Prize of best chamber-music recording of the year 2010.

From 1989 until 1993 he was Principal Flutist with Claudio Abbado’s Orchestra of the E.U, with conductors including B. Haitink, V. Ashkenazy, V. Neumann, J. Conlon and J. Tate. He was Principal of the Schleswigholstein Festival Orchestra (Sir G.Solti), World Youth Orchestra and Principal Flutist of the Belgian Chamber Orchestra and the MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig.

His yearly summer class International Flute Seminar Bruges is a highlight for professionals and amateurs and his students occupy positions in orchestras and conservatories in Belgium and abroad.

Aldo Baerten is a regular Jury-Member of the International Flutonicon Flute Competition, Axion Classics, Lyonsmusic-competition, NFA Young Artists Competition, Yamaha Music Foundation and Biwako (Japan).

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ANDREW BAIRD

Returning to the stage Dry mouth. Trembling hands. An impossibly sweaty lip plate.

Existential crisis: pending. This (with some theme and variation) forms an accurate picture of my pre-performance state; an unavoidable and involuntary ritual. As we start to return to the stage after some months, I’ve been reflecting on how we might manage the pressure of performing on stage.

Reframing my thinking around how I was feeling made my jittery mindset ‘okay’, as it was associated with positive and excited emotions in place of any kind of angst or dread.

Interestingly, you may find the line between nerves and excitement start to blur and you are not sure which you are experiencing.

Breathe. It seems ridiculous that we often forget to breathe before a performance, particularly given air is such an integral part of flute playing. At times, the physical reaction we experience due to nerves is a powerful and primal one – no matter the level of preparedness, it can hijack our brain into thinking danger is imminent. Fortunately, this is not usually the case and controlled breathing can help regulate some of the physical symptoms.

There are a myriad of breathing techniques to choose from (e.g. breathing in for 3 – holding for 1 – out for 4 – repeat), usually with the aim to focus on ones breath in a considered way to feel a greater sense of control.

Embrace and accept what happens on stage. When taking to the stage to perform, you enter a kind of contract with the audience. You do your utmost to communicate the intent of the music and in return, they do their best to understand and interpret your performance. This kind of mindset can be really helpful when trying to stay present and ‘rolling with the punches’ on stage, as your purpose is greater than any singular imperfection. The audience want you to succeed. After all, they wish to be moved and have their belief suspended through the power of your performance. Nothing good can come from lamenting your mistakes in real time. Rather, focus on honouring the aforementioned agreement between audience and performer.

Channel your nervous energy into ‘excited’ energy. The first time I heard someone suggest this to me, I dismissed it immediately.

How could a simple affirmation help quell my feelings of restless consternation?! Indeed, I most certainly had to eat both humble pie and my own words in one swift mouthful.

Redefine what a successful performance is to you. Our pursuit of perfection is admirable and virtuous yet flawed. The perfectionist mindset combined with the drive to constantly improve defeats itself from the outset. Personally, I feel these ideas fall on opposite sides of the spectrum and cannot exist without causing dissonance – it’s much like picking a loose thread on your woollen jumper whilst wanting the garment to stay pristinely intact. Trial being deliberate and thoughtful about what you are striving to achieve and treat each performance with the nuance it deserves. Remember, two things can be true at once!

Learning an instrument can be a very intense journey and often, our sense of identity can become interlinked. Give pause and reflect on the many different things that form your sense of self – you could think of it as multiple concentric circles intertwined with you standing at its centre. When you experience a setback in one area, take time to step back and reflect or, perhaps step into a different sphere of what makes you… well you. Yes, the flute is incredibly important however, it does not define you in the same way no singular thing ever could.

Photoby Martin Ollman

Andrew Baird is a is a graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music having completed his Bachelor of Music with first class Honours under the instruction of Associate Professor Elizabeth Koch AM. Andrew also completed his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music under the tutelage of Virginia Taylor.

Here, Andrew was a finalist in the Australian Flute Festival Competition and has received the Tertiary Colin Oliver Music Scholarship, Elder Overseas Scholarship in addition to support from the Helpmann Academy, PPCA Performers Trust and Carclew.

Andrew played in masterclasses in London, Paris and Lyon with Paul Edmund-Davies, Gareth Davies, Michael Cox, Susan Milan, Patricia Nagle, Sophie Cherrier and Julien Beaudiment on a study tour in 2015.

Andrew has taken up the role of Artistic Planning Manager with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra within their Artistic Leadership team and has previously held positions with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Adelaide Youth Orchestra.

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MARGARET CAMPBELL Margaret Campbell won an Open Scholarship to the Royal College of Music where she studied with John Francis and Sebastian Bell, winning both prizes for the flute. During this time she also attended masterclasses with James Galway. At the age of twenty, she left the RCM to take up her appointment as Principal Flute with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, appearing on several occasions as soloist including at a Henry Wood Promenade Concert. In 1981 she won the National Federation of Music Societies Award for Young Concert Artists which led to numerous recital and concerto engagements all over the country and broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 with her pianist John Lenehan.

In 1986 she moved back to London as Principal Flute with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In addition to this post she freelances as a soloist and recitalist, appears regularly as guest Principal Flute with the major London orchestras and is a professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

Up until March 2020 my musical life at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden was full of challenges and musical wonders. The last opera we did was Fidelio with some glorious singing, in particular from the soprano Lisa Davison. I was preparing for the next run of Swan Lake. Our relatively new production included the pretty hair raising solo...yes, that one, which had been missing for over 30 years. Never a dull moment in Tchaikovsky. Instead of hurtling from one ballet to another opera everything came to a standstill.

Suddenly there was time for some really serious practise. A luxury in a job like mine where even if you wanted to play all afternoon you have to pace yourself and save energy for the show.

In my warm ups I have started with simple series of 4ths and 5ths followed by playing around with slow melodic variations on simple scales. My aim is to find the beautiful centre of the note and sing. A full sound without forcing. If you can find that kernel you can then be expressive in all sorts of ways without too much effort. Dynamics and colours all guided from your core. How can I make the note sing? Can I subdue it and still keep the intended expression/meaning/intonation? Is my throat open?

Since my children became young adults I have been able to do more teaching and examining. I have learnt a great deal along the way. Sometimes there is too much ‘flute playing’ going on. What has happened to the music? What is happening in the music?What are you trying to say? Have you spoken to your audience?

In the opera house I have listened to some of the most sublime singing. When everything comes together there is nothing like it. Passion, drama, tragedy, romance, agony, death, mourning, joy, love, all expressed through some of the world’s most wonderful melodies (see Moyse’s Tone Development Through Interpretation, a reward for all those hours of sonority excercises). A singers body is their instrument and therefore unrestricted in potential for expressiveness if they learn to use it properly. We can do the same.

We can sing. (Try Anna Nebtrenko, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Karita Matila, Nina Stemme and Placido Domingo amongst many others.) We too can create a beautiful phrase if we control the airflow like the best of them do.

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So in my lockdown practise times I continue to try to sing. I have been treating myself to revisiting pieces I haven't had time to concentrate on for years (Bach, Telemann, Handel), learning some pieces that I didn’t get around to in my student days ( Jolivet, Sancan, Lieberman) and going back to my favourite study books (Andersen Opus 15, Paganini, Karg Elert, Chopin) and expecting of myself what I expect from my students.

No stopping and no mistakes. I’m still working on it!

ANNA COOPER During the pandemic I have used our unexpected time to continue practicing fundamentals including harmonics, technical exercises, etudes and lyrical tone exercises. Sometimes these tone exercises are formal, published exercises, beneficial for maintaining and stretching the flexibility and fluidity of my tone. At other times, when I have needed stillness or space to focus inward, I have played favourite hymns or meditative, reflective themes from symphonic works - melodies I can sing through my flute.

It has been important for me to play music that is beautiful, music I love, and music that captures my imagination. I have constantly returned to the music of J.S. Bach – both his flute music and transcriptions of his stunning works for solo violin. The devotion and sense of space in these works has helped my imagination to soar while we have been unable to physically travel. I have been working through “Bel Canto Flute: The Rampal School” by Sheryl Cohen; this is a wonderful resource of essays, etudes, repertoire & quotes. One such quote is: “Right now a moment of time is fleeting by.

Capture its reality in paint! To do that we must put all else out of our minds.

We must become that moment” - Paul Cézanne Of course this applies just as well to our music practice! Appropriately, I started to draw in the evenings just prior to the pandemic and this has now extended to painting. It has been a thrill to play with colours and experiment with an art form in which I have no training whatsoever. I have always loved visual art and I explore the art museums of every city I visit, but there has been a joy and freedom in playing with this new art form – for no reason other than enjoyment!

For my daily flute practice, I start with the harmonic exercises written below and then draw from the following books for my tone and technical exercises: -Moyse: Exercises Journaliers -Taffanel & Gaubert: Grands Exercises -Moyse: “Comment J’ai Pu Maintenir Ma Forme” (How I Stayed in Shape) -Philippe Bernold: La Technique d’Embouchure and le Souffle, le Son

Anna Cooper is a freelance flutist and teacher based in Sydney, Australia. Anna recently returned from the USA, where she performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra and Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. In Australia, Anna has performed with Opera Australia Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Anna won First Prize in the Australian Flute Festival Open Flute Competition in 2017 and was a Quarterfinalist at the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition (USA) in 2018.

While in the USA, Anna completed a graduate certificate at Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to this, Anna attended the Australian National Academy of Music and the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide. Anna has studied with Andrew MacLeod, Elizabeth Koch, Julia Grenfell, Jocelyn Edey-Fazzone, Margaret Crawford, Lorna McGhee (Pittsburgh, USA), Marianne Gedigian (Austin, USA) and Virginia Taylor.

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BÜLENT EVCIL

PRACTICING FLUTE IN COVID TIME First of all, l tried to calm myself and to make myself believe it will be temporary. As a person l always took care of my health and hygiene at the highest level. Now l follow all instructions to prevent COVID 19 from spreading. l put a mask on and sometimes use hand gloves for shopping and going out.

At the musical level, l spend a lot of time practicing and planning about future building a new repertory for the future. As other people who are complaining about being locked down-home l feel happy at home and being productive as much as possible. l already planned 2 CDs to record in the future and practicing accordingly.

To make music is mostly a social thing. When lock down is finished we should gather in small groups of musicians to make chamber music, taking care of social distancing.

There is a huge repertoire to make music in this way, especially Baroque and Classical. With this music we can keep the hope alive for the next generations. Young generations must see music is going on. It will not despair.. We should keep this happening for them ..

Music must go on ..

Bülent Evcil is an exceptional flutist who is devoted not only to his craft but also to the creation of programs featuring the traditional Turkish repertoire.

He started his flute education at the MSU State Conservatory in 1980 in Turkey and continued in the Brussels Royal Conservatory and Heidelberg-Mannheim School of Music. In 1992 he had an opportunity to be a student of Sir James Galway. He described Evcil as ‘one of the best flutists of his generation.’

Between 2000-2005 he worked as a flute group conductor in Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. Currently, he is a flute group chief at the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and a solo flutist at the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. Evcil also took part in many international orchestras such as Italian International Symphony Orchestra, Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra and Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra under the conductor of Lorin Maazel as a solo flutist and 1st flutist.

Evcil is internationally acclaimed for his expressive skills and has been invited as a guest artist, and participating in many festivals worldwide. Some of the most prestigious festivals are the Italian International Flute Festival, Flautomania Teatro Alla Scala in Milano, Italy, Slovenian international flute Festival, Slovenia, French flute festival in Nice and Serbian international Flute festival Belgrade, Serbia.

Pristine flute festival, Kosovo, NFA flute conventions Head Liner concerts in San Diego and New York, America. He also conducted many masterclasses worldwide.

Evcil has significantly contributed to the popularity of the flute, and has the ambition to represent his music and his country, Turkey, in the international music arena. He was awarded by” Classical Music Magazine ANDANTE” The Best woodwind player of 2010 in TURKEY.

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As a prodigious recording artist, and he has three main recordings. His first CD “TANGO TIME” came out by KALAN MUSIC in Turkey, His second CD called “Middle Eastern Miniatures” and the third one was recorded in 2015 with a world-famous accompanist Phillip Moll and named as “The Flute Virtuoso.”

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JEAN-CHRISTOPHE FALALA Jean-Christophe Falala has been cited by the English press as one of the most outstanding representatives of the French school of flute.

He has performed in recitals and chamber music in the London concert scene and has been invited to give masterclasses at the Royal College of Music.

However it is in France that his artistry was initially recognised as soloist with renowned partners such as JeanPierre Rampal, Patrick Gallois, Susan Milan or Isabelle Moretti and the ‘Virtuoses de Prague’ with whom he has interpreted the Mozart flute concertos.

With Isabelle Moretti, he has performed in International Festivals such as Besancon, Grenoble, Schaffhausen.

With Marc Minkowski, he has recorded a DVD for the Festival of Aix-en- Provence as flute Solo with the ‘Musiciens du Louvre’.

In addition to the archives of live recordings by Jean-Christophe Falala, is a testament to “Normandie & Impressionisme” (Skarbo) grouping the complete chamber works of Debussy for flute, as well as a recording of J.S.Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 5 with Kenneth Weiss. He is invited regularly to Italy to give masterclasses.

Jean-Christophe Falala is currently flute Solo of the ‘Orchestre de l’Opera de Rouen Normandie’ and has delighted audiences for decades in major operatic, symphonic and chamber repertoire as well as performing as Soloist in the flute concertos of Nielsen, Arnold Busoni and J.S. Bach under the Direction of Oswald Sallaberger.

As flutiste of the Octet ‘Serenata’, he has performed at Radio France, the Mairie de Paris and participated in numerous Regional Parisien Festivals. In chamber music he has collaborated with Mireille Delunsch, Lily Laskine, Christian Larde, Frederic Aguessy , Anais Gaudemard, Francois Guerrier, David Selig, Celine Frisch, Jane Peters as well as the Trio Cappa at the Metropole Center of England.

Accredited with the CA, he is deeply committed to the transmission of his art and has dedicated over 30 years of experience as Professor at the Conservatoire de Rouen where he has formed countless professionals.

Jean-Christophe Falala plays a Muramatsu 14 carat flute or an ebony Powell flute in harmony with his choice of repertoire.

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Musique et confinement

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Lockdown has created an opportunity to revisit our musical dreams. The Magic Flute!

That Mozart composed one of his most beautiful operas around the theme of the flute imbued with magic powers is hardly anodyne.

The sonority of the flute makes it arguably the most chimerical, spacious, oxygenated and seductive of instruments!

My first contact with the flute came as a real shock and I fell immediately under its charm. My mother who sang and also played the violin exposed me to the wondrous world of music. One day as I discovered the magic of Albert Roussel's “Le Festin de l’araignée”, I was totally captivated and seduced by the sounds of the flute solo, Fernand Dufrène (eminent French flautist of the ORTF -Orchestre de la Radio Télévision Française-).

Such tenderness and nostalgia, evoking the most bewitching of sounds; this moment is impregnated in my memory If I take a moment to analyse the impact of this sound imprint I would say unequivocally that it is essential for every young player to aspire to a sound image that is both tasteful and aesthetically pleasing.

Joseph Rampal (the father of Jean-Pierre) said to his students: “if you have good taste you will be a good flautist!” Of course, he was absolutely right!

One must listen to the instrument; choose a sound and an expressive ‘ideal’, and never lose sight of these auditive images.

Being drawn towards a sound we love is the surest guide to mastering our instrument.

This sensorial imprint must never be relinquished as a means of guaranteeing lifelong progress.

Aim therefore to be a good musician in order to be a good flautist!

Imposing exercises as a prerequisite to progress may stifle somewhat this musical “dream”.

It would be difficult to imagine Claude Monet doing ‘exercises’ before painting “Impression Soleil Levant”!

I prefer concentrating on the resonance of the instrument before playing pieces ..

The music that perhaps suits best the ‘Boehm’ flute is possibly that of the French repertoire ..

The first Boehm flutes were constructed by Louis Lot: and it was this new model that inspired Claude Debussy to write “Le Prélude à l’Après - midi d’un faune”, as were to follow composers such as Roussel, Faure, Ravel, and of course Taffanel and Gaubert.

Take for example ‘Syrinx’ by Claude Debussy: One of my professors , Roger Bourdin, said of this piece in reference to the beauty of its continuous phrases that was the ideal piece to “se mettre en levres ” (sic), (get one’s lips in shape) ; I would add, “se mettre en voix and resonance”( to awaken the voice and resonance of one’s instrument.)

“Resonance” I believe, is the secret to a rich, vibrant, touching and humane sonority, along with fine intonation. It seems to me that if the lips play such an important role in the quality of sound , the palate and its’ suppleness , the throat, manner of breathing and generosity of expression are the attributes that determine imperceptibly the capturing of the resonance so unique to the flute’s identity and incomparable to any other instrument. “Syrinx” begins with ‘B-flat’ in the middle register of the flute. If one works at managing to resonate perfectly this very first note , taking care to breathe perfectly by amply opening one’s ribcage , placing the palate upward , playing expressively with a well thought out vibrato and no extraneous effort, one can extend the phrase successfully while taking care to constantly maintain the support (‘soutien’).

Debussy said "la musique est entre les notes” (the music exists between the notes) .

It is exactly with this objective in mind that the interpretation of Syrinx should be approached ... as with all music in fact!

The idea then is to “warm up” within the music rather than just technically and to reduce the time between mounting the flute and getting on stage, or in rehearsal or orchestral settings.

Scales and music: I like the “exercices journaliers" 1 & 2 of Taffanel and Gaubert (Gaubert was the son of Taffanel’s ‘house-maid’).

Moyse said he loved listening to Taffanel play his scales always so expressively and beautifully executed.

"La musique entre les notes!" even for scales! Calm and ample breathing, perfectly legato, fingers and posture mastered..

We flautists can be inspired naturally by wonderful singers and violinists. The natural vocality of singing plus the articulation and sostenuto line of the bow.

Jean - Christophe Falala 16 Translated by Jane Peters

MELISSA FARROW PRELUDING AND SHAPING AS WARM-UPS I love these two ‘exercises”. Though they are studies of a sort they are both creative and challenging. I play these exercises myself on period flutes and teach with them but they are equally helpful for modern flute, and in fact almost any instrument. Have fun with them!

Exercise 1. ‘Messa di voce’ or ‘swelling’ The Messa di voce is great for developing flexibility and good tuning, and provides a way of shaping that doesn’t have to involve vibrato. It is used on long, final notes of Baroque movements, cadenza fermatas, and before additional embellishments, to great effect.

Messa di voce was commonly used to give interest and to shape long tones well into the late 19th century. This is demonstrated clearly in Nicholson’s description and example below.

FROM NICHOLSON ‘School for the Flute’ 1836 My suggestions: Initially, play Nicholson’s exercise without vibrato - and then for variety try with a considered vibrato, beginning senza vibrato then quickening on the crescendo with decreasing speed on the diminuendo. This mimics the style of finger vibrato, often paired with messa di voce used by Baroque wind instruments.

Nicholson also suggests an alternative shaping which is to use a slow vibrato for the loud centre of the shape and a quickening vibrato as it softens. Or, for a simpler exercise, play a messa di voce scale ascending an octave. You could vary this every day by using a new key and/or note length.

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Exercise 2. ‘Preluding’ as a warm-up for the brain, embouchure and fingers I like to start each practice day “Preluding”, which offers a chance to warm-up in a focused yet fresh new way! I recommend you try this yourselves not only on your flute but also singing or any other instrument you happen to play. Suitable for students of all ages and abilities it is very enjoyable, yet challenging, and has a number of benefits. As well as warming up the instrument and fingers, it trains the ears to tune well to a reference drone and it frees up the imagination.

John Dryden said in 1678, ’a good musician always preludes before a tune’ and the technique is mentioned frequently in method books from the 17th to 19th centuries. Preluding was a moment for the soloist to improvise before beginning a written composition. It both announced the key to the audience and helped the performer to get settled before beginning their piece. Players felt that it not only warmed up the lips and fingers, but was helpful to test out the acoustic of the room, as well as work out effective dynamics and articulations for the space.

In today’s world of Classical music performance, most of us have never needed to learn to hone our improvising skills. However well into the 19th century and, even as late as the 1930s, certain pianists such as Rachmaninov would regularly improvise a preamble into a performance piece. These musicians would often “fiddle around” and invent a ‘prelude’ (or even ‘borrow’ one from another composer/musician) in the key of the piece they were about to play.

Of course it can be daunting to improvise in front of others when you aren’t used to it, even as a professional, but like any skill, it will improve over time with practice.

Teaching Method for Preluding in 6 steps:

Choose a suitable piece for your student to prelude into. I suggest starting with a Baroque movement, but ultimately there’s no reason why this piece couldn’t be from any musical period. However, do avoid written Preludes to prelude into!

1. KEY Ask the student to consider the actual key centre of the piece. Reflect on the notes of the scale and arpeggio.

2. TUNE Hold the tonic note while the student joins you to tune their flute. Ask the student to play the key centre scale slowly, if possible both ascending and descending, always listening and adjusting to the sustained tonic pitch. As the teacher again holds the tonic of the chord, the student plays the arpeggio (if possible, ascending and descending).This helps familiarize the student with the fingerings of that key centre and encourages them to enter the right head-space.

Alternatively an electronic tuner can be used to sustain the tonic drone.

3.TEMPO AND MOOD The next step is to ask the student to consider the tempo and mood for the chosen piece. It can be fun and rewarding to consider both tempo and mood together, eg fast and mischievous, slow and sulky. The time signature and length can be unimportant at this stage, it’s great just to dawdle and discover!

4. HELPFUL IDEAS If the student seems initially daunted or scared, try simply starting with an ascending and descending scale ending on the tonic, then add a final arpeggio flourish and voilà!, we have an effective Prelude. In Michel Corrette’s “Méthode” first published in 1740, he writes some fairly simple preludes to use or get inspiration from. You can find this on the link here: Méthode_pour_apprendre_à_jouër_la_flûtte 5. PLAY AND INVENT! Encourage the student to have several consecutive attempts at preluding, staying in one particular mood and tempo, and of course always listening and responding to the reference tonic pitch. It is good to end the prelude on the tonic note at any octave, with a long and sustained messa di voce.

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Students that are left to their own devices often come up with a brief safe melodic phrase lasting about 2 to 4 bars in length. However, after a while encourage experimentation with different durations. Nothing is ‘wrong’! A longer prelude allows for more quirky melodic connections to happen, possibly adventuring into related key areas. Hopefully they can ‘find their way’ through a maze of notes to a cadential point. If the student does happen to lose their way, it makes for a good shared laugh together!

6. ADVANCED STAGE: Once there is more confidence in preluding, start to look more closely at some of the details or “flavours” of the piece being preluded into, like melodic details, articulations, time signature and harmonic movement. Eventually through borrowing some of these aspects the aim is to create a prelude that is musically satisfying and nuanced, linking seamlessly and stylishly into the piece to be performed.

Melissa has been Principal flute of The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra since 2003 and plays regularly both as Principal flute and as concerto soloist with many leading Australasian ensembles including Australian Haydn Ensemble, the Orchestra of the Antipodes, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Latitude3, Ironwood and NZ Barok.

In 2020, Melissa co-formed two ensembles performing music from the nineteenth century: the Notos Wind Quintet which performs on the wonderful richly-toned historical wind instruments of the early nineteenth century and Notturno, which performs chamber music for the curious combination of flute, viola and guitar.

Melissa came to Sydney from New Zealand to study undergraduate flute and recorder at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. It was here that Melissa cultivated a great interest in Baroque flute (traverso) taking lessons with Howard Oberg. She completed Tweede Fase at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam in flute, recorder and traverso.

Since returning to Australia Melissa has enjoyed a varied career, teaching, performing and recording on recorders and historical flutes from early French model Baroque flutes through to mid-Nineteenth century instruments.

Melissa enjoys teaching recorder, Baroque and Classical flute, giving workshops on aspects of Baroque style and performance and is casual lecturer in Baroque flute at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

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NEIL FISENDEN

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DAVIDE FORMISANO Ü B E T E C H N I K

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Marcel Moyse – De la Sonorité The most important thing I learned from Moyse, and from Galway’s variant, is the correct way of playing legato.

For many students, legato means only that one plays two or more notes without using the tongue to separate one note from another. In fact, legato is something different – something we can learn from singers, who practice vocal exercises for hours -- their equivalent of De la Sonorité. The singer takes care that the air column and its velocity remain unchanged, and above all, that the vibrato is regular. Pavarotti sets a good example. Listening to him carefully, you will notice that, because of his control of the air column and air velocity, it is not obvious that he is using vibrato.

When I practice Moyse, I always use a regular and natural vibrato. I would never play these exercises either without or with too much vibrato, because it would be unnatural. Try to sing a note and you will immediately discover that your voice has a natural, beautiful vibrato; as soon as there is no vibrato or excessive vibrato, it is no longer natural but forced. The exercises should be played with precisely this natural vibrato. This concept and manner of practicing will help us later, when practicing repertoire, to play melodies undisturbed by sudden bursts of vibrato.

Tone Development – Thirds With these exercises, one can learn to play piano and forte correctly. Many students make a serious mistake in using too little air when playing piano and too much when playing forte. The result is that the intonation in piano is too low and in forte, the sound closes, instead of opening. As soon as I practice the first piano exercise, I think only about a large and a small sound. In this way, I play forte and piano using almost the same amount of air.

What I change are the following three things: 1. Air position: Piano: air at the front of the mouth, for a small sound Forte: air well back in the cheeks, for a large sound 2. Air direction: The air naturally goes into the flute, otherwise we would not produce a sound, but one can differentiate between a large and a small sound by changing the direction of the air stream: more vertical for forte and more horizontal for piano.

3. Size of embouchure: The size of the opening changes with the dynamic. Forte requires a large opening; piano, a small one. Only by blowing the same quantity of air can we produce a higher pressure through a smaller opening. In forte, the same quantity of air is blown through a larger aperture. It is, therefore, very important that one always, whether in piano or forte, uses the same amount of air. The muscular motion controlling the size of the aperture must be at the front of the lower lip and NOT in the corners of the mouth!

Exception C#’’ and E’’: For me, there are two exceptions. The first is the E’’: for this note, one can alter the air position and the size of the embouchure (as explained in points 1 and 3) but one should always keep the angle (i.e. the air direction) rather far forward.

With C#’’, on the other hand, the angle should in general be rather vertical. Because the flute is completely open, this note, if not corrected, will sound sharp and can disturb intonation of all the other intervals.

Fig. 8 Air position For pp – p – mp -- position toward the lips For mf - f – position in the cheeks For f – ff – position well back in the cheeks Fig. 10 to modify the size of the aperture use only the chin muscle Translated by Phillip Moll

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Davide Formisano was born in Milan in 1974. He graduated with the highest marks plus distinction under the guidance of M° C. Tabarelli, perfecting his abilities with Bruno Cavallo, Jean-Claude Gerard at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule and Aurele Nicolet in Basel.

He won First Prize at the Galileo Galilei and Stresa International Competitions and at just seventeen, he participated in the Jean Pierre Rampal Concourse in Paris, gaining the Prix Special du Jury. During the next few years, he was awarded 1st prize at the Budapest Flute Competition, and 2nd prize (1st not assigned) at the outstanding ARD Concours in Munich. As the first Italian flautist to receive such honours, the young Davide Formisano had already performed with the major European youth ensembles, such as Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchester and European Community Youth Orchestra, led by such high conductors as Lorin Maazel, Carlo Maria Giulini and Kurt Sanderling.

In 1995 he won Solo Flute in both the Hamburg Filarmonisches Staatorchester, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra one year later. Davide is presently Principal Flute in the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala and in the same Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked with major conductors including Carlo Maria Giulini, Zubin Mehta, Wolfgang Savallisch, Valery Gergev, Myung wun Chung, George Pretre e Giuseppe Sinopoli, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Baremboim, Daniele Gatti and Riccardo Chailly.

Davide Formisano also has a brilliant and growing career as a chamber musician and soloist, performing in Europe and Japan with Bruno Canino, Radovan Vlatkovic, Phillip Moll, Sergio Azzolini, Fabio Biondi, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Dresdner Kapellsolisten, S. Petersburg Philharmonic and Tonhalle Ensemble in Zurich. In 1998 and 1999 he took part in several Festivals in Europe In Italy, playing with pianist Phillip Moll, and with Bruno Canino, and also with Wiener Philarmoniker soloists and M° Riccardo Muti at the piano. Since then, Davide Formisano has been a guest at Festivals in Switzerland, Germany (with pianist Phillip Moll), and in Japan. He recently performed Rodrigo's "Fantasia para un Gentil Hombre", with "Orchestra Haydn di Trento e Bolzano" (Italy).

