Hello my friends! Yes I’m still alive, and fresh back from the National Flute Association annual convention. This year we were in Phoenix, yes that Phoenix, the one that’s been having 110+ temperatures. I now know what it’s like to walk across the street at 115 degrees F. They say, “but it’s a dry heat”. Yeah, well, you don’t stay dry for very long at that temperature. The upside is, if you get too cold in the indoor air-conditioning, it only takes a few seconds, and I mean a few seconds, to step outside and warm up.
I was so thrilled to be back at convention – I have not been since 2019 due to the pandemic and boy did I miss it. It was so exhilarating to see old friends, be amongst my peeps (2000 flutists!), hear so much fabulous and diverse flute music. There were 26 countries represented this year, and everything from Native American flute, to formal concert music, to jazz, to out there modern stuff. I’ve really missed that annual kick in the butt to practice, learn new things, have my ears expanded. If you are a flutist and you have never been to the NFA convention, GO! Next year it is in San Antonio. More info on the NFA website. https://www.nfaonline.org/
One of my shopping goals this year was to get an alto flute. My first foray into the world of low flutes. I play-tested several and settled on a Jupiter. The sound seems consistent through the range, decent intonation, good response, it fits my hands well, and (equally important) it fit my budget. So now I have to work up my alto chops. Maybe I’ll be writing something for alto later this year.
My BIG excitement this year was having a piece I wrote premiered at convention by a young man from New York, Anthony Trionfo. The piece is titled “2020: The Year We Could Not Breathe” and is unlike anything else I have written. It uses some modern “extended” techniques: double-stops, use of voice, air sounds, and gives the performer a couple opportunities to improvise. It deals with some heavy issues: the murder of George Floyd, protests and riots, pandemic, and wildfires. Anthony really took ownership of the piece and gave an incredible performance. The audience was on their feet afterwards. I was pretty much blown away. The piece is not published yet, but I am in conversation with a major publisher about that. If you’d like to be notified when it is available, send me an email and I’ll put you on my list. adriandeeflute@gmail.com I do have a video of the performance and I’ll be posting that on my YouTube hopefully in the next few days. https://www.youtube.com/@adriandee8592
You can read more about Anthony on his website. https://trionfoflute.com/
After all that, it was good to get home yesterday, to a nice cool 85 degrees (all a matter of perspective). I look forward to getting a little sleep. And I never want to hear another flute, for at least a few hours.
Adrian Dee, flutist, composer 