Flute Bay Area

12/7 & 12/8 - Boulez: Le Marteau sans maitre

In the French Style...

In this issue, we celebrate the intersection of France and the flute, from extraordinary compositions to revered teaching traditions. See our picks below for winter concerts featuring French works. Or, turn to FBA Focus and FBA Journal to read about the Bay Area's most effervescent, French School proponent, Isabelle Chapuis Starr. We hope you enjoy these goodies in the spirit in which we offer them -- with all best wishes for a harmonious holiday season.

In FBA Focus,

we salute

Isabelle Chapuis Starr,

longtime flutist with

Opera San Jose and

faculty member at

San Jose State University.

Read about her early

life in France, and hear parts of our interview here.

The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble celebrates Messiaen's centenary in style, with a performance of Le Merle Noir for flute and piano, in a concert that also includes works by Elliott Carter, Ned Rorem, Maurice Ravel, and Ryan Brown. Left Coast's flutist, Stacey Pelinka, is favored by Bay Area audiences and critics alike for her fluid style, broad range of tonal colors, and intelligent, honest approach to the music she performs. You can hear her on December 11 in Mill Valley, and December 15 in San Francisco. Find more details and ticket information here.

Few Bay Area flutists are more active or versatile than Tod Brody. Through his work with the American Composers Forum, he remains in the forefront of contemporary music activity in Northern California. Brody can be heard in December with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, in two performances of Pierre Boulez' masterwork, Le Marteau sans maitre. A Contemporary Insights event, on December 7, offers the audience an opportunity to hear and then discuss Boulez' piece with SFCMP musicians. Serious Craft, a concert on December 8, features the Boulez work along with the U.S. premier of Luca Francesconi's "smoldering" A Fuoco, plus works by Kaija Saariaho and Zhou Long. See details and ticket info here.

On Saturday, December 13, Jillian Yu performs

Jacques Ibert's Flute Concerto, with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. Guest conductor is Alasdair Neale. Yu, who recently completed graduate studies at SFCM, is an eclectic flutist and pianist who favors Latin as well as classical works. She is on our short list of talented, young artists to watch. Find ticket info on the Conservatory's Website here.

12/11 & 12/15 - Messiaen: Le Merle Noir

12/13 - Ibert: Flute Concerto

The Laurel Ensemble has earned well deserved praise for prior concerts, even from very finicky critics. The group's flutist, Sarah Holzman, is a popular Bay Area chamber and opera orchestra player, with a particular affinity for French music. (As an undergrad at Oberlin, a decade ago, she studied with another Paris Conservatory legend, Michel Debost.)

The first of three performances by the Laurel Ensemble of Durufle's Prelude, Recitatif et Variations for Flute, Viola & Piano takes place on February 24, at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. Composed in 1928, this was an early work by the French organist, composer, and longtime Paris Conservatory professor of harmony, Maurice Durufle.

Also on the program for this concert is a piano trio by Jennifer Higdon. Additional performances are scheduled for Pacifica on February 28, and in San Francisco on March 26. Find details and ticket info on the ensemble's Website here.

2/24 - Durufle: Prelude, Recitatif et Variations

3/26 - Stallman and Starr at Le Petit Trianon

Along with interesting French music, this season brings an excellent opportunity to hear two of America's best, French School flutists in concert together.

On March 26, Robert Stallman will be in the Bay Area to perform with Isabelle Chapuis Starr, at Le Petit Trianon Theater in San Jose. The duo will be joined by pianist Mark Anderson. Stallman and Starr met as students at the Paris Conservatory in the late 1960's. They now live on opposite coasts of the U.S., but they remain friends and perform together when possible. Recently, the duo recorded one of Stallman's celebrated, Mozart transcriptions -- Sinfonia Concertante -- with the Czech Chamber Orchestra, for a new album on the Bogner's Cafe label.

A master class for flutists is planned for March 22, in conjunction with Stallman's visit. Concert and class details will be posted soon on West Valley Music's Website here.

You can read much more about Isabelle Chapuis Starr and Robert Stallman in this month's FBA Focus here.

New!

Happy Birthday,

Sir James!

Sir James Galway

celebrates his 69th

on December 8 and is

brilliant as ever.

Sample his new CD,

O'Reilly Street, here.