Department of Music

The McIntire Department of Music is pleased to present the second annual University of Virginia Flute Forum, taking place on Saturday, February 4, 2017. The UVA Flute Forum is a day-long flute festival which features masterclasses, workshops, and recitals. All events are free and open to the public.

This year's Forum will feature Mimi Stillman, international flute soloist, alongside guest artists Elizabeth Lantz Crone, Keith Hanlon, Naomi Seidman, and Joan Sparks. Attendees are encouraged to bring their flutes to participate in a flute choir reading session, led by conductor Kyle Ruempler. The full schedule is listed below.

Although all events are free and open to the public, participants are encouraged to register in advance for the UVA Flute Forum. For more information, please contact Kelly Sulick at kas6am@virginia.edu

This event is supported by the Eleanor Shea Music Trust.

Featured Guest Artists

Mimi Stillman

Mimi Stillman, one of the most celebrated and innovative flutists of her generation, has been hailed by The New York Times as “a consummate and charismatic performer.” Called “the coolest flute player” by Philadelphia Magazine, she is critically acclaimed for her dazzling artistry and communicative powers. She has performed as soloist with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, and as recitalist and chamber musician at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Symphony Space, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and Kol HaMusica (Israel). At age 12, Ms. Stillman was the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. Her many awards include Young Concert Artists international Auditions, Astral Artists, the Bärenreiter Prize for Best Historical Performance for Winds, and the 2012 Women in the Arts Award from Women for Greater Philadelphia.

A wide-ranging artist, Ms. Stillman is equally at home with the classical canon, new music, and Latin genres. She holds an MA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and is a published author on music and history, integrating scholarship with her artistic vision in projects with her hallmark, thought-provoking depth. A Yamaha Performing Artist and Clinician, Mimi Stillman has taught masterclasses for the National Flute Association, Eastman School of Music, University of California, Cornell University, and conservatories and flute societies throughout the world. She is on faculty at Curtis Institute of Music Summerfest and Music For All National Festival.

Ms. Stillman can be heard on several CDs for EMI, Innova, and other labels, as well as a film score for Kevin Bacon. Her recordings “Freedom” and “Odyssey: 11 American Premieres for Flute and Piano,” with pianist Charles Abramovic (Innova), have received rave reviews on four continents. Her recordings can be heard on Performance Today, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, and WWFM The Classical Network where she is broadcast co-host. She is a frequent guest speaker at arts organizations and interviewee on radio, television, and online media. Her unique project Syrinx Journey, a tribute to Claude Debussy on his 150th anniversary through her daily recordings of Syrinx on her blog, garnered an international following.

As Artistic Director of Dolce Suono Ensemble which she founded in 2005, Mimi Stillman has created a dynamic force in the music world. With acclaimed performances and the premieres of 44 commissioned works in 11 seasons, Dolce Suono Ensemble was Chamber Music America’s featured American Ensemble and won the Knight Arts Challenge for its “Música en tus Manos” engagement initiative with the Latino community.www.mimistillman.org

Charles Abramovic

Charles Abramovic has won critical acclaim for his international performances as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator with leading instrumentalists and singers. He has performed a vast repertoire not only on the piano, but also the harpsichord and fortepiano. Abramovic made his solo orchestral debut at the age of fourteen with the Pittsburgh Symphony.  Since then he has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony, the Colorado Philharmonic, the Florida Philharmonic, and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. He has given solo recitals throughout the United States, France and Yugoslavia. He has also appeared at major international festivals in Berlin, Salzburg, Bermuda, Dubrovnik, Aspen and Vancouver.
 
Abramovic has performed often with such stellar artists as Midori, Sarah Chang, Robert McDuffie, Viktoria Mullova, Kim Kashkashian, Mimi Stillman and Jeffrey Khaner. His recording of the solo piano works of Delius for DTR recordings has been widely praised. He has recorded for EMI Classics with violinist Sarah Chang, and Avie Recordings with Philadelphia Orchestra principal flutist Jeffrey Khaner.  Actively involved with contemporary music, he has also recorded works of Milton Babbitt, Joseph Schwantner, Gunther Schuller and others for Albany Records, CRI, Bridge, and Naxos.
 
Abramovic has taught at Temple since 1988. He is an active part of the musical life of Philadelphia, performing with numerous organizations in the city. He is a core member of the Dolce Suono Ensemble, and performs often with Network for New Music and Orchestra 2001. In 1997 he received the Career Development Grant from the Philadelphia Musical Fund Society, and in 2003 received the Creative Achievement Award from Temple University.  His teachers have included Natalie Phillips, Eleanor Sokoloff, Leon Fleisher, and Harvey Wedeen.

Elizabeth Lantz Crone

Elizabeth Lantz Crone is artist/teacher of flute in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech and has been a regular soloist and chamber musician throughout Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic region, the United States, England and Ecuador. Recent performance engagements include the 2015 Keynote Recital for the National Flute Association National Convention in Washington, D.C, where she performed her newly commissioned piece, Wish Sonatine for flute and piano by Valerie Coleman.  Other recent performances include world-premieres at the 2013 & 2014 National Flute Association National Conventions and the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention. In March of 2016, she taught in residency and performed at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

In addition to her active performing career, Ms. Crone is a dedicated teacher and adjudicates and serves as a clinician for regional and national workshops and competitions. In July 2016, she was the invited guest clinician for the SAGWA Summer Flute Institute in Alexandria, Virginia and currently serves as the Collegiate Soloist Competition Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention (2016/17). In 2014, Ms. Crone received recognition for her dedicated teaching, service, and performance at Virginia Tech.  She holds degrees from the University of Southern California (M.M) and the University of Arizona (B.M). Her principal teachers have included Julius Baker, Michel Debost, Ann Diener-Zentner, Jim Walker, Tadeu Coelho and Jean-Louis Kashy.

