The Masterclass is scheduled for 4:45 – 6:30 p.m. in Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.  SIU students attend free of charge.  Class fees are $10 for other students and $20 for adults, payable at the door.  Click here for registration brochure containing complete details of the event.

The free Concert for the general public begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.  Mr. Sparks will play works for solo flute, flute and piano accompanied by Peter Henderson, and two flutes accompanied by Dr. Douglas Worthen.

Mr. Sparks was appointed Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony (SLSO) by  the late Hans Vonk in 2000.  He is a frequent soloist with the SLSO and other orchestras and has performed in the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, South America, and Asia.  He has appeared as Guest Principal Flutist  with  many ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic. This year Mr. Sparks has focused on performances of the Christopher Rouse Flute Concerto with the SLSO  in St. Louis and on the Orchestra’s California Tour, in addition to recent appearances in Singapore, Taiwan, and Aspen.  Plans are underway for both the Chinese and Korean premiers.

Prior to his appointment in St. Louis, Mr. Sparks was Associate Principal Flute with the Baltimore Symphony under David Zinman, and Principal flute of the San Antonio Symphony and the Memphis Symphony.  He began his career as Principal in the Canton Ohio Symphony and in Venezuela with the Caracas Philharmonic.

This summer Mr. Sparks returns to the Aspen Music Festival and School where he is an artist-faculty member and Principal Flute of the Aspen Chamber Symphony.  He also will be teaching his 4th annual Masterclass at Missouri’s  Innsbrook Institute,  and will join the faculty of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.

Mr. Sparks is an enthusiastic teacher and maintains a private studio in St. Louis. He is a former full-time faculty member of the Peabody Institute, and frequently presents clinics and recitals in the U.S. and abroad.  Mr. Sparks has recorded two solo albums, appearing on the Summit and AAM labels, and a new recording of French repertoire for flute and piano is planned for release in 2013.  Mr. Sparks is also an avid writer about flute playing, and is a regular contributor to Flute Talk Magazine’s feature “From the Principal’s Chair.”

Born in 1960 and raised in Cleveland and St. Louis, Mr. Sparks graduated Pi Kappa Lambda from the Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Robert Willoughby, winning the 1982 Oberlin Concerto Prize.

Prior to attending Oberlin, Mr. Sparks studied with former SLSO Principal Flute Jacob Berg, and trained in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.

With the addition earlier this year of a contrabass flute (sounding two octaves below middle C), the Choir now has the complete range of flute voices available.

Choir members come from communities throughout Southern Illinois to rehearse weekly, with the goal of improving their individual skills and playing together in an ensemble.  The culmination of these rehearsals is a free public concert played with precision and beauty.

Concert selections will include “Three Madrigals” by di Lasso, “Enigma Variations” by Elgar, “Noel Alsacien” by Guilmant, “Songs of the Ocean” by Hirose, “Masques” by McGinty, and a few beloved Christmas carols.

With the recent addition of a contrabass flute (sounding two octaves below middle C), the Choir now has the complete range of flute voices available.   The April 27 concert will be the public debut of this new, large flute.

Choir members come from communities throughout Southern Illinois to rehearse weekly, with the goal of improving their individual skills and playing together in an ensemble.  The culmination of these rehearsals is a free public concert played with precision and beauty.

Concert selections will include works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Thomas Tallis, Gary Schocker, Jonathan Cohen, and Friedrich Kuhlau.

The Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.  Mr. Delafontaine will play works accompanied by Dr. Eric Lenz