In 2004, he featured as a soloist with the Filarmonica Orchestra of The Scala. He has recorded the complete edition of Mozart flute Quartets with the Tartini Quartet. His CD releases include collaborations with Phillip Moll, Sergio Azzolini and Jean-Claude Gerard. Davide Formisano teaches at Academie d'Ete in Nice and in Japan. He presently teaches alongside Bruno Canino at the Acadamia G. Marziali of Seveso and at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart. Davide Formisano performs with a Muramatsu 24k All Gold flute.

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ROBERTO ALVAREZ GONZALEZ If there is something that I have found challenging during these days of lockdown, it has been to see how all the concerts with my orchestra were being cancelled. To keep a consistent practice routine is specially hard if you don’t have performances scheduled.

Luckily for me, I have the most active and energetic colleagues and students one could wish, and I have been working on several projects that include recordings, concerts and teaching online. But even when recording at home has being a very interesting idea, I will always keep a very fond memory of the first face to face rehearsal after the lockdown.

That first note together was definitely a big event!

This recording of Trevor Wye Op. 1A is a good example of what we could to to keep ourselves busy: https://youtu.be/HmZTqhkTqc8 Choosing a favourite exercise is similar to choosing a favourite composer, painter, writer, or even a favourite food. It all depends on many factors and, in my case, my number one exercise changes from time to time. However, I notice that my favourite exercises are normally related to tone.

There are classic books like Moyse De la Sonorité or Tone Development Through Interpretation that you can find on my music stand at all times. Breathing and tone production are essential in flute playing, and it’s worthy to spend some time in this kind of exercises.

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These days my two favourite exercises are related to relaxing the throat and releasing the lips. Maybe because of the uncertainty of these times, it’s easy to accumulate tension.

These two exercises help to soothe embouchure, throat and mind.

Singing through the flute is great to relax your throat and helps developing a healthy tone and a better intonation. I like to play easy slow melodies without many big intervals and just concentrate in how my voice relates to the flute. Whether you sing and play the same melody in unison or octaves, you get inspired by 9th century parallel organum and you sing in parallel fifths, you sing a drone to the melody on the flute (or play a drone on the flute to the melody you sing) or you get more experimental and play around with glissandi and the acoustic effects that it produces, you’ll have a good time exploring what new sounds you can get from the flute.

I also love practicing my aeolian sounds, they help to relax your embouchure and to get flexibility in your lips. It’s definitely a good cooling down exercise after a stressful day!

Diversity of styles is a hallmark of Roberto’s concerts and recitals. As a matter of fact he feels just as comfortable performing classical, baroque or avant-garde music as well as celtic, jazz or rock.

He has received various international prizes, such as the Diploma of Honor in the Torneo Internazionale di Musica, Concurso Internacional de Música “Paper de Musica” de Capellades, the Ángel Muñíz Toca Award and the Ciutat de Manresa Prize.

Chamber music and orchestra playing are two of Roberto’s passions. He has performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, Oviedo Filarmonía, Bach-Akademie, the Algarve Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philarmonic, working with the most renowned conductors.

He shows his interest not only in classical formations, but has also participated in several jazz and folk groups, always looking for new sonorities for the flute, and has performed the music of his region, Asturias, all over the World. Roberto’s passion for new music has led him to perform World Premieres very often in his recitals and recordings.

In addition to his performances he is an enthusiastic flute teacher, having given masterclasses in Youth Orchestras and several conservatories and festivals. He currently teaches at the School of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, in Singapore, and at the Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music, in Thailand.

Roberto is the Solo Piccolo at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since July 2007.

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ANNA HENWOOD

MOVE INTO THE DARK During my years studying with Raymond Guiot at the Italian Flute Academy in Rome, we used two books exclusively and consistently for our morning classes, applying the creative adaptations of our teacher: De la sonorité, Art et Technique and Gammes et arpèges by Marcel Moyse.

In class, there was a keen focus on technical precision and understanding of sound, accentuation and solfège. I am indebted to the generosity of my wise teacher, who encouraged us to: “Remember to step into the dangerous risk zone. When searching for your lost keys, there is no point searching in the light areas, when you know the keys are somewhere in the dark area. Risk moving into the dark.”

In other words, try to always do something new, or extend your abilities in a different way: do not be afraid of the unknown. Although it appears that these are dark times, perhaps even scary times with many unknowns for the future, I take strength from the fact that with imagination and courage, nothing is impossible. I have been revisiting my notes from my classes in Rome and will share an exercise from each of the books mentioned above.

Firstly, using the exercise on page 6 of De la sonorité, instead of simply playing full notes as written, play octaves as semiquavers, keeping the notes staccato and dry. On the repeat, double tongue the semiquavers. The difficulty is with keeping the shape of the low register notes. Another way to play this exercise is all legato, with groups of four semiquavers on each beat (again moving between the octaves), then on the repeat play groups of six semiquavers per beat, keeping the same tempo for the groups of 4 or groups of 6.

Secondly, using numbers 1-12 on page 1 of Gammes et arpèges, practice the last line of the exercise in the keys of C major and Db major (n.1-2). Repeat up the octave. Then, play the same line but in the keys of Db major and D major (n.2-3), also repeating up the octave. Work through all the major keys this way until n.12, keeping the tempo the same throughout. Another way is to work backwards (i.e. n.12-11 then n.11-10 etc).

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Anna graduated with a first prize from the Italian Flute Academy in Rome, where she studied with Raymond Guiot for three years. She previously studied with Elizabeth Koch at the Elder School of Music at Adelaide University and with Mary-Anne Blades until the end of High School. Anna has worked in primary, secondary and tertiary education, teaching Italian, instrumental and classroom music at several schools around Australia. She is currently teaching flute in Adelaide and supporting tertiary students who are pre-service teachers.

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KATHERINE KEMLER Katherine Kemler is the Charles and Mary Barré Alumni Professor of Flute at Louisiana State University, and flutist with the Timm Wind Quintet.

She has been a regular visiting teacher at the Oxford Flute Summer School in England and the Académie Musicale Internationale de Colombes in France. She has been invited to perform and teach at the International Flute Seminar Bruges, Belgium.

Dr. Kemler has taught masterclasses and performed solo recitals at Ecuadorian Flute Festivals in Quito and Guayaquil, Guatemala, Cape Town, South Africa, Panama, Dominican Republic, Poland, Spain, Italy, China, Hong Kong, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Elder Conservatorium of Music, the University of Adelaide in Australia, the University of Western Australia and the Perth Music Academy. She has performed at seventeen National Flute Association conventions in Denver, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York City, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City as well as at the British Flute Society National Convention in 2014. Kemler has been featured on the covers of American Piper Magazine, Flute Talk Magazine, and also Flutist Quarterly, the official magazine of the NFA. Dr. Kemler has made solo broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and National Public Radio. She has recorded four CDs with Centaur Records, Inc., Virtuoso American Flute Works, Sky Loom, for flute and harp, Sonatina with LSU pianist Michael Gurt, and Lipstick, a CD of contemporary works. She has also recorded on the Orion and Opus One Labels.

During the pandemic, I started to become depressed and frustrated because all of my concerts, masterclasses, and travel had been cancelled. However, a flutist friend and colleague of mine from another institution and I decided to try to keep our students inspired, motivated, and practicing by starting a virtual masterclass series for them. We reached out to other artists to join us and to invite their students as well. It was quite a successful endeavor and most of the students seemed so grateful to have this series to look forward to, attend, and perform in through Zoom. The series lasted for seven weeks.

But suddenly having more time on my hands has also given me the opportunity to do more listening and practicing, especially on my fundamentals. I am working on things that I never seemed to have time for in my “normal” life. Two exercises that I find very helpful are below.

They address problems that flute players have in the low and high registers.

This first exercise was taught to me by my beloved former teacher Samuel Baron, who taught at Juilliard, Eastman, and Stony Brook, and played with the New York Woodwind Quintet and the Bach Aria Group. This is a wonderful way to help build resonance in the low register. This exercise works in a way that is similar to some of the exercises by Marcel Moyse in his book DE LA SONORITÉ. As I do not know any flutists who have not had some anxiety about their low notes at some stage of their careers, I believe that all exercises for this are welcome.

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This exercise is for the high register. I learned it when I was teaching at the Oxford Flute Summer School and listened to a class with the wonderful British flutist Michael Cox. It is a great harmonic exercise, which helps one to add more depth and color to the high register and helps to prevent sharpness. Play this with a big full sound for best results. I think this is my favorite flute exercise of all time.

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ELIZABETH KOCH AM

My Treasured Exercises Harmonics I use these exercises as a warmup for the embouchure and to negotiate the upper register with certainty.

Using the fundamental fingering is a rather comforting approach for younger players. Often if students are having trouble with the top register, we work out how to use the fundamental fingering to produce a high note in the most streamlined way. For example, the top E at the end of Pessard’s Andalouse can be practiced with a low A fingering. The final Top F sharp at the end of the Chanson of John Rutter in his Suite Antique can be practiced with a low B natural.

In the first exercise I advocate using hardly any embouchure change to produce the octave note D to D. Then from the first to the second harmonic (D to A), I suggest a more precise embouchure change so that the air is tilted a little higher but in a strategic manner. For example, I use the vowel shapes ‘ee’ to ‘oo’ to move from the lower register to the next register.

One of my teaching ideas is to try and maintain an aspect that is ’constant’ about playing through the registers. We understand that the aperture becomes smaller as one plays higher but think about the ‘height’ of the aperture being the ‘constant’ ingredient. Maintaining the height keeps the aperture with a roundish shape throughout the range and generally produces a correspondingly round sound.

For the best results practice these exercises in pianissimo. If you can sustain the notes in ‘pp’ you will feel secure and know you are probably on the right track.

Exercise 1

Start with a low D fingering.

To produce the octave D use very little lip change. Simply ‘think’ the change rather than do much lip change.

From the first harmonic to the second harmonic is where the lip change needs to be a little more noticeable. Make the aperture a little smaller for the second harmonic but be precise as the air needs to be told where to go. Remember the vowel shapes ‘ee’ to ‘oo.

Progressively make your way up chromatically.

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Exercise 2

Do the same as above but when you reach the 2nd harmonic transfer your fingering to the correct fingering for that note. You will find it easier to sustain. And be sure to check the intonation.

Exercise 3

There are many variations on these exercises. For example, swivel gently but precisely between the first and second harmonics for clean embouchure changes. It is a great way to see if you can pitch each note with a bullseye.

Execution of a diminuendo

The ability to sustain a diminuendo into ‘niente’ is sometimes challenging for students. They tend to drop their lower lip or pull back at the last minute thus dropping the air direction which results in a ‘cracked’ note.

Keep the air stream from being directed too high too soon. Allow the lower lip to gradually move across the lip plate but only a little. Once the note is getting close to the end, I suggest a small manoeuvre which keeps the note for as long as you want and in tune. With the lip going forward making the aperture smaller, put a tiny amount of pressure on the left hand (left index finger against the flute) so that it balances out the lip movement and keeps the diminuendo going securely. It should feel as though your left hand is resisting the forward lip movement. It is challenging to explain with accuracy in print but give it a go. The main thing is that any changes are miniscule and subtle.

I often ask students to replace a top register fingering with a harmonic when the passagework is awkward. It can make an enormous difference to how they blow the note and once the original fingering is back in place, the sound feels good, with the embouchure in the right place.

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Elizabeth Koch owes her career to the teaching of David Cubbin at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide. She continued her study with Maxence Larrieu in Paris on a Churchill Fellowship and was a member of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for 27 years before joining the University of Adelaide as Associate Professor.

Elizabeth has been soloist with several Australian orchestras including the Adelaide Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony and Adelaide Chamber orchestras.

One of her career highlights has been to curate six international study tours to Europe with her students and to curate and direct symposia with Michael Cox and two Australian Flute Festivals.

She has been the recipient of the University of Adelaide’s highest Learning and Teaching prizes and was awarded a national prize as well as the Vice-Chancellor’s prize for Learning and Teaching Excellence.

Elizabeth was awarded the OAM and AM in Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2006 and 2016 respectively.

Photo by Ana Koch

DAVID LEVISTON

David Cubbin Daily Exercises My teacher, mentor and friend, David Cubbin, passed away on the morning of May 12th 1997 at the age of 62 from a heart attack and Australia lost a wonderful artist and teacher who made a vast contribution to all aspects of the Australian flute world. I remember that morning clearly and was deeply shocked and saddened. He achieved much in his life and was an outstanding performer and extraordinarily effective teacher.

I don’t recall ever hearing David demonstrate. He was very humble and wanted his students to be able to develop their own capacity to find solutions to their learning challenges and development. He would listen and watch very carefully with great attention and then give carefully considered feedback, characteristically focusing on the underlying issues that needed to be addressed and offering solutions in the most effectively crafted language that was not difficult to understand.

I first met David when I was 13 and attending my first National Music Camp. When I heard him perform and experienced his teaching I was hooked. Here was someone who was embarked on thinking things through thoroughly and could very ably communicate.

This had been missing in my experience of learning to that point and I found this ingredient stimulating and what I needed.

David was very disciplined but also exceedingly generous with his time. He also would never finish a day until he had done a certain amount of practice.

With a strong disposition to immersing himself deeply in what he was doing, his days would stretch out and he would often not finish until late in the evening.

Several times I would see and hear him practice late at night.

We became good friends and at some later stage I asked him how he managed to keep organised and in such good shape and he showed me his daily routine.

I had the impression he did not share this readily, and accordingly I felt this to be a special privilege. He proceeded to pull out of his wallet a scrap of paper he had one day spent systematically jotting down the most difficult and important finger drills. It’s quite logical of course, and it works very well. It is effectively the distillation of the major fingering difficulties on a Boehm closed G# flute.

I kept the original copy for a long time but now seem to have lost it. The original was hard to read, and the included photo taken by me years ago is not much better. During COVID-19 I transcribed it to a Word document. I meant to share it years ago but thanks to this period of isolation I have now been able to go to work on it and here is the result.

I hope you find it useful and interesting. I have.

David Leviston started playing the flute when he was 7. Upon finishing school David began studies in Law but quickly changed to Music after successfully auditioning for a professional orchestral position.

Being the fortunate recipient of an Australia Council grant, David spent 1975/1976 studying with many leading teachers in the UK, Europe and USA. David worked for many years as an orchestral, solo and chamber music performer, and taught both in institutions and privately for most of his playing career.

He also examined at all levels for the AMEB. His passion for the flute led him to begin Flutes & Flutists and the Australian Flute Festival.

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Professor David Cubbin is regarded as one of Australia's great flautists and was a major influence in developing flute playing in Australia and bringing world recognition to both the instrument and flute players in Australia. Born in 1934 and initially studying with Lesley Barklamb in Melbourne, he went on to an impressive professional career as a flautist, teacher and administrator. He became principal flute of the South Australian Symphony Orchestra in 1954 and became the first full time salaried tertiary flute lecturer in Australia at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide in 1964. He formed the Flute Society of South Australia in 1972 and went on to become president and later patron of the Australian Flute Society from 1988 to 1995.

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TOMOMI MATSUO

Photo by Mark Xiao

My favourite daily exercises are already in Liz’s ‘From Isolation to Inspiration Vol. 1’ so instead, I would like to share my experience in Trevor Wye’s The Studio and the exercises that I composed when I was studying there.

At The Studio, on each class day, the six students and Trevor would warm-up together in the morning. One of us would lead the warm-up, starting with a nice melody to wake up not just our sound, but also our feelings. The leading student got to choose and demonstrate the melody and then we would all copy them by ear and then play in unison the same melody, transposed in all the keys. (Fig. 1) Fig. 1:

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We would then move on to some finger and articulation exercises based on various scales and arpeggios, such as the Reichert Daily Exercise No. 2 (Complete Daily Exercise P.5); Reichert Seven Daily Exercises No. 4 (Complete Daily Exercise P.56); Boehm Twelve Studies No. 1 (Complete Daily Exercise P.64); Wye First Chromatic Study (Complete Daily Exercise P.72) etc. (Fig. 2) Fig. 2:

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We also often practiced a diminuendo exercise using Reichert Daily Exercise No. 2. (Fig. 3) Fig. 3:

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We sometimes invented our own exercises based mostly on variations of the usual exercises.

Trevor believed this was important so that we’re not just mindlessly relying on muscle memory and going through the motions. You can see one which I wrote in Fig. 4. This is a variation of one of Trevor’s exercises. Apparently, he liked it so much that it became a regular exercise even after I left!

Figure 4:

It’s very useful to incorporate this type of practice in your daily routine because it forces you to utilise your whole brain. It feels like walking in complete darkness, searching which way to go.

Once it becomes too comfortable and you feel like you can play it with confidence, that’s when you know you need to change it or move on to something else, because that exercise has lost its effectiveness. One simple way to change things up is to progress in different key structures. For example, if you always practice one exercise in the circle of fifths, then you can still play the same exercise but move up or down chromatically. It would make a huge difference, even if it’s still the same exercise.

We would usually finish our warm-up with a finger exercise from Trevor’s Practice Book 6 (included in the Practice Book Omnibus Edition which has all six practice books in one book) and also Technical Mastery for the Virtuoso Flutist by M. Moyse. (Fig. 6) Fig. 6:

Sometimes, we also play improvisations with recorded accompaniment by Clifford Benson from Looking at More Efficient Practice on the Flute. (Fig.7) Fig. 7: You can also find a video of Trevor warming up with some students in his Master Class in Japan in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoZojMSqNi4&feature=share Tomomi has been awarded several prizes throughout Japan both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She has also performed as a soloist with several orchestras in Europe and Japan. Tomomi is a regular assistant performer at Trevor Wye's lectures in the UK, USA and Japan. In 2017, Tomomi moved to Sydney and is teaching and performing regularly around Australia, including with the Opera Australia Orchestra.

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PHILLIP MOLL

I’ve been enjoying reading the comments, exercises and other helpful suggestions by the contributors to Elizabeth Koch’s first volume of From Isolation to Inspiration and wondering what I might add, having been asked to contribute to the second volume.

Not having a concept, I decided to say whatever popped into my head. What popped is one general comment and three more specific ones.

The general comment: I have had the good fortune and indescribable joy of accompanying a few of the finest flute players of the past half-century; some of them, like Nicolet, Rampal, Pahud, Graf and Baker only once, in a thrown-together situation such as a music cruise, but others, many times. One capability the best of them share, including Marcel Moyse, whose classes in Boswil I heard in the late 70s, is thorough familiarity with the piano part.

This familiarity goes beyond knowing how many bars to count and when to come in; it embraces harmony, voicing, and rhythmic detail, which are crucially important in such challenging pieces as Chant de Linos, the Jolivet Sonata or Le Merle Noir. Alert

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players know how each note fits into the overall harmony and adjust their tone color accordingly. It leads to a taut synchronicity which is thrilling to hear.

The three specific comments I would like to make concern realizing a composer’s intentions as set down in the score. This starts with acquiring the most reliable editions one can and, if warranted and possible, comparing it with other sources. I have two mea culpas to confess to and this is as good a place as any to do it. For more than fifty years I used the old Sikorsky edition of the Prokofiev sonata. I knew that a new one came out in 1998 but it contained no critical notes or evident differences with the earlier version except for the pagination, which made it confusing to read if one was used to the old one, so I bought it but did not use it. In fact, though, it corrected a few errors, most notably the C in the tenor voice in bar 93 of the third movement - last eighth note - which in the earlier edition is printed as a D. I was always suspicious about this note, but on YouTube, EVERYONE played it as a D, including Martha Argerich, in the great recording with James Galway, EXCEPT Lev Oborin with violinist David Oistrakh, who presumably had access to

the manuscript and quite probably to Prokofiev himself. I finally had an opportunity to study the manuscript, in Prokofiev’s clear and precise hand, at the Glinka Museum in Moscow, and that note is unmistakably a C. It was too late to change the recording with Irina Stachinskaya; on that recording, at least, it will be in D in all eternity. Sackcloth and ashes for me.

Another piece on the same CD (Russian Dreams) is the Taktakishvili Sonata, a real sunshine piece if ever there was one. I would dearly love to see the manuscript, as I have several unanswered questions, but, when in Tbilisi a few years ago, I made contact with a flutist who knew Taktakishvili’s widow, the message I got was that she had lent the manuscript to someone but could not remember who it was. One can compare the Soviet edition with the AMP edition (ed. Louis Moyse) usually used in the west, and which we used for the recording, but in retrospect I believe that the bass octave 9 bars before the end of the second movement must be F (as in the Soviet edition), not A (as in AMP). I am convinced that the deceptive cadence is correct, much more powerful, and have played it that way ever since, but unfortunately not on the recording.

The third piece I wish to comment on is the Poulenc Sonata. This piece has been through many editions since it first appeared in the late 50s, the most radical of which is the New Edition of 1994, which has become the standard edition, published by Chester. I studied it and performed it when it first appeared. This edition is the result of extremely conscientious and meticulous work by its two editors but has an insurmountable problem, which is that the editors did not have access to either the engraver’s copy or the corrected proofs, which in my view would have been the two most important sources, if they still exist. They did consult the three extant recordings of Poulenc performing the piece (with Rampal 2x and Gareth Morris 1x) but these do not lead inescapably to conclusions they reached in the New Edition.

After performing the New Edition, I reverted to my dog-eared copy of the 10th edition and that is the one I still use and recommend, if you can find it.

Of course, how we play and what we as performers can bring to the music is more important than whether some note is a C or a D, but still, attention to and love for detail is an important part of what we as performers can offer to make music come to life.

Born in Chicago as the son of long-time Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist David Moll and soprano Agatha Lewis, Phillip Moll has lived in Berlin, Germany for fifty years. As accompanist and ensemble pianist, he has collaborated with such diverse artists as Kyung Wha Chung, Sir James Galway and Jessye Norman.

He has performed and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the German Symphony Orchestra, the RIAS Chamber Choir and the Berlin Radio Choir. Performances have taken him throughout Europe, North America and the Far East.

From 1970 to 1978, Moll was employed as a repetiteur at the German Opera Berlin and from 2004 to 2013, held a professorship for song interpretation at the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy University for Music and Theater in Leipzig. In addition to an extensive performing career spanning half a century, he has participated in many recordings.

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SARAH NEWBOLD

SARAH NEWBOLD is sub-principal flute in the Academy of St Martin in-the- Fields, a member of the Alvor Trio, freelance flute player all over the UK, Professor of Flute at both the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, Licensed Andover Educator (Body Mapping) and a Senior Fellow HEA. In addition to the usual wonderful flute exercises that we have been brought up on e.g. Moyse, Taffanel and Gaubert there is another aspect to which we need to pay great attention.

If we really want to to make the flute sing we need to learn to play our body as well as the flute.

Trying too hard, which we often do, can cause too much tension in the body, the muscles become tight and we lose resonance and flexibility.

Always look for balance and flow when playing, think about allowing the neck to be free and the head to balance on the spine and allow the floor to support you.

The body uses muscle effort but not too much, not too little, so allow yourself to experiment with this in your practice.

A simple experiment is to grip your legs and backside while playing a note then release, notice the changing resonance and tone, which one do you prefer? 100% improvement for less effort, that has got to be good!

Breathe, enjoy the movement of your whole body. We have a muscle suit which is connected throughout the body so notice the freedom and effect of your breathing throughout the body.

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Constructive Rest: Experiment with lying on your back on the floor with your head on a book (for me about four centimetres deep is comfortable) have your knees bent and together pointing to the ceiling, soles of your feet on the floor and hands just placed across your stomach. Notice the air coming in and out of your body, enjoy the subtle movement throughout your body, enjoy gravity letting you release and the support of the floor.

To get up allow your eyes to lead, roll onto your side, then over to hands and knees, then slowly get up to standing, take your time, you may feel lightheaded.

Experiment with doing this for 5 minutes of every half an hour’s practice, how do you feel? What do you notice? How do you sound when you get up and play again?

Experiment with singing a passage in your mind whilst lying on the floor and notice if your body is “trying to help”, does it need to?

Relentless practise is over-rated, it makes you miserable so my tip would be not to repeat something unless you know why you are doing it.

Improvise, create your own simple phrases and enjoy transposing them all over the flute searching for the expressive freedom that this gives you. Ownership of the music is less inhibiting and allows you to enjoy the subtle flow of the air, the movement of your body and your own creative feelings. Challenge yourself as much as you want to, you are in charge, above all enjoy the music you are making and the feeling of flow in your body.

Experiment, allow the flute to sing and play your music: there are no mistakes, just new and exciting things to discover.

Playing an instrument is movement and how we move depends on how we think we are structured. I realised that in my own playing I was thinking very much about my body movement and resonance.

Quite often students were unable to access the information in their own bodies as they had either no knowledge or faulty knowledge of how the body is structured and moves; I needed a language that would help them, I found “Body Mapping” very helpful.

Some interesting books for further study on Body Mapping and Anatomy Blakeslee, Sandra and Matthew Blakeslee. The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better. New York: Random House, 2007.

Conable, Barbara and William Conable.

Columbus: Andover Press, 1995. GIA

How to Learn the Alexander Technique: A Manual for Students.

Conable, Barbara and Tim Phelps. The Structures and Movement of Breathing: A Primer for Choirs and Choruses. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2000.

Conable, Barbara and Benjamin Conable. What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body. Columbus: Andover Press, 1998. GIA Kapit, Wynn and Lawrence M. Elson. The Anatomy Coloring Book. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.

Pearson, Lea. Body Mapping for Flutists: What Every Flute Teacher Needs to Know About the Body.

Chicago: GIA, 2007.

Likar, Amy. The Breathing Book. Mountain Peak Music 2018.

Kleinman, Judith and Buckoke, Peter. The Alexander Technique for Musicians. Bloomsbury 2013 DVD: Move Well, Avoid Injury. What Everyone Needs to Know About the Body. Barbara Conable and Amy Likar. Andover Publications 2000

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NAO NOZU フルートの技術で私が大切にしている事は ①構え、腕の位置と手首の角度。 ②構え、演奏中の楽器の角度。 ③構え、指の形と動き方、指とキーとの距離。 ④ブレス、吸い方と吐き方。 ⑤音程をコントロールする為の、唇とお腹の筋肉の動 き。 ⑥良い音と響きを作る為の考察。 などがありますが、今回は特に⑥の、良い音と響きを 作る為の考察について、私がごく最近にたどり着いた 考え方を書いてみたいと思います。 私がフルートを始めたばかりの頃、師匠から、「1番良 い音が出る瞬間は、吹いた息の50%が管の中に入り、 残りの50%が管の外側に出る角度で吹いた時である」 と教えられました。空気自体は目には見えませんの で、私はそれが正しいのか否か、未だに全くわかりま せん。それから先の高校、大学、留学、そしてオーケ ストラ・プレイヤーの現在に至るまで、どの教則本を 買えばより良い音が出せる様になるのか？どう云うエ クササイズをすればより良い音が出せる様になるの か？は、さんざん教えられ、自分でもあれこれ実践し ては来ましたが、良い音を出す為の秘宝は一度も説明 された事はありません。 せいぜい ①アンブシュアに注意を払いなさい。 ②喉を空けなさい。 ③お腹で吹きなさい。 ④声楽家の様に胸郭を広げて、身体で響かせなさい。 ⑤顔で、副鼻腔で音を響かせなさい。 くらいでしょうか？ 良く聞くアイディアは、「人はもともと自分なりの音と云うモノを持っていて、それは才能の範疇で、他人の力では良 くしようと思っても限界がある」と云う考え方です。 フルートを始めて半年程で、良い音の人がいる反面そうで無い人もいる、確かにそうかも知れません。全ての領域に於 いて、才能は最も敬意を払うべき事柄である事は言うまでもありません。しかしそれが答えなら残念な気がします。そ こで音の事で悩んでいる人の少しでもヒントになれば、と願ってこれから書いてみます。 まず最初に、いつもの様にフルートを吹いてみて下さい。 その際、唇の間から歌口に向かって細い(或いは太い)空気を出している訳ですが、歌口に入り切れない空気が、出して いる空気に逆らって口の中に戻って来ている事、これを感じ取れますか？ ちょうど魚が、滝の中を、流れと反対に昇って行くイメージなのですが。fig No.1 パーセンテージについては、私は科学者ではありませんので、どなたか調べて教えて頂きたいくらいなのですが、私の 感覚では吹いている時の息を100とすれば10%くらいの感覚です。 その10%くらいの、戻って来る空気の柱を、取敢えず私は『返り』と名付けました。 その10%程の『返り』こそ音色を司る上で、元も大切な要素と考えます。 その『返り』を①口の中でどの様な形で受け止めるか？ ②どの様な喉の形で受け止めるか？ ③どの様なお腹(肺)の形で受け止めるのか？ が、良い音の決定的な要素になります。 46

❶まず、ここまでの説明が理解出来ましたか？フルートを吹いてみて『返り』を感じ取れましたか？ もし『返り』を直ぐに理解出来なくても決して焦らないで下さい！頭の中の何処かの片隅に、いつもこの 『返り』を置いておいて下さい！そうすれば、いつか必ず、閃きのごとく感じ取れる瞬間が、必ず訪れる でしょう！運動を伴うアートは、出来た時にのみ初めて理解出来る、言い換えれば出来た瞬間以降しか本 当には理解出来ないからです。まずはイメージを持ってやってみて下さい！ 次に、この『返り』をどうやって口の中で上手く受け止めるかを考えて見ましょう。これは一般的には、 喉を開くと言われている行為です。 ここで1番大切な事は、 ❷喉仏を1インチほど下に下げ、口蓋垂(のどチンコ)を1インチほど上に上げる事です。 喉仏を下げるには、実際にご自分の喉の声帯を指で触って上下する筋肉を確認して下さい。 fig no.2 口蓋垂(のどチンコ)を上げるには、鼻から息を出しながら、その息を喉の上部(鼻の奥)で止めてみて下さ い。 そうすると耳の中で「クチュ」と云う音が聞こえるでしょう。 実はこれがフルートの音色にはとても大切なのです。 何故ならこの「クチュ」っと云う音こそ、耳から喉にかけて繋がっている耳管を塞ぎ、響きが鼻を伝って 耳から漏れてしまうのを防ぐからです。 因みにこの耳管は吹奏中、いつでも閉じられていなければなりません。 さてそれではこれら2つを同時にやってみましょう。 ①まず「あくび」をしてみて下さい。 ②今度はフルートを構え、「あくび」が出る直前で、耳の奥で「クチュ」と音がしたらそこでストップ！ この状態が口の中全体をドーム型にすることが出来、『返り』の効果を最も発揮出来る型になります。 fig no.3 ③そして吹いてみて下さい！ そしてこの状態を、喉が開いていると言います。 これが出来る様になると胸郭を広げて呼吸するにせよ、肺の下部にある筋肉を下に広げる呼吸(腹式呼吸)に せよ、音色及び音量共に格段に良くなります。 私はこの『返り』を常に感じてコントロールする事こそ、フルートで良い音を出す鍵だと思っています。 もう一つ、『返り』(響き)を変えない事に集中してタンギングをすると、理想のタンギングは舌が教えてく れます。何故なら上手く行かないタンギングは、舌の動きや発音に固執し過ぎて響きが止まるからで、大 抵の場合、舌の責任ではありません。 さて既に良い音を出している人にとっては、この『返り』は既に自然に出来ている筈で、そんなに難しい 事では無いでしょう。 しかし我々は多かれ少なかれコンサートやコンクールでは緊張します。 これを知った上でコントロールに努めていれば練習と本番との誤差を、自信を持って縮める事が出来るで しょう。 それからこの『返り』の感覚を常に持ってフルートを吹いていれば、ホールによる響きの違いに翻弄させ られる事は無くなります。 いつも1番良い『返り』の場所で吹くだけなので。 この『返り』をコントロール出来る様になると、オーケストラで広いホールでの演奏会の時のPPを、遠く の客席までPPのままで伝えるのには特に欠かせない要素になります。 さてもしここに、自分の音が悪いと自信を持って言える方がいらしたら❷を再検討して下さい。』 どの楽器の習得にも同じ事が言えると思うのですが、教わる側にとって最も大切な要素は、師匠の説明し た後にそれらをやる事よりも、師匠の音、或いは自分の理想とする音が、自分の身体のどこをどう使った らより近づいて行くか？の発見と努力(想像を伴った模倣)の連続である事は間違いありません！ 『返り』の考え方の説明に関しては、私の10人程の生徒に対して、多かれ少なかれ大きな効果をもたらし たので、もし伝わらなかったら完全に私の文章力のせいなのでそうなったらとても残念です。 この文章を一言で言うなら、今まで、出す息や角度、アンブシュアや運指など、技術的には全て目に見え る、口から外の事に翻弄されて来ましたが、今ではそれらはせいぜい10%以下、肝心なのは残りの90%を 占めるであろう口の中の方、と思っています。 野津 臣貴博 47

Things I cherish regarding the flute technique 1. Posture: Holding position of the arm and the angle of the wrist 2. Posture: The angle of the flute whilst playing 3. Posture: The shape of the fingers and their movements, the distance between the fingers and the keys 4. Breathing: The way to breath in and out 5. The movement of lips and stomach muscle to control the intonation 6. Reflection on how to make good sound and resonance In this occasion, I’d like to focus especially on number 6: Reflection on how to make good sound and resonance, the concept I recently derived.

This concept made great improvements with all of my students, and I am quite convinced about it, but it is very difficult to explain it with words and images only, which makes me very nervous.

When I first started learning the flute, my master taught me ‘The moment you get the best sound is when blowing at an angle where 50% of the air goes into the tube and the remaining 50% goes out of the tube’.

Air is invisible; therefore, I am still not sure if that is right or not. Since then, in high school, Uni, studying overseas and then currently as an orchestral player, I have been taught what method book to use to improve sound, what exercise makes a better sound, and I have also tried myself, but the secret of getting good sound has never been explained to me.

In most cases, 1. Pay attention to the embouchure 2. Open your throat 3. Play from your stomach 4. Widen the chest like singers and resonate from your body 5. Use your face and sinus to resonate is my advice.

I also hear that everyone has their own sound and that’s to do with their talent, so there’s a limit to improvements.

It is certainly true that, after learning the flute for 6 months or so, some people have a good sound and some don’t. In all areas, it is inevitable to say that talent is the most respected item. However, if that’s the answer, I feel disappointed.

Therefore, I thought I’d like to write some hints for people who are struggling with sound.

“First of all, please play the flute as you usually do. You are blowing a thin (or thick) air between your lips, but can you feel the air which doesn’t go into the embouchure hole, bouncing back to your mouth? Imagine a fish swimming up against the stream. fig No.1 As to percentage, please bear in mind that I am not a scientist, in my feeling, if you say the amount of air blown out is 100, it’s around 10%.

That 10% of air pillar which is bouncing back, I named it as “Return”. And I believe this “return” is the most important and definite element for sound.

1. How you receive the “return” in your mouth.

2. What kind of shape of throat you receive it.

3. What kind of shape of stomach/lungs you receive it.

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1. Firstly, do you understand what I mean so far? Can you feel the “return” when playing the flute? Do not worry if you cannot understand this straight away. Please always keep this concept of “return” in your head.

Then, someday, you will be able to fell this for sure. Art involving movements can only be understood after you succeeded in doing so. In other words, you can only understand it after you get it. Please imagine and try at first.

2. Secondly, let’s think how we can receive this “return” in your mouth. This is what we generally call “open your throat”. The most important this here is to lower the Adam’s Apple (Cartridge of the Larynx) about 1 inch, and raise the Uvula about an inch. To lower the Adam’s Apple, please touch your vocal cords with your fingers and feel the muscle which goes up and down. (figure 2)

To lower the Uvula, breathe out from your nose and stop the air at the top of the throat (back of the nose). Can you hear the clicking sound "kchu" in your ear (the sound of the Tensor Tympani muscle in your inner ear tightening)?

This is very important for flute sound. The reason that you hear this sound in your ear is that you are closing the ear tube which is connected from the throat and prevents the sound leaking from ears via nose. Ear tubes should always be closed when playing. Let’s do these two things at the same time. a. Please yawn b. Please hold the flute and just before yawning, if you hear the clicking sound in your ear, stop there! This condition makes the inside of the mouth like a dome and can have the effect of “return”. (figure 3)

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c. Then, blow. This status is “open throat”. If you can do this, your sound and sound volume will improve dramatically whether you breathe with opening your chest or pushing the diaphragm down.

I believe that constantly feeling the “return” of the air and controlling it is the key to produce a good sound on the flute.

Another thing is, when you focus on keeping the “return” and do tonguing, the tongue will teach you the ideal tonguing. The reason is that if you cannot do tonguing, it is due to sound (resonance) stopping by focusing on the tongue movements or pronunciation (t, d, k, g), and not due to the tongue itself.

By the way, if you already have a good sound, you might already be doing this naturally and it is not a hard thing to achieve. However, more or less, we all get nervous at concerts or competitions. But if you know this concept, you will be able to confidently minimise the difference between the practice room and on stage.

In addition, if you play the flute with this concept in mind all the time, you will not be bothered by the difference of resonance in different halls/venues as all you need to do is to play with the best “return” spot.

Like this, if you are able to control the “return”, this technique becomes inevitable to play pp to the back of the large concert hall in the orchestra.

If you'd like to try improving your sound is not good, please try point 2.

Nao Nozu Translated by Masako Kondo

NAO (Mikihiro) NOZU has been the Principal flute of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra since 1995. Prior to that, he was the Principal flute of the Lappeenranta City Orchestra Finland between 199094. NaoStudied with William Bennett, Geoffrey Gilbert and Thomas Nyfenger. He graduated from Toho-Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo Japan, and Royal Academy of Music with Recital Diploma (highest award at RAM) in London UK. He then studied MMus at Yale University in the USA. Nao was awarded the 2nd prize at NFA Young Artist Competition in Washington D.C. in the USA in 1991.

Nao held his teaching posts at Toho-Gakuen college of Music Tokyo, where he worked as a Lecturer from 2003 to 2006, and was a guest tutor of the Stratford International Flute Festival in the U.K. in 2007. Nao currently holds teaching posts at Soai College of Music Osaka, Osaka International Takii High School, Suma-Gakuen High School, Oita High School and Dolce Music Academy.

Nao is on the panel of Student Music concours of Japan, Japan Flute Convention Competition and Osaka International Music Competition, and also a committee member of the Japan Flute Association and Aisa Flutists Federation. In 2010, Nao was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).

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LINDA PIRIE Linda Pirie is a freelance flute player and has enjoyed a vibrant and varied performance career, performing with the English National Ballet, Adelaide Art Orchestra, State Opera of SA and CoOpera, with whom she has toured throughout Australia and Asia. She has performed nationally with the award-winning flute quartet Kshema, and in concert with some fine chamber musicians such as Keith Crellin, Wendy Heiligenberg, Monika Laczofy and Sarah Christ. She is a founding member of Adelaide-based Windsong Quintet.

Linda has had a long association with CoOpera, performing in operas including The Magic Flute, Cosi fan Tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, The Mikado, La Boheme, Onegin and The Barber of Seville. She is an AMEB examiner and advisor and is a highly experienced and passionate educator. Linda has been a Lecturer in Flute at Elder Conservatorium and is also a keen singer and pianist.

During this time of uncertainty and upheaval, for me personally it has been a time of reflection and refocusing.

I am grateful for all the teachers that have impacted my flute playing and life over the years. They displayed such selfless dedication to their craft and nurturing of the young shoots of my growing musicianship. I will be forever grateful and strive to follow in their proud tradition by nurturing the sensitive minds and hearts of those flute students I have the privilege to influence.

Some lessons stay with you for a lifetime… The seminal teacher from my youth – Michael Scott from Sydney Conservatorium of Music – came from the proud French flute tradition that is the Paris Conservatoire. As such, he filled me with a love for nuance, colour and expression, as well as a fine appreciation of the exercises of Marcel Moyse. The one exercise that I practise almost without fail to this day is what I like to term the ‘Pivot Note Exercise’ and Moyse more romantically names ‘Attaque et Liaison des Sons’:

photo by Alex Makeyev

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I like to start with the ‘vibrating pizzicato’ individual notes that Moyse describes, activating a lively detache attack (he describes it as a ‘warm, penetrative attack’) – starting with my favourite note (potentially anywhere from F to B in the middle register depending on the day!) then descending with increasing intervals to the lowest note. I remember as a young university student hearing Sir James Galway mention that even the shortest staccato should never be dry – and this inspires me to find my most elegant and beautiful note, no matter how short. Applying singing technique can be useful here, where I think of my ‘inner giggle’. I also remember a cellist friend with the most resonant pizzicato I had ever heard, with his left hand vibrating the string and the sound reverberating in the body of the cello. Perhaps I wish I were a cellist! I just want to emulate that fabulous pizzicato!

Then I move on to pairs of notes. I love how Moyse describes these pairs as almost magically morphing into the next note (‘perfectly smoothly, almost “disembodied”’), and I try to imagine my favourite note sending it’s magic into the next note, with what I like to call my ‘super-legato’ - transferring seamlessly from one note to the next until I have a super-smooth line to the most extreme interval. Then I finish up with the whole exercise in triplets, taking extra care and time with the large leaps. I tend to vary the dynamic range to maintain attentiveness and flexibility. After this I feel like I can take on the world (or at least the Bozza Image with those huge intervals on page 2!).

(From De La Sonorite: Art et Technique by Marcel Moyse – Alphonse Leduc) My other never-fails-me don’t-play-anything-until-you’ve-done-this exercise is harmonics. For a true appreciation of the magic of harmonics I am indebted to another Michael – this time a teacher with a more current influence on my playing. Michael Cox’s use of colour and expression was a revelation to me in more recent years. His range of expression in my opinion is unparalleled.

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He encouraged me to reach for a larger paint palette, to search for a more harmonicallyrich tone, particularly in the third register. They inform my interpretation of phrases every day, as I employ them whenever I have a high note in a phrase and can’t quite get the colour I’m after. I just insert a low fingering and find the lower harmonics in the sound of this high note. The practice of harmonics in my experience can be quite a meditative process – simple, but timeless, and good for the heart rate! It re-centres my sound and spirit, so I can find the true beauty in every note. The exercise could be as simple as these by Trevor Wye:

(From Practice Book for the Flute: Book 1 Tone by Trevor Wye)

But really, I just make them up, starting from low C and working slowly and methodically through the harmonic series. No need to stare mindlessly at an exercise – just close your eyes and listen! There is a whole world of discovery that then unfolds in the sound. I never force the sound and always listen to my body to exert as little effort as possible.

My search for the most flexible and harmonically colourful sound is still continuing, but thanks to encouragement from a tribe of amazing teachers and colleagues, there are so many wonderful tools to help us find our inner voice and express it beautifully on this instrument we love.

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AMY PORTER

Flutist, Professor Amy Porter has been praised by critics for her exceptional musical talent and passion for scholarship. In a versatile and distinguished career as one of the world’s leading concert performers, she has become one of the most skillful and creative muses for composers of our time. Critics uniquely note her “strength, beauty, a captivating and seductive force, sensitivity, perfection and a sense of humor.” In 2006 Ms. Porter became the first performing artist to be awarded the University of Michigan’s Henry Russel Award for distinguished scholarship and conspicuous ability as a teacher. Formerly a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Porter is Principal Flute of North Carolina’s Brevard Music Center, where she performs as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Highlights of Ms. Porter’s 2020 season included launching her first Podcast season, "PorterFlute Pod" with a series of topics that she covers throughout the series. Also she is held her workshop "Anatomy of Sound" online and has developed an online course to offer to AOS to students at different times. She plays a 14K white gold flute with rose gold engraved keys made for her by the Wm. S. Haynes Co. Amy Porter is represented worldwide by Sciolino Artist Management, samnyc.us

Amy's podcasts include the following topics: YouTube Teaching series PorterFlute YouTube Series: Answering Your Questions (during COVID) Flute Vibrato Usage in Orchestra 20 Ways To Cure Technical Mistakes Coordinating at Speed Orthodontia and the Occlusal Guard Vibrato Placements and Speed The Bad Tone Day

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Over-analysis Leads to Inspiration Flute Playing: Tongue Placement and Positions Flute Hand Position Lip Flexibility Time Management in Warmups Low Register Dynamics High Register Flute Technique Podcasts, Radio & Television PorterFlute Pod: Season One “In order to reach out to as many students as possible during the pandemic, Amy Porter brings in special guests, tells stories and gives inspiring tips learned in her life as a classical musician and entrepreneur. Owner of four small businesses, founder of 2 nonprofits, designer of her own teaching brand, Amy Porter leads people in multiple ways.

Teaching as a Professor, mentoring as a Coach and collaborating with other artists have

led her to create innovative thought in others.”

Episodes Storytime: 3. Wm. S. Haynes Flutes: "Welcoming Personal Resonance."

Stay Well, Play Well: 3. Healing Hobbies and Humor FriendCast 3: My "Tribe" Anne Stevens for Stella & Dot Family of Brands and Erin Masek for Rodan + Fields Skincare Go Blue Flutes 3: Grad Edition Business 101: 3. Marketing yourself digitally: website design Etudes: 3. Pairings - Brownies and Ice Cream (Boehm & 19th C. French rep) Performance Therapy 3: Auditions: Behind the Screen.

Meet Mimi Tachouet, Elise Shope and Kelly Zimba Storytime:2. Planting Seeds: Meet Aaron Dworkin and Kaori Fujii Stay Well, Play Well: 2. Everyone's An Athlete. Meet Trainer Larry Veasman FriendCast: 2. Delanie West, Founding Creative Director of BeSuper Creative Blue Flutes: 2. Undergrad Edition – Meet the Freshmen Business 101: 2. PorterFlute's View of Social Media Etudes: 2. Etudes and the College Journey Performance Therapy: 2. Creating musical dreams, and meeting realistic goals Storytime 1: Who's Got A Good One?: 1. Wissam Boustany and Cheryl Emerson Stay Well/Play Well: 1. Having Physical, Emotional and Mental Spirit Ask Amy: 1. Answering Questions FriendCast: 1. Composer Joel Puckett (Peabody Conservatory) Go Blue Flutes: 1. Graduation 2020 and Interview with Justin Sedky Business 101: 1. Unlock Your Action Etudes: 1. Etudes and the Enneagram Performance Therapy: 1. Musical Fear and the Great Unknown

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TERESA RABE Teresa has played in all positions with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, played casually with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has over 30 years teaching experience, with many students going on to tertiary study. She has won the Australian Flute Orchestral Extracts competition. Teresa has given masterclasses and adjudicated competitions in Australia and Beijing. As Duo Merindah with guitarist Minh Le Hoang Teresa toured China and recorded a CD.

TEACHING DISCOVERIES DURING COVID Lockdown was a surreal time of topsy turvy shifts. How terrifying to suddenly cope with online lessons, having to change a lifetime of teaching habits. The upside was a break from regular teaching hours, and a chance to develop new familiarity with technology. Both of these sides of the lockdown equation led me to new teaching explorations.

Teaching is osmosis, often I feel students and I explore new discoveries together.

Breakthroughs in everyday life can illuminate lessons too.

When lockdown was in full swing, I really felt the need for some peace. Without travel time, I had a chance to do a little yoga before work. It has been fascinating to incorporate some of the posture elements into tone and vibrato practice with students, and the effect has been really positive.

I find Vibrato is the exercise that is becoming my go-to for intermediate student tonal work. It is easier for a student to identify whether or not vibrato is happening, than to recognise an elusive “centred” tone. Once students can do vibrato, they can find the correct position to achieve that beautiful sonority, with a straight sound. And it all comes back to the posture. I found more and more that I was stopping the vibrato practice to work on breathing, which usually was being impeded by poor posture.

This was not that new, but the yoga posture of shoulders back and down made a big difference. It is easy to put the shoulders back, but they tend to slide forward again when students push them down. It amazed me how the seemingly locked feeling was actually very free and the shoulders can still rotate perfectly well. Once this is all in place then the spine is in a good position to support the head. When the head is balanced it takes almost no muscular effort to maintain position. Pointing the chin to the ceiling, then gradually drawing it down to a level position creates this balance along with a tell-tale spinal stretch.

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The difference in sound is quite amazing with this posture, and the student can easily hear it by returning to the old positions. I now pass on to my students the need for correct posture and upper body strength when they start practising seriously. I wish I had known more about this when I was younger, but you are never too old to learn!

My other hard-won break through from lockdown is the new found comfort level with technology. Recording students in their lessons was not exactly new, but tended to be a special thing, quite confronting for students. We would do it the lesson before a performance, or in a recital. Now we use this technology every lesson, recording a phrase, even one note to hear it more objectively. Sometimes an audio file says more than a thousand words. We listen to what happens when different techniques are put into practice. It’s such a great reality check, particularly when I record myself next to them. This is when teaching becomes exploration for us both! The discussion around that is also such a useful learning experience, for us all.

During lockdown I did a lot of recordings of duet parts, so students had something to play with, and relied on any recorded piano accompaniments I had. Not being hugely tech savvy previously, I was unaware of all the various online tempo changing apps, and this has been a real game changer. Students are now able to become familiar with the crucial piano part so much earlier in the lesson process instead of having to wait for the rehearsals with an accompanist.

I now treasure duet playing, sight reading practice, being able to move around and see a student clearly from different angles and most of all, hearing them play clearly. And the best gift of all was the realisation of how important flute playing is to students. When all else seemed lost, both current students and those who had graduated and moved on with their lives, treasured making music. That’s reassurance to us all that what we are doing really matters, and my most precious insight from Covid.

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KELSEY ROBINSON ‘The flute is an idiot’s instrument.’ Trevor Wye stared at the 4 of us, all from different corners of the earth, all with a flute in our hands, and waited for a response to his staggering claim.

What did he mean, an idiot’s instrument? I suddenly felt silly, sitting there in Trevor’s house with my shiny metal pipe, gawking at the 3 other students sitting around me, hoping someone would explain to me why Trevor, who is the flute, thought it was for idiots. We barely knew each other’s names, but here we were,: 4 nervous, excited and terrified students, in Trevor’s house for our first class of The Flute Studio.

Trevor’s The Flute Studio was an intense, live-in course for all things relating to the instrument, spanning 6 months. Participants were internationally selected by Trevor via audition. Upon acceptance it was a flight to London, then a lengthy taxi ride to Hastingleigh, a small regional village in remote England with a population of 230 people. Wikipedia sums up this extraordinarily beautiful but reticent village quite well, I think: common amenities are a garage and a public house.

With the exception of Essential Elements Flute Book 1, the first flute book I ever got my hands on was from Sandra, a fellow member from my local community wind band, and I was age 6.

Enter stage left, stage right and stage centre, a first edition of Mr. Trevor Wye’s Practice Book For The Flute Volume 1: Tone. As a young child, I stared at the snot-yellow cover with a giant picture of a random guy (Trevor) on the back and silently cursed at Sandra for lending it to me in the first place. “Mr. Wye”, I jeered to myself, “the Nintendo has just come out. I doubt I’ll use your book at all.” Still, I carried the book with me to every flute lesson, and as I progressed through Primary School, High School and consequently my higher studies, that book became filled with notes; its pages became tatty but memorised, and the foundations of my very flute playing core were from its wisdoms. Needless to say, I never returned the book to Sandra, and even now it sits on my stand, as comfortable there as it has been for the last 20 years.

Trevor, currently in his eighties, has a wit as sharp as a knife’s edge, a flute tone as pure as the driven snow, and a cheeky, straight-to-the-point way about him (‘if I went to your recital I’d come out feeling like I’d been flogged,’ he said to me during one of the earlier classes).

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Because of the Tone book, I had been learning from him since age 6 – being in his house, learning from him in the flesh, was an incredibly surreal and privileged experience for me. Classes at his Flute Studio were every Monday and Thursday, and accommodation was in small shared cottages with the other participants, situated a few very hilly kilometres away – an unpleasantly cold but remarkably beautiful walk in the peak of a snowy England Winter. We saw Trevor every day, whether it be for a night time walk (read: an 80 year old man walking on patchy narrow roads in low light with 4 bewildered students), or a once-a-week drive to the nearest grocery store for supplies, or a sunny afternoon trip to the local orchard to try 21 different varieties of apple.

He organised train tickets to operas, ballets and shows so we could experience the rich cultural landscapes of Canterbury and London. He organised for us to attend classes at the Royal Academy of Music and for master teachers to attend Hastingleigh for specialist classes (baroque flute, accompanying class, pedagogue class). Over the 6 months we were required to write two 15,000 word essays on the history of the flute (regardless of whether English was your first language) to demonstrate acquired knowledge. We performed new repertoire, new studies and new orchestral excerpts every class. If you didn’t keep up, you got left behind, and you would pay for it. 'That sounds like last week’s milk. In fact, it sounds like a piss in a snowstorm,’ Trevor would say. When he taught you something, you would go back to your room and practice it until it was in your veins. During our second class, Trevor stopped one of the participants abruptly. ‘You’ve had two whole days since the last class,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘What have you been doing these last two days? Why isn’t this better?’ The constant looming threat of ‘scale tests’ (fail too many scales during a class and you were invited to a next-day 7am private scale test which would last until you got them right) went in-hand with his joke that his latest book (Flute Secrets, released during my time at The Flute Studio), would ‘come with a whip and hammer, because violence is the best teaching method’.

The discipline in the flute room was only for the flute room, however. Trevor is one of the most generous people I’ve ever have the privilege of meeting. He was generous with his time, his spirt, his knowledge and resources, his experiences, and his humour. I asked him once during one of our earlier classes if he would share practice tips with us. ‘Share?’ he asked incredulously. ‘No! I will not share practice techniques with you. I will give them to you.’ He was modest beyond all reasonable measure – especially given his incredible, well-earned reputation. After flute class we would religiously sit at his dining room table, the flute gone out of our minds, and we were invited to enjoy biscuits, or croissants, or something his lovely wife Dot had cooked for us, or a wine, or a delicacy he had sourced specifically for us to try from faraway lands. He would cheer us all up (it was often necessary!) with an incredible story about Marcel Moyse, or about the time he first met his neighbour’s cat, or with an overly English joke, and any of your flute failings that day would be forgiven, and all would be right with the world.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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I left my musician’s ego somewhere in Australia and never found it again upon my return. For the better, I say. It was apparent to me from day one that Trevor didn’t care whether any of us were already successful flute players. He couldn’t care less what experience we’d had, which orchestras we’d played with, or how many letters were are after our names. He cared simply about making us all better; aiding our personal growth; stretching our wings. Now in the practice room he is always with me. ‘That sounds like last week’s milk,’ I say to myself after finishing a phrase. And then I play it more musically, more expressively, and think back to the incredible gifts he imparted.

Later, I asked him why he told us all that the flute was for idiots. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s simple.

There’s not much to it except blowing in the hole.’ He then paused, and with a cheeky, wry smile, added, ‘…and I suppose a bit extra.’

Kelsey Robinson (BMus(Hons), AMusA, LMusA Distinction) holds a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, having studied under the tutelage of Associate Professor Elizabeth Koch AM. Kelsey has performed professionally across Australia and Europe, performing as Principal Flute of the Australian Youth Orchestra, as concerto soloist with Unley Symphony, Adelaide Youth and Momentum Ensemble Orchestras, and studied in the UK with seminal pedagogue Mr. Trevor Wye (FRNCM). Kelsey is a Casual Flautist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

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JANE RUTTER French Flute Practice: Sound, Technique and Altès Studies It is paramount to me to have a beautiful sound: one that represents all the inflections of the human voice, as did my mentors, Alain Marion, and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Students often ask me how I make my sound and I reply ‘it's because I'm not shouting through my flute’. A sound that is flexible, and that changes in the way conversation changes, conveying tenderness, passion, excitement, calm, and a myriad of other emotions, is the one I seek.

For me there are secret ingredients in the production of a good sound: Always play with communicative intent.

Focus on the colours you wish to convey.

Follow the vocal line and the narrative in the music.

Play as if you're talking to someone you love!

Connect your sound to your heart-centre.

On a technical level my advice for an effective practice routine is: 1. Spend a significant amount of time on sound and tone development. This should be done at the beginning of practice. A ‘solid gold’ for me: Marcel Moyse’s ‘De la Sonorité’ exercise 1, covering the entire range, including ascending from the lowest note on the flute, to the top note and back down to the note on which you started. (I only repeat each two note phrase if I'm dissatisfied with the first attempt). The great soprano Joan Sutherland once said to me: ”I know exactly where each note lives in my body because I practice vocalise incorporating each note every day”… For we flute players it's important the starting note is in the second octave (B was Moyse’s best note ‘start with the most beautiful note’, he said), and to produce this note you need proper support.