Elizabeth Crone is a Yamaha Performing Artist and performs on a Yamaha 877 model handmade flute.  http://www.yamaha.com/artists/

Keith Hanlon

Keith Hanlon earned his M.M. from Virginia Commonwealth University and his B.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing a D.M.A. at West Virginia University where he is the Flute Graduate Teaching Assistant. His duties include performing with the graduate woodwind quintet and teaching both written theory and aural skills.

As a presenter and clinician, Keith has given lectures, master classes, and performed throughout Europe and the United States. A few notable performance venues are Carnegie Hall, Berlin Radio Hall and the Theatro Olympica in Italy. He has presented and performed at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair, Missouri Southern State University, and the National Flute Association 2012 Convention in Las Vegas, NV.

He has served as a United States Army musician and was former piccolo and associate principal flute with the 33rd Army Band in Heidelberg, Germany. Currently a member of the Keystone Wind Ensemble, he has recorded on the Klavier and Citadel labels. Previously he served as the assistant principal flute with the Richmond Philharmonic, piccolo for the Commonwealth Winds, and flutist for the Virginia Wind Quintet. Keith has also performed with both the Richmond Symphony and the Richmond Pops.

His teachers include: Francile Bilyeu, Nina Assimakopoulos, Jennifer Lawson, Patricia Bickle-Brennan, Carl Adams, Barbara Hois, Lynette Hess-Smith, and Joey Payton. Master classes include: Alison Brown Sincof, Michael Parloff, Charles Brinks, Marianne Gedigian, Roger Martin, and Donna Wissinger.

Keith was previously faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in the departments of Music, and Dance and Choreography. He is currently faculty at John Tyler Community College and maintains a private teaching studio in Morgantown, WV.

Kyle Ruempler

Kyle Ruempler was conductor of the Rapidan Orchestra, a community orchestra based in Gordonsville, VA, from its inception in Fall 2014 through Spring 2016. 

Kyle received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Studio Art at the University of Virginia, where he studied under Kate Tamarkin, the Music Director of the Charlottesville Symphony. His conducting experiences include being a Drum Major for the Cavalier Marching Band, Pit Orchestra Director for First Year Players, and as a workshop participant with Kirk Trevor, guest directing the Astoria Symphony Orchestra. Kyle also performed as a trumpet player during his undergraduate career as a member of the UVA Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Cavalier Marching Band/Basketball Band.

Post-graduation, Kyle continued to work at UVA, playing trumpet with the Charlottesville Symphony and working as the Administrative Assistant and Graduate Program Coordinator for the McIntire Department of Music from 2014-2016. He is currently based in the Northern VA area.

Naomi Seidman

Naomi Seidman joined the School of Music faculty in 2012. An accomplished solo performer, she has won the Mid-South Flute Competition and the Frank Bowen Young Artist Competition, and was first runner-up in the Myrna Brown Young Artist Competition. She was also a semi-finalist in the Beijing Nicolet International Flute Competition. She has performed as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, Kingsville Symphony, and Ballet Austin. She has also been an invited performer, judge, and presenter at National Flute Association (NFA) conventions and is a member of the NFA Cultural Outreach Committee.

As a chamber musician, Naomi is a member of the Pennsylvania Quintet, a woodwind quintet comprised of Penn State faculty members. She also performs regularly with her husband, cellist Jonathan Dexter, as the JANO Duo. Involved in several exciting commissioning projects for both groups, Naomi is dedicated to expanding repertoire for this combination of musicians. She has also collaborated with the Vienna Piano Trio and the Walden Chamber Players. She has participated in numerous festivals, including Yellow Barn, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Austin Classical Guitar Society, and the Austin Chamber Music Center.

Naomi is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts “Fast Track America Grant” and the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture "Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring.”

A dedicated educator, Naomi has presented masterclasses at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Ohio State University, Capital University, Ball State University, Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University-College Station, University of Texas at Brownsville, and Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

In 2012, she created the Penn State Flute Day, an annual event where area flutists of all ages gather to attend masterclasses and recitals given by a renowned flutists. The symposium’s guest artists have included Jill Felber, Bart Feller, and Bonita Boyd.

Naomi received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Master of Music degree from Yale University, and her doctoral degree the University of Texas at Austin.

She plays on a handmade Powell flute.

Joan Sparks

Joan Sparks opened The Flute Pro Shop in 2009 to realize her passion for helping fellow musicians find their own musical voice. She holds music degrees from the University of Delaware and Temple University, where she studied with the legendary Murray Panitz. She has been a frequent substitute performer with the Philadelphia Orchestra, a member of the Delaware Symphony, the Bethlehem Bach Festival Orchestra and other freelance orchestras in the mid-Atlantic area. Along with harpist Anne Sullivan, Joan founded the flute and harp duo SPARX in 1986, and the duo has enjoyed both national and international acclaim. Joan has maintained a thriving private studio, earning the Music Teacher's National Association's highest designation of Master Teacher.

Schedule of Events

All events are subject to change.

Although all events are free and open to the public, participants are encouraged to register for the UVA Flute Forum . For more information, please contact Kelly Sulick.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Rd, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner.  Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall.