THE CONSUMMATE FLUTIST

with Jeanne Baxtresser, Alberto Almarza and Soo-Kyung Park 

Oct 11-12, 2014

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Join World Renowned Faculty JEANNE BAXTRESSER & ALBERTO ALMARZA with guest artist SOO-KYUNG PARK at the FLUTE FORUM — masterclasses for the advanced flutist.

JEANNE BAXTRESSER, Vira L. Heinz Professor of Flute

Jeanne Baxtresser has held principal positions with three major orchestras, culminating in her 15-year tenure as Solo Flutist of the New York Philharmonic. Making her heralded debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 14, Ms. Baxtresser began her professional career as Principal Flutist of the Montreal Symphony immediately following her graduation from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Julius Baker. She was subsequently appointed Principal Flute of the Toronto Symphony before being invited by Music Director Zubin Mehta to join the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Baxtresser appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic on more than fifty occasions, and has been featured as a soloist across North America and Europe.

Ms. Baxtresser was named a recipient of the National Flute Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for significant, lasting contributions to the flute world, and she was also awarded the National Medal of Arts from the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is recognized internationally as a leading recording artist, author and lecturer.

In great demand as a teacher, many of Ms. Baxtresser’s students occupy principal and section positions in major orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. While in New York, Ms. Baxtresser served on the faculties of The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. In 1998, she was appointed the Vira I. Heinz Professor of Flute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she has attracted many outstanding flute students from around the world. Ms. Baxtresser was also named University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University’s most distinguished professorial position awarded to those individuals who have achieved exceptional international recognition.

Ms. Baxtresser’s exceptional career as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician has produced numerous recordings, including New York Legends—Jeanne Baxtresser (Cala), Jeanne Baxtresser—A Collection of My Favorites (MSR Classics), and Chamber Music for Flute (Cala), featuring her performances with principal players of the New York Philharmonic. She has recorded many of the major symphonic works with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.

Ms. Baxtresser’s acclaimed first book, Orchestral Excerpts for Flute with Piano Accompaniment (Theodore Presser), has been re-released in a new revised edition. This book and a companion CD, Orchestral Excerpts for Flute with Spoken Commentary (Summit), have become a vital part of flute pedagogy. Her subsequent book, Great Flute Duos from the Orchestral Repertoire, was named the 2004 winner of the National Flute Association’s Newly Published Music Competition.

ALBERTO ALMARZA, Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Flute Department

Described as a virtuoso flutist by the Boston Globe, Alberto Almarza brings a unique and passionate approach to music.  His versatility and musicianship have led him to perform and record some of the most adventurous and challenging pieces from the music of today as well as works from the standard repertoire and Baroque literature on period instruments.

A native of Chile, Mr. Almarza previously held the position of Principal Flute of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santiago.  He later came to the United States to study with Jeanne Baxtresser in New York and with Julius Baker at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he obtained his Master’s degree.  He currently serves on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon as Associate Professor of Flute and Head of the Flute Department.

His skills as a pedagogue, lecturer and recitalist have led to invitations from international festivals in the U.S., Europe, Korea and Latin America, and most recently, to perform at a TED TALK Conference.  He was a resident artist and member of the faculty at The Jeanne Baxtresser International Master Classes, and has served at the National Flute Association Advisory Board for New Music and the Career and Artistic Development Committee

Mr. Almarza has appeared as soloist with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Memphis Symphony, BachFest Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonic, National Symphony and National Chamber Orchestras of Chile, and has collaborated with such artists as Julius Baker, Andrés Cárdenes, Alex Klein, Lionel Party, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, and the Arianna String Quartet among others.  As a leading proponent of new music for the flute, Mr. Almarza has been instrumental in expanding the repertoire with numerous commissions and premieres of works by composers from around the world. Pieces written for him include four flute concertos and dozens of solo and chamber works.

He can be heard on radio broadcasts of International Music from Carnegie Mellon throughout North and South America, on compact discs from New Albion, Elán, Albany Records and Centaur Recordings as well as on a Naxos Records compact disc of the Flute Concerto by Reza Vali with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Most recently he and his vast flute collection were featured on the PBS program Horizons.

SOO-KYUNG PARK, Guest Artist, Recording a “Knock-Out” Preliminary CD/DVD

Flutist Soo-Kyung Park enjoys a multi-faceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, artistic director, writer and teacher.  Upon arriving in United States in 1984, Ms. Park was accepted at The Juilliard School in the Pre-College Division, where she studied with Bonnie Lichter. She continued her studies at The Juilliard School where she earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Performance under the tutelage of Julius Baker and Jeanne Baxtresser.

Ms. Park first won international acclaim as winner of the Promising Artist Search in her native South Korea, where she performed in recital at the Seoul Arts Center, and subsequently won first prize in the New York Flute Club Competition, performing in New York’s Cami Hall.  She has performed as soloist with the Korean Symphony at Alice Tully Hall.  Her radio credits include APR’s “Performance Today” and WQXR’s “McGraw Hill Young Artist Showcase” hosted by Bob Sherman, where she was featured performing Mozart’s Flute Concerto.  She has performed solo and chamber music concerts in the United States, and throughout Europe and Asia.

As an orchestral musician, she has performed and toured as principal flute and piccolo with orchestras in the United States, Israel and Asia, with some of the world’s most eminent conductors, including Pierre Boulez, James DePreist, Jahja Ling, Kurt Masur, Byung Hyun Rhee, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz and Hugh Wolff.  Orchestras she has performed with include the Juilliard Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra and Shira Festival Orchestra of Israel.

Highly in demand as a teacher and coach, Ms. Park has taught master classes in the United States, Germany and Korea. In addition to her position on the faculty of New York University, she remains a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music, Pre-College Division.

In addition to maintaining an active flute studio, she is founder and president of an educational consulting company specializing in preparing American and International students for conservatory auditions and National/International competitions. She also has produced numerous master classes featuring world renowned flutists, including Jeanne Baxtresser, Linda Chesis, Jasmine Choi, Bart Feller, Marya Martin, Judith Mendenhall, Michael Parloff, Karl-Heinz Schutz, Keith Underwood and Carol Wincenc.

As the founding member and artistic director of the Musicians of Lenox Hill, she has led the ensemble for annual performances at the Temple of Israel in NYC for over a decade.

Ms. Park has written for “Flute and Flutist” magazine in Korea, where her contributions include featured cover story interviews with Jeanne Baxtresser and Carol Wincenc. Her articles have also appeared in the Juilliard Journal.

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