This exercise sets up your entire practice properly. Take delight in it! Once truly familiar with it, you can use it as a basis for tone practice between more than two notes; also in pieces which are proving difficult from a sonority point of view; also as a basis to extemporise. [Flute Lesson Sound & Art of Sonority Exercise 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lClBLu0_pQ4 ] Then play other slow interval exercises based on 5ths, octaves & 10ths, joining the sound and playing musically - as if you were performing a beloved piece. [Flute Lesson Sound & Art of Sonority Exercise2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F9eJGAUtk4&t=56s ] Of course it's important to be able to play without vibrato, on demand, however it is my firm belief that in the practice of the sound, musical expression and vibrato should be present.

Also play some beautiful slow pieces / phrases [ e.g from Moyse’s ‘Tone Development Through Interpretation’ or similar. ] Turn yourself on with the sound and the music!

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2. Fast finger exercises (think Taffanel et Gaubert 17 ‘Grandes Exercises Journaliers de Mécanisme’ 1, 2 & 7 (or similar), Moyse’s ‘Exercises Journaliers’, Reichert’s ‘7 Daily Exercises’ & others - also over the entire range. Make sure the notes connect through the sound with no gaps. (Tip: play each phrase/group of notes four times: twice fortissimo & twice pianissimo).

3. Practice all the main articulations, ie: various detachés, (1) Hu (no tongue) 2) Tu, 3) Ku, (in France 2 & 3 are known as the first & second syllables), slurred, double and triple tonguing in simple (no notes repeated), & complex (each note repeated) over the entire range.

4. Scales in thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths, mainly slurred but with varied articulations.

5. Arpeggios - in many different forms, mainly slurred but with varied articulations.

All of the above played on a daily basis, not always starting on the downbeat. Moving the bar-line a semi-quaver or more can be invaluable for stability of technique.

After the above, practice pieces and studies alternating the order every day.

There is no doubt that if you can play the ‘Altès Méthode Complète de Flûte’ 2nd Book of studies properly, its exercises and recommended flute repertoire (see image 1), then you can truly play the flute.Jean-Pierre Rampal, Alain Marion, & Raymond Guiot all reiterated this during my years of study with them.

The aim is to be able to play each study twice through without stopping, without mistakes and at the tempo suggested. Each study meticulously deals with a particular aspect of flute playing that is difficult, and so focusing on each of the 26 studies for a week (or two) at a time means that you are ironing out any issues with that aspect.

(Of course, I am not talking about extended flute techniques here - for that you will need to pursue other methods).

The Altès studies are musically satisfying and charming. The French edition by Éditions Alphonse Leduc in which there is a second flute part for the teacher to play along with the student, and vice versa is recommended, and is invaluable in terms of intonation, technique and musicality.

As an alternative to the routine mentioned above, Altès recommends that during the week of practising a particular study, you should especially concentrate on the technique of the tonality of that study in all your scale and arpeggio practice. (See Image 2)

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Image 1

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Image 2

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With every flute student I have had, as an initial step and after they have mastered Book 1 or its equivalent, I insist upon a weekly diet of the Altès book 2.

After my car accident (coma, cracked ribs and a couple of months off flute playing), it was the Altès book 2, (playing 1-2 studies per day as prescribed above), which pushed me through a ‘ring of fire’ to get me back into shape.

I have devoted my life to pushing the boundaries of French flute playing within the bel canto French style - I reiterate the credo of the school, that anything that is possible with the voice is possible on the flute…

Over the last 15 years through various concerts, presentations, recordings and lectures, I have presented a new take on the history of the Flute from an anthropological point of view. Noting that the flute is the earliest instrument known to man (as an artefact), dating back some 40,000 years, anthropologists believe the voice of the flute was a tool of communication for early man before language became sophisticated. This thread of the flute is present throughout history: various flute gods and deities, and different kinds of flutes are found all over the world. I have presented this material in concerts, across social media and in papers over the past decades. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise to me that the great French school of flute playing (particularly the Rampal school) views the flute as a second voice.

Pan is the demigod of the flute, and the word Pan implies everything. I praise and encourage all flute players to find the voice within, and to share the narrative of their flute with the world. © Jane Rutter I am available for online lessons & advice. office@janerutter.com Links: Please check out my youtube channel & other socials https://www.youtube.com/user/JaneRutterFan Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/JaneRutterFrenchFlute/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/janerutterflute/ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/2MHBEPldiRq5hc2H0MH9Ix Apple Music~ https://music.apple.com/au/artist/jane-rutter/252935026

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Jane Rutter is an Internationally-acclaimed Australian flutist who was recently knighted by France (Chevalier des Arts et Lettres). A disciple of the French Flute School, and considered a major trailblazer in classical music, she is known for her classical flute music, mystical flute meditations and relaxing flute music. Soloist, award-winning TV presenter, multi-ARIA (Australian Grammy) nominee, and one of Who Magazine’s 30 Most Beautiful People, Jane is also an Artistic Director and composer. A former student of Jean-Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion, from her first iconic album, Nocturnes and Preludes for Flute, Jane’s flute playing has seen a further 24 further best-selling albums released including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, French Kiss and Flute Spirit: Dreams and Improvisations. Patron of The Australian Flute Convention 2005, she was soloist at the annual tribute to Alain Marion at his residence outsideAvignon, France, 2016 & 2018, and is the only Australian to have been invited to perform at La Vième Convention de la Flûte Francaise 2016.

Jane performs regularly in Paris and around the world: from Recital Halls to the Sydney Opera House, from Music Festivals to Theatre / Cabaret venues.Her early ChamberJazz group, POSH, (now Third Culture World Chamber Music) was a forerunner of Yoyo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Renowned for her musical imagination, Jane is one of the world's finest classical & world-music flutists and renowned flute professor.

A star of the flute! – LondonDaily Mail Jane Rutter is brilliant flutist of the highest quality – Jean-Pierre Rampal Jane Rutter is one of the finest flautists...She is a free spirit, one of the blessed people – The Sunday Age

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ELIZA SHEPHARD THE EXTENDED FLUTE I got to take some solos during the various pieces, and often didn’t have the technical capacity to play the phrases that I heard in my head, so I accidentally coasted into the world of extended techniques in order to execute the passages I wanted to play.

Extended techniques are often thought of as advanced techniques, only suitable for players of a very high standard. As a young performer and educator, I’m grateful that I’m coming across more and more resources for young players that introduce extended techniques early. Being exposed to them at an earlier stage of a flutist’s development will assist when approaching pieces by composers such as Robert Dick (USA), Ian Clarke (UK), and Wil Offermans (NL).

Throughout high school and university, I was encouraged to keep up my exploration of the instrument and of extended techniques, and for that I cannot thank my teachers enough! Every practice session that I do now involves extended techniques, each with different purposes and effects on my playing. I wanted to show others how these techniques had helped my flute playing, and in 2013, I felt confident enough in my teaching skills to introduce my younger students to the less “normal” way of playing the flute.

We started work on whistle-tones, singing while playing, harmonics, undertones, and multiphonics, and gradually their embouchures grew stronger and their tone brighter. I’ve seen my students’ thoughts and approaches to

My first experience with extended techniques was when I was 12 and performing at the Wagga Wagga Jazz and Blues Festival.

This was the first time I had improvised, and I was lucky that I was in a supportive and educational environment - I was performing with my Dad’s band, who had been playing together for decades, so I was well looked after musically during the concerts.

Photographer: Tina Stabell Jensen

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the flute change with the inclusion of extended techniques in their practice sessions.

They’ve started thinking deeper about embouchure and air speeds, and they are refining their playing through the use of the aforementioned techniques. They are more comfortable jumping in and sight reading, exploring new techniques with less hesitation, and piping up (excuse the pun) for opportunities like solos in band and ensembles thanks to their newfound courage.

In 2016 I created a course titled The Extended Flute that I’ve toured to schools around Australia to introduce students to extended techniques. My course is open to all ages, and the attitude to trying out the techniques drastically differs across age groups, though I’ve found the students aged 6-10 are always the first to give them a crack. This is because they’re still used to playing games, using their imagination, and exploring. When I’ve acquired higher-level students that have never experienced extended techniques, there is a certain level of hesitation when approaching them: for however many years, the student has generally been working towards ‘correct’ flute playing, with a pure sound and flawless technique. Then they are told to turn their world upside down and, in their minds, undo everything that they have worked towards up to that point.

So why not include extended techniques at an earlier point, before all the musical inhibitions hit? Then when the students achieve the technical capacity to play some of the advanced contemporary works, the extended techniques are the easiest component, and they can focus on the musicality of the repertoire.

Extended techniques have broadened my mind surrounding the flute. They have made me see the flute differently, and have helped in negotiating technical passages, embouchure development, as well as having another practice technique to reach for to dominate a section of a piece. I’m more in tune (what is this, pun-city?) with my air control, fingers, and mouth, and I can approach each note with refinement and deliver a well-rounded sound that has been coloured and explored in every way to find the best tone for the setting.

And these techniques are fun! I haven’t taught a group extended techniques yet where they haven’t left the space smiling and chatting about what they were exploring together.

The techniques are liberating, and they can show you (in case you didn’t know already) just how amazing the flute is.

Eliza Shephard graduated from Australian National University with a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours) in Flute Performance studying under Virginia Taylor, and has completed her Master of Music Research through Griffith University Conservatorium looking at the Glissando Headjoint. Eliza has studied and performed in Canada and USA, and has completed three years in the Professional Performance Program at Australian National Academy of Music.

Eliza is paving her way as a young performer in Australia, and has a passion for collaborating with other musicians and artists, and designing striking performances that are memorable and daring. For further information, visit elizashephard.com.

Ensemble Offspring recently announced flautist Eliza Shephard as its Hatched Academy Associate Artist for 2022.

Known for her engaging performance style, Eliza’s passions align strongly with Ensemble Offspring’s core values.

She writes “I respect Ensemble Offspring’s continuous quest to celebrate the music of our time…I’m a strong believer in commissioning new works, and I’m in the midst of commissioning five works from five Australian female composers to celebrate and honour the time that I had with my five female flute teachers…”

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IRINA STACHINSKAYA

During the quarantine period without any concert activities except for teaching it is hard to keep up the desire to practice everyday. At least how it works with me.

I played three online concerts with only several days of preparation before. Probably I tried to make this preparation looks like “normal concert life period” as much as it possible.

This small preamble is here because I will share with you best exercise for me to come back to the playing shape and keep it.

1.

Favourite for many flutist is De La Sonorite by Marcel Moyse. I suggest to play without any tongue gestures but with “pu” – close your mouth, take a breath with your nose, start playing with “pu” very softly (don’t show the tongue). – If your exhaling is not speedy, you won’t get a nice, no accent note. Continue in this way and try to pay attention to your body. It should be relaxed and ready to support your playing from the belly.

2. “Quint – octave- quint” slur – maximum legato in this exercise helps us not only to keep the balance in registers but make a better intonation with the best friends of any musician – hears! (a1 – e 2– a2 – e2- a1) (la – mi – la – mi – la) goes chromatic up and down.

3.

“Ha-ha” exercise – famous and loved by many flutist – helps us to find a good articulation (without force), good exhaling and controlled vibrato.

Feel your body. Use mirror while practicing. Love your flute and people around!

Moscow born flutist Irina Stachinskaya came from a family of distinguished musicians. She was accepted at an early age into the prestigious Gnessin Academy of Music where she studied until 2010 under the tutelage of Prof.

Valdimir Kudya. In addition, she is a graduate of the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot – diplome concertiste prof. Jean Ferrandis.

At the age of 17 Irina won co-principal flute position in the Moscow Philharmonic orchestra. In 2009 Irina was awarded first prize winner of the “Rising star” series, prize awarded by Sir James Galway.

Irina has had numerous solo performances with multiple orchestras including New Russia Orchestra, President Symphony Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Saint Petersburg Symphonietta, and the New Opera Orchestra, Mariinsky orchestra, Cameristi della Scala. Since 2014, she has been invited for annual touring of Japan and South Korea. In May 2016, in collaboration with Phillip Moll, Irina released her first solo album under the famous Russian label Melodia Records.

Since 2014 Irina has been a Powell flutes artist, playing a Powell 14k flute.

After leaving her position at the Moscow Philharmonic orchestra in March 2017, Irina enjoyed a very rich solo career popularizing the flute as a solo instrument in Russia and abroad. She is currently performing with orchestras in Russia and participating in a major chamber music festivals in Europe and Asia, in addition to giving classes at the Eastman school, Manhattan School, Moscow State Institute of Music named after Alfred Schnittke, in Brazil, Japan and Korea.

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ALEXA STILL BEAUTY OF TONE IS IN THE EAR OF THE LISTENER (AND A WAY TO BYPASS THE SMILEY FACE/CLEAN SOUND ADDICTION) I often meet up with students interested in auditioning for Oberlin Conservatory. They want to play for me and get a sense of my teaching style. Many of these young players demonstrate impressive technical command and musicality but a tone that is somewhat small and limited in dynamic range. Yes, the embouchure needs attention and they need to use more air…

At that moment, I often wonder if they have been lucky enough to hear professional flutists performing live.

In the interests of brevity, I am grossly generalizing here: I often find younger students to be preoccupied with playing what they consider to be “correctly”; the right notes and rhythm and often at the fastest tempo they can. And let’s be realistic; High School students have a lot of deadlines to meet! Work on tone gets relegated to the end of the list of priorities when there is so much note-learning to do and so little time in which to do it.

I think awareness of tone at that stage of development is an aural experience that may or may not have fully captured their attention. And if the student’s experience of listening to flute is comprised primarily of commercially-produced recordings, they may be listening to a literally impossibly clean sound; recordings doctored to improve the flutists’ tone by skillful microphone placements and by surgical removal of wind or fuzz sounds with digital editing.

Back to the student in front of me… for most of these prospective students, this is unfortunately a one-time encounter so I want to make the best possible use of that short time to broaden their experience and understanding. I go for the most extreme example I can think of: I put on my

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orchestral flutist hat and play the solo from the fourth movement of Brahms’s first symphony. I mentally put myself back into the orchestral principal chair I once occupied, “open up”, and soar away in the glorious music, chowing through my air in my remarkably messy, windy and impressively (I hope) full tone. Sometimes the student’s dismay is quite evident! Then I wander off down the hallway to the distance that I feel replicates somewhat the distance of audience, and I repeat my performance as exactly as I can (note: finding a workable distance requires some experimenting over zoom). I do my best to replicate my first effort exactly, but their perception is inevitably that I sound much more beautiful from further away. We talk about why I would choose this; seeking volume and projection to match the French horn solo and caring about my sound at the listeners’ ears rather than my own. And we discuss the logistics of how I am playing (i.e. not the tight, stretched lips “smiley” embouchure!) and why this sounds better to ears further away (Tone travels. The wind noise does not). We discuss the students’ preoccupation with sounding “clean”, and how that may be influenced by the clean sound they hear on commercial recordings, and possibly also their desire to make their air last through long phrases.

Trying to channel my teacher Thomas Nyfenger’s concerns about stretch or pull at the corners of the lips, I like to go further in, discuss the 3-dimensional aspects of an embouchure. I think the smooth surface of tight lips often produces a clean sound, but as I hope my diagrams (side view) show, the pinched and much shorter funnel of stretched out lips doesn’t efficiently direct an air column, and is inherently inflexible. Stretched lips also

produce a somewhat squashed aperture shape, which can further negatively affect the air column. A relatively easy way to convey this concept is to plug one’s aperture with one’s little finger, imagining that the finger is the air column and to gently squeeze all around the finger with the lips. Of course the finger is too big, but it is still an effective tool for discovering the difference between the ability to make a funnel with stretched lips and much less stretched lips (fully stretched lips can barely make contact on the sides of the finger).

The most enlightening moment comes after I have persuaded the student to try a face with what I describe as “bored” lips (neutral position), aiming at a healthy dynamic using plenty of air, after we have, together, found a good placement and rotation for the student’s headjoint to best catch their air column. At this point, the tonal color is normally much better but the wind component in the noise can almost make them wince. Over zoom, this is where we need assistance from a family member on their side of the call. While they try to continue playing a note in this fashion, I or the family member cups our hands over their ears. I use the motion that resembles

cupping your hand around your ear and open towards the front as if you are trying to better hear someone speaking in front of you. But here, I, or the family member, stands behind the player and cups the hands towards the space behind the player.

Of course the are many other essential components to a good tone (!), but this is a pivotal moment: same player, same sound, and yet the hands, causing a minimal detour for sound waves, help the player to experience a drastically different perception of tone, and the wrinkles of a looser embouchure (causing all that wind noise) seem a lot less problematic. Not being so distracted by the wind noise can lead to a better appreciation of other improvements in depth or color of the tone.

The student gains the flexibility that comes with less horizontal lip stretch, and understanding that the wind component offends themselves much more than anyone else, they gain greater confidence to try for the remarkable improvements in tone that we all know will follow.

Alexa Still is Oberlin Conservatory’s NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) Professor of Flute. She is also known for many recordings on Koch/E1 and Oberlin’s label, and performances around the globe including many premieres. She began her career as principal flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Prior to Oberlin, she taught at University of Colorado at Boulder and Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has also been president, board member and program chair of the National Flute Association. You can read more about her at www.Alexastill.com.

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BRETT THOMPSON

Brett Thompson is currently the Principal Flute Teacher at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music. He studied in Australia with Elizabeth Koch and Vernon Hill. After becoming a finalist in the sixth Australian Flute Competition and The Young Performer’s Award he went on to London to study with Paul Edmund-Davis with the assistance of an Australia Council Overseas Study Grant.

He has worked with the Sydney Symphony, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras and performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician.

HOW TO CONTINUE PRACTISING LIKE A PRO

This short and simple (in appearance) warm-up exercise is adapted from the last section of the Moyse Sonority Book. In case you don’t already know it, the original exercise works at learning to comprehensively control every conceivable interval on the flute.

In this extremely concise version I focus working from second register E because, for me at least, it represents the weakest point on the flute in terns of controlling tone, articulation and intonation at its dynamic extremes.

I find that this helps me and many of my students to encapsulate the following states of mind: “What can I reliably produce right now (in terms of tone-dynamic-intonation) without overshooting?” And “How much more can I get from this piece of pipe in the long term?”

Moyse, of course, published his follow-up book of application to repertoire - “Tone development Through Interpretation.”

Alternatively, the study of sonority as phrase shape and in more extreme intervals can be applied contextually in small doses to issues as encountered in current repertoire without us ending up trapped inside the study books for hours on end. A few well known examples: 1. Bars 28-29 from the Vivace of the Telemann Fantasie no 2

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2. Section 25 from the 3rd movement of the Berkeley Sonatina:

On the flip side, i.e. finger dexterity, my other favourite book is the Moyse 180 Exercises.

This book gave me a logical and realistic structure to follow as a daily scale workout. It quite literally changed my life and I continue to return to it when I feel the need to get more in shape again.

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MICHAEL WAYE Surviving the Covid blues!

We’ve been fortunate in Western Australia in that we’ve been relatively free of the lockdown syndrome that has plagued much of the globe. However, in the early stages of the pandemic we, like the rest of the world also retreated into lockdown.

Something that both amused and inspired me in that early lockdown stage, when we were all coming to terms with Zoom conferencing and online teaching, was the fact that most of my students appeared to be improving exponentially. AlthoughI felt sorry for them being locked in at home and not enjoying the daily socialisation and rigours of a university schedule, I realised that the upshot was that they were all practising like crazy. In their own home they had none of the Uni social distractions but they did need a bit of private time away from their families. What better way to keep people at a “relative” distance than to practice flute technique!

Practice had become a way of creating independence and privacy from their families. The extra time afforded them the best opportunity to explore finger techniques and tone exercises that would otherwise have been overlooked in the crush to learn repertoire and complete the tasks associated with their performance and academic loading at university.

My own practice also benefited in the same way from the lockdown. With the orchestra all but shut down I could relax into a routine that, like just about everyone else, involved reviewing my domestic landscape. I took to cleaning out cupboards, sorting through years of accumulated stuff and restoring basically anything that stood still in my house (my other passion away from music being furniture restoration). This “Covid Spring Clean” included my music library and also my own concept of practice.

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I began to revisit the flute instructional manuals that I have accumulated over many years and to review what they said and remind myself of what I may have forgotten. I also examined my own routine and here’s a little of what I came up with.

The books that I really like to use are as follows: Theobald Bohm:

The flute and flute playing.

In Acoustical, Technical and Artistic aspects.

Angela Floyd: The Gilbert legacy: Methods, exercises and techniques for the Flutist Otto Langey: Practical tutor for flute (includes handy fingering charts for early system flutes) Reichert: Daily exercises Op 5 Cubbin & Rosser: Scales and arpeggios for Flute Mary Elert: 30 Caprices for Flute Op. 107 (with the section titled “The logical development of modern figuration”) Marcel Moyse: How I stayed in shape Wehner: 12 Grand studies for Flute.

Stage door: The flute audition, Edited by Henrik Weise Trevor Wye andPatricia Morris: A Piccolo practice book

Breath, flexibility, technique, phrasing and rhythm.

How do you practice all of this stuff without going crazy and spending hours at it?

This is a question I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves over the years. I was, along with the majority of learner flute players, introduced to the wonderful literature of Marcel Moyse. I can honestly say that I really didn’t much appreciate his sonority exercises when I was young. They were too slow and repetitive…… but then, that’s the whole point of Moyse’s exercises, repetition and control.

My flute teacher at that time, Linda Vogt, was oft heard saying to me that I needed to learn to become an “Adagio player”, a comment that was almost completely lost on me as a teenage boy.

In more recent times I can’t say that I have matured that much, but in order to honour both Linda and Marcel Moyse I have modified Moyse’s sonority exercises lightly to allow for speed and sonority.

I have chosen to use as a starting point the fundamental harmonic principle on which the Flute operates utilizing Breath, Air speed and Air direction.

Having witnessed first hand the struggle some students have with the notion of harmonics and overtones and hearing them simply brutalise both airstream and embouchure to create a quasi harmonic series, I went in search of an almost failsafe solution.I found that, although not strictly harmonic fingering, D2 and D3 are almost guaranteed to sound “correctly” simply utilizing their basic fingerings and with little effort or finessing of the airstream.

Using those two notes as a starting point I’ve managed to get even beginners to float an octave D2 to D3 with relative ease.

In preparation for attempting this I ask the students to visualise away from the flute.

Eyes remain closed allowing the head to settle naturally on the shoulders. Then inhaling through the mouth to relax the jaw and mentally observing the action of the abdomen and the rib cage. I ask the students to observe tensions, their physical volume change and their capacity to extend inhalation and exhalation.

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I ask them to observe the abdomen and its consequent muscularity.

An excellent way to have the students understand the physical nature of inhalation and exhalation is to firstly ask them to stand before a mirror so that they can visually observe their posture. Then, in order to gain a concept of the muscles involved in the ‘inward’ breath, I ask them to exhale as completely as possible, doubling over physically if necessary. Next, they need to close off the nose and mouth with their hand and attempt to inhale, returning to their full height. This blocked inhalation action which creates a vacuum immediately draws their attention to the diaphragm. They can literally physically feel it contracting and attempting to create the vacuum needed for inhalation.

The ‘exhalation’ exercise operates in much the same way. In this instance the students inhale fully and then block the nose and mouth and attempt to exhale. The blocked exhalation draws their attention immediately to the rib cage and the abdominal region. They can then feel the action of the rib cage and the strong band of muscles in the abdomen that are involved in the exhalation process.

The next step is to form an embouchure.

To do this I use the Pooh method, which, for a multitude of reasons, always gets a good laugh! Pooh being the easiest word to use to form the initial embouchure shape and not, naturally, the legendary storybook Bear! Once they are finished laughing and have the Pooh concept under control, initially vocalising the word and then extending the vowel sound pooooooooooooooh to become familiar with an extended exhalation, they may then pick up the flute. This way they don’t risk dropping their flute during all of the silliness!

Picking up the flute and ready to blow.

The trick that I like to use here, especially with younger and smaller students, is to get them firstly to roll their sleeves up (Important), hold the flute normally and to then to place their Pooooh embouchure NOT on the lip plate but on the side of the head joint closest to the barrel join. The sleeves rolled up idea is a little trick that I learnt from Paul Edmond Davies. Exposing the skin especially on the left arm enables you to track the flow of air from the embouchure. The air flows over the edge of the body of the flute headjoint and down across your elbow as you blow. You can literally feel the air on your elbow! Feeling the air flow on the area inside of the elbow is consistent with the angle of air needed for the lower register and feeling the air on the outside of the elbow is consistent with the angle of air required for producing the upper register. Great trick thanks Paul!

Have the students to try this position a few times so that they become accustomed to having the flute “come to them” with a natural upright posture and not looking for the flute with their head. In this way they learn to hold the flute comfortably and to blow at the same time and not necessarily worry about what sound is coming out. This, I find, keeps them relaxed.

I then introduce the notion of how to change the angle of the airstream. This is easily achieved with the simple movement of the jaw forwards and backwards and observing where the airstream hits the elbow.

The easiest way I’ve found to do this is to ask the students to hum an octave up and down whilst doing this jaw forward and back movement. The first attempt should be without the flute and then adding the flute, they may even find a new skill, the fine art of yodelling!

All of these simple little exercises prepare them for the notion of physically playing onto the lip plate. This is where I introduce the idea of playing the D2 to D3 octave. Without fail the students are then able to float a lovely, easy octave.

The last step in my attempt to honour Marcel Moyes’s sonority exercises to begin introducing a descending chromatic scale starting with the now effortless D2 to D3 octave.

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I begin this process with a metronome at semiquaver equals 60. This, at least visually, satisfies the students’ desire to play fast notes, however the Tempo is controlled at a manageable “Adagio”.

I then introduce the notion of rhythmic phrasing by altering the time signature, which produces a natural emphasis on the downbeat. E.g. 1/16, 2/16, 3/16, 4/16 etc. (The small note values also take up less paper, saving the planet one note at a time!)

Another little trick to achieve smoother intervals and evenly controlled finger technique (which drives my students insane) is to take a simple exercise that is written in straight semiquavers like a Reichert or Taffanel and Gauber exercise and then alter the rhythmic structure slightly. As with the previously mentioned semiquaver =60 exercise this can be applied to absolutely any technical passagework that the students are learning.

Here’s how it goes.

Always starting with the same note structure as written in the exercise or passage, but shifting the rhythm by firstly a semiquaver and then by quaver and then by a dotted quaver. Now change the pattern to triplets, still beginning on the original note of the exercise and shifting the pattern by a triplet quaver etc.

In this way the students learn to play legato over just about any interval and rhythmic structure.For the more advanced students, I then ask them to play larger uneven groupings of five and seven and nine etc, utilising the same exercises.

The other saving graces in lockdown have been reading and COFFEE!

Source: Powell Flutes Born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales Michael moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1987.

Since 1987 Michael has held the positions of Principal Piccolo and acting Principal Flute with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Lecturer in Flute at the University of Western Australia Conservatorium and Lecturer in Flute at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, WAPPA. Michael had the great good fortune to be mentored by two of Australia’s finest Flautists and Teachers. His early studies were in Sydney with renowned Australian Flautist Linda Vogt and later at the Canberra School of Music under Vernon Hill.

In 1987 Michael won both the Solo Performance and the Orchestral Excerpt divisions of the prestigious Australian National Flute Competition, which is held in conjunction with the Australian National Flute Festival. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia.

As a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, Michael has collaborated with many outstanding artists and ensembles. These include The Cammerata of Western Australia, Nova Ensemble, WASO 20th Century Ensemble with Roger Smalley. Pianists Graeme Gilling, Jennifer Fox Russell, Cathie Travers and Harpists Jane Geeson and Will Nichols. Michael has also appeared as soloist with violinist John Harding and Harpsichordist Neil Peres Da Costa in performance with the WASO Chamber Orchestra, as guest artist alongside English flautist Paul Edmund Davies and more recently in recordings with David Wickham, Katja Webb and Alan Mayer.

Michael has been seconded to perform as guest principal flute and piccolo with several other Australian and international orchestras including the Adelaide Symphony, Melbourne Opera and Ballet for the acclaimed Opera Australia production of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nebelungen”, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a memorable series of concerts with the Odessa Philharmonic.

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Thomas & Masako

supported by the University of Adelaide

Contact: elizabeth.koch@adelaide.edu.au