New Jersey Flute Society
2021 Summer Mini-Masterclass Series
Saturdays @ 2:00-2:30pm
Conor Nelson, University of Wisconsin, Madison - June 5
Brook Ferguson, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Utah State University - June 19
Sarah Frisof, University of Maryland - July 10
Brian Dunbar, SUNY Potsdam - July 24
Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington, University of Oregon - August 7
Jennifer Parker-Harley, University of South Carolina - August 21
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The New Jersey Flute Society proudly announces the Summer Mini-Masterclass Series. The goal of this series is to raise money for the New Jersey Flute Society Scholarship Fund. All classes are held virtually through Zoom. The classes will be 30 minutes with the guest artist of the class and one performer. Each class will be focused on one piece or orchestral excerpts taught by the guest artist.
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DEADLINE for PERFORMERS: MAY 22, 2021
There is no deadline for auditors
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Performer Fee:
$15 for non-members
$10 for members
**Accepted performers will have access to all the masterclasses for the price of one**
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Auditor Fee per class:
$10 for non-members
$5 for members
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Auditor Fee for the whole series:
$45 for non-members
$15 for members
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If you cannot attend a class, you can still register and will be sent the recording of the class.
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About the Artists:
Conor Nelson
Praised for his “long-breathed phrases and luscious tone” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Canadian flutist Conor Nelson is established as a leading flutist and pedagogue of his generation. Since his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he has frequently appeared as soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad.
Solo engagements include concerti with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony, and numerous other orchestras. In addition to being the only wind player to win the Grand Prize at the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, he won first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. He also received top prizes at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, the Haynes International Flute Competition as well as the Fischoff, Coleman, and Yellow Springs chamber music competitions.
With percussionist Ayano Kataoka he performed at Merkin Concert Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall, and Izumi Hall. A recital at the Tokyo Opera City Hall received numerous broadcasts on NHK Television. Their CD entitled, Breaking Training was released on New Focus Recordings (NYC). His second CD, Nataraja with pianist Thomas Rosenkranz is also available on New Focus. He has collaborated with Claude Frank on the Schneider concert series in NYC and appeared at numerous chamber music festivals across the country including the OK Mozart, Bennington, Skaneateles, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, Salt Bay, Look and Listen (NYC), Norfolk (Yale), Green Mountain, Chesapeake, and the Chamber Music Quad Cities series.
He is the Principal Flutist of the New Orchestra of Washington in Washington, D.C., and has performed with the Detroit, Toledo, and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras. He also performed as guest principal with A Far Cry, Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, and the Conceirtos de la Villa de Santo Domingo.
A respected pedagogue, Dr. Nelson has given master classes at over one hundred colleges, universities, and conservatories. Prior to his appointment at UW-Madison, he served as the flute professor at Bowling Green State University for nine years and as the Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University from 2007-2011. His recent residencies include Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China, the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, and the Associação Brasileira de Flautistas in São Paulo.
He is also a regular guest of the Texas Summer Flute Symposium and has been the featured guest artist for eleven flute associations across the country.
His former students can be found performing in orchestras, as well as teaching at colleges, universities, and public schools nationwide. They have also amassed over sixty prizes in young artist competitions, concerto competitions, and flute association competitions. He received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and Stony Brook University where he was the winner of the schoolwide concerto competitions at all three institutions. He is also a recipient of the Thomas Nyfenger Prize, the Samuel Baron Prize, and the Presser Award. His principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Ransom Wilson, Linda Chesis, Susan Hoeppner, and Amy Hamilton. Conor is a Powell Flutes artist and is the Assistant Professor of Flute at UW-Madison where he performs with the Wingra Wind Quintet.
Brook
Ferguson
Hailed by the Washington Post as “brilliantly virtuosic,” flutist Brook Ferguson is a versatile solo and orchestral artist. The Miami Herald praised Ferguson’s performance of Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute with the New World Symphony as “soaring, fraught with emotion, possessing sterling technique with pure tone, showing herself fully in synch with Nielsen’s enigmatic world, putting across the playfulness, passing shadows and sheer strangeness of this music with strong impact.” First prize winner of the 2009 National Flute Association Young Artist Competition, Ferguson has performed as a concerto soloist with the Colorado Symphony, the New World Symphony, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Center—as both an orchestral fellow and New Fromm Player.
Ferguson was appointed Principal Flutist of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and has been Principal Flutist of the innovative River Oaks Chamber Orchestra since 2012. Previously, she completed a three-year fellowship with the New World Symphony, where she had the privilege of working with Michael Tilson Thomas and many other great musicians and conductors. She has made Principal appearances with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony and Festival Orchestra, Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to her appointment with the New World Symphony, Ferguson was the Acting Principal Flutist of the Knoxville Symphony and the Principal Flutist of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. Ferguson is a William S. Haynes Company Artist.
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In 2013, Ferguson was a featured soloist on Jacques Ibert’s Concerto for Flute with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Douglas Boyd. An enthusiastic performer of new music, she performed Michael Gandolfi’s Geppetto’s Workshop multiple times in Jordan Hall at the composer’s invitation and gave the Tanglewood premiere of his Three Pieces for Solo Flute. Her performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was commercially released on Yarlung Records and her live performance of David Amram’s Red River Valley Variations is available on the Newport Classic LTD label. Other notable solo and concerto performances were at the National Flute Convention of Japan and at festivals in China, Russia, Chile, Brasil, Ecuador and Qatar.
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A dedicated teacher, Ferguson encourages her students to cultivate strong and imaginative interpretations, guides them toward a deeper understanding of self-reliant problem solving and helps them to develop physical and mental self-awareness. Currently, Ferguson is the Professor of Flute at Utah State University’s Caine College of the Arts and founded the Bel Canto Flute Academy- a multi-generational group learning initiative for all flutists from the Front Range and beyond: http://www.belcantoflutes.com. Brook has given master classes and performances at Carnegie Mellon University, Peabody Conservatory, CU Boulder, the Aspen Music Festival and the New World Symphony.
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Ferguson received her Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University as a student of Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza and her Bachelor of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute studying with the Marina Piccinini. Other important teachers and influences are Doriot Anthony Dwyer, Paula Robison and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Sarah
Frisof
Equally at home in the solo, chamber, and orchestral stages, Sarah Frisof is a passionate flutist and educator. As a soloist, Dr. Frisof was the second-prize winner of both the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition, and she was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Kobe International Flute Competition. As a committed proponent of new music, Ms. Frisof frequently premieres new works, including recent works by Ingrid Stölzel, Damian Montano, and Joel Puckett. In June of 2016, Dr. Frisof released her first solo CD, Looking Back, an authoritative recording of all of Schwantner’s major works for flute, with duo partner Daniel Pesca. Her second album, Beauty Crying Forth, is a compilation of flute music by female composers, and will be released in August of 2020.
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In addition to Dr. Frisof’s work as a solo artist, she is an active orchestral musician, having worked with major symphony orchestras across the country, including the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and many others. Dr. Frisof also serves as the principal flute of the Dallas Winds, the premier wind band in the United States. In the summers, Ms. Frisof plays with several festival orchestras including the Sunflower Festival (Topeka, KS), and Music in the Mountains (Durango, CO). An enthusiastic educator, she has taken her passion for education to global audiences, including working with young students in Zimbabwe and Brazil. A graduate of the Eastman School, The Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan, Dr. Frisof is the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Maryland.
Brian Dunbar
Dr. Brian Dunbar, a native of St. Augustine, FL, earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from Louisiana State University, Master of Music from the University of Michigan, and Bachelor of Music from Stetson University. Dr. Dunbar is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Previously he held teaching positions at Southern University and A&M College, Southeastern Louisiana University, and Louisiana State University.
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Brian has considerable experience as a performer in multiple settings of professional performance including concerto, recital, chamber, solo, studio, and orchestral contexts. He has been recognized in the Monroe Symphony League Marjorie Stricklin Emerging Artists, Stetson University and Louisiana State University Concerto, Sankyo Flutes Orchestral Excerpts, Music Teachers National Association and the Louisiana Flute Society competitions. In 2018, he received First Prize in the inaugural International Low Flutes Festival Alto Flute Competition in Reston, VA. He has performed at The National Flute Association Annual Convention in Chicago, San Diego, and Orlando, and Salt Lake City. Additionally, he has been a featured collaborator at the annual New Music on The Bayou Summer Festival in Rutson, LA.
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Brian has participated in performances internationally and throughout the United States. Appearances have included U.S. & European tours as a counselor and member of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Exchange Program and as a guest lecturer and performer at the Initiatives Meetings and Publications on Artistic Research "Hands on Flute" conference in Aveiro, Portugal. He has performed in the flute sections of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony, Dearborn Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony, and Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, in addition to other regional orchestras throughout the United States.
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Prioritizing engagement in the broader community, Brian has served on the Board of Directors for numerous community organizations and is a former Teaching Artist and Development Officer for Kids' Orchestra, an El-Sistema inspired non-profit organization in Baton Rouge, LA. He is also a member of several dynamic music organizations, including The National Flute Association’s Board of Directors and Diversity & Inclusion Committee. He also serves as founding member and co-chair of the Umoja Flute Institute. www.briandunbarflute.com
Jacqueline
Cordova-
Arrington
Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and a member of the Oregon Wind Quintet. She is committed to collaborating with distinguished artists, citizens, and thinkers to create inspiring and culturally unifying experiences on the stage, in communities and in the classroom. As a former member of Carnegie Hall's chamber music collective, Ensemble Connect, Jacqueline collaborated with colleagues in performances at the Weill, Trinity, Subculture, and National Sawdust Concert Series. In contrast to the ensemble’s more traditional performances, Jacqueline has experience leading interactive performances in various community spaces including public schools, correctional facilities, and centers for adults with developmental disabilities. Jacqueline completed her doctorate at the Eastman School of Music studying with Bonita Boyd with an additional certificate in World Music. Her former teachers include: David Cramer, Amy Porter, and Bradley Garner.
Equally at home on the orchestral stage, and as a recipient of the William D. Ford Fulbright Grant, Jacqueline studied extensively with principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic Andreas Blau. Her training in Berlin initiated her success as an orchestral flutist, leading to performances with major orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Oregon Symphony.
Jennifer
Parker-
Harley
Jennifer Parker-Harley is a flutist and teacher on the faculty at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, She brings her experience as an orchestral flutist (Columbus Symphony, Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, Chautauqua Symphony), recitalist and chamber musician to her studio at USC. In addition to maintaining a deep commitment to the standard repertoire, Jennifer has a keen interest in contemporary music. She has premiered or commissioned numerous pieces that feature the flute in solo and chamber settings, including new works for flute and bassoon with her husband, bassoonist Michael Harley (www.michaelharleybassoon.com). For several years, she has been exploring music for flute inspired by literature, particularly poetry and short stories. Her CD with pianist Lydia Brown and actress Robyn Hunt, Words and Music ((Titanic label), includes masterworks by Debussy, Schubert and Reinecke, and incorporates readings of the poetry that inspired each piece. Jennifer is also a beginning improviser, in jazz and other genres. Both improvisation and the experience of being a student again continue to inform her teaching.
As a pedagogue, Jennifer has an interest in helping her students develop a mindful approach to music-making and has presented classes in mindfulness meditation at the UofSC School of Music. She has also worked closely with psychologist Todd Kays to develop a teaching approach that helps students address the mental and emotional aspects of performing and practicing.
Jennifer is actively involved with the faculty at UofSC in developing ways to address the unique concerns of 21st century musicians. As such, she has held leadership roles both on campus and in national events like the College Music Society Summit on 21st Century Music School Design, held at USC in June, 2016. Graduates from the USC flute studio are currently pursuing successful and varied careers in music, including those in the orchestral realm, college teaching, chamber music, and the music industry.
Born and raised in South Carolina, Jennifer graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Michigan State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In the summers, she teaches at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, MD, and the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.