The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute produces sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, flutes are edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist or flutist.
Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal was a French flautist. Rampal popularised the flute in the post–World War II years, recovering flute compositions from the Baroque era, and spurring contemporary composers, such as Francis Poulenc, to create new works that have become modern standards in the flautist's repertoire.
The piccolo is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher. This has given rise to the name ottavino, by which the instrument is called in Italian and thus also in scores of Italian composers.
The Western concert flute is a family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a “flautist” in British English, a “flutist” in American English.
Daniel Dorff is an American classical musician and classical composer.
William Sherman Haynes (1864–1939) was the founder of the William S. Haynes Flute Company of Boston, alongside his brother, George. The company was founded in 1888 and is America's oldest flute manufacturer and remains one of the world's leading makers of concert flutes.
Gemeinhardt Co. is a manufacturer of flutes and piccolos. These musical instruments are developed by this company for all levels of musicians, beginners to professionals. It is owned by its major supplier, Angel Industries Co. Ltd of Taiwan, widely acknowledged as the premier manufacturer of woodwind musical instruments. The Gemeinhardt Company is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, where many of its instruments are still made.
The Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299/297c, is a concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for flute, harp, and orchestra. It is one of only two true double concertos that he wrote, as well as the only piece of music by Mozart for the harp. The piece is one of the most popular such concertos in the repertoire, as well as often being found on recordings dedicated to either one of its featured instruments.
Verne Q. Powell Flutes Inc. is a producer of professional flutes and piccolos since 1927. The company produces handmade musical instruments in wood, silver, platinum, and gold.
Gary Schocker is an American flutist, composer, and pianist who has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the West German Sinfonia, and I Solisti Italiani. He has toured and taught in Colombia, Panama, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy.
Dana Sheridan is an American flute maker and master craftsman known for his handcrafted flutes and especially his flute headjoints. Additionally, his flutes are noted for their "old-world craftsmanship and precise work." Originally from the United States, Sheridan now lives and works in Cologne, Germany while maintaining another shop in Boston, Massachusetts. His head joints are noted for their combination of "American innovation and German precision." Sheridan headjoints are very popular among high-level flute players. Sheridan recently partnered with Gemstone Musical Instruments to create a headjoint for the Brio! line of premium step-up and semi-professional flutes.
Jon Robert Cart is an American flutist, piccoloist, and pedagogue. He is a professor of music at Montclair State University’s ,John J. Cali School of Music and a Verne Q. Powell Flutes Artist.
Doriot Anthony Dwyer was an American flutist. She was one of the first women to be awarded principal chair for a major U.S. orchestra. She was the principal flute for the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1952 until 1990. She was second flute for the National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was an Adjunct Professor of Music at Boston University.
Frances Blaisdell was an American flautist, widely recognized as one of the first female professional flautists. She held positions with the National Orchestral Association, the New Opera Company and the New Friends of Music. In addition, she was the first woman to appear as a soloist and wind player in concert with the New York Philharmonic. In addition to playing, she also held teaching positions at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Dalcroze School, Mannes School of Music, and Stanford University where she taught for over 35 years. Blaisdell's teachers included Georges Barrère, Marcel Moyse and William Kincaid.
William Morris Kincaid was an American flutist and teacher. He is known for his work as principal flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra for almost 40 years, teaching at the Curtis Institute and being a guiding force in the creation of an American School of flute playing.
The Pied Piper Fantasy is a concerto for flute and orchestra by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the flutist James Galway and it is based on the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The piece was given its world premiere by Galway and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the conductor Myung-whun Chung at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on February 4, 1982. In 1993, the critic Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times described it as "one of the best known of modern American concertos."
Leone Buyse is the Joseph and Ida K. Mullen Professor of Flute and Chair of Woodwinds at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Prior to a full-time career teaching, Buyse spent over 22 years as an orchestral flutist, including a decade from 1983-1993 as Principal Flute of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra. Other orchestral positions include Rochester Philharmonic as solo piccolo and second flute, and assistant principal of San Francisco Symphony. In addition to the Shepherd School, she has held faculty positions at the New England Conservatory, Boston University, University of Michigan, as visiting professor at the Eastman School of Music and numerous summer festivals including the Tanglewood Institute. Her primary teachers include Marcel Moyse, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Michel Debost and Joseph Mariano.
Brandon Patrick George is an American flutist. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Michel Debost, in Paris with Sophie Cherrier, and received a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He was appointed flutist of Imani Winds in 2018, succeeding founder Valerie Coleman. Brandon has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and with the Orchestra of St. Luke's chamber ensembles. Prior to his work as a solo and chamber musician, Brandon performed as a guest with American orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. A Resident Artist with Imani Winds at the Mannes School of Music at The New School, Brandon is on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. He plays the Verne Q. Powell platinum flute made for the 1939 World's Fair, which was previously owned by William Kincaid, and displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Musical Instrument Collection. Brandon's album of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Pierre Boulez, Kalevi Aho, and Sergei Prokofiev was released by Hänssler Classics in September 2020. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
A glass flute or crystal flute is a glass instrument briefly popular in the early 19th century. They are an unusual variety of the Western concert flute designed to preserve pitch and tone during temperature change better than the wood and ivory flutes available at the time of their manufacture. Most were made by Claude Laurent, a French craftsman and clockmaker who patented the leaded crystal glass flute in 1806. They became obsolete after metal flutes were produced. Other than sounding more consistent at differing temperatures, glass flutes are similar in tone to contemporary wooden and ivory flutes.
