About

I'm a classically-trained, globally-oriented world flutes specialist. I took my first flute lesson in the attic of a haunted house (true story!) at the age of ten. I added piccolo, alto flute and bass flute as I got my music degrees (Lebanon Valley College and USC Thornton School of Music). My love of world flutes developed as relatives would bring souvenirs back from trips - bamboo flutes, wood flutes, ceramic flutes, and the like. Some of these were just trinkets, but others were playable instruments, and I started seeking out flutes from every country. I discovered the Native American Style flute in a gift shop in Boulder, Colorado, while on a cross country camping trip, and it's now one of my most-requested "world flutes". From my many years of working with all types of flutes, I've learned to appreciate the depth and variety of solo flute performed in vastly different styles, from the purity of "classical" flute to the airy breath of shakuhachi, to soulful Native American flutes.

Music

Here is a list of representative genres, composers, and types of flutes:
Solo (unaccompanied) flute
Baroque & other "classical" genres - Bach's Partita in A minor, Telemann's 12 Fantasies, Quantz' Fantasies, Debussy's Syrinx, Piazzolla's Tango Etudes, Hoover's Winter Spirits, Paganini Caprices (arranged for solo flute). For some of these, I like to swap to piccolo, alto or bass flute for added effect!
World flutes - Irish Airs, jigs and reels (on Irish flute and/or whistles; Loeb's Preludes for Solo Flute or Piccolo (contemporary Japanese), ad-hoc improvisation on Japanese Shakuhachi, contemporary melodies for Chinese Xiao, and of course, Native American improvisations played in the modern style "from the heart".

Videos

Photos

Ensemble profiles

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  Purple Piper and the Drumwhackers

  @purplepiper

  • Instrument: World flutes and world percussion
  • Location: Los Angeles

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Programs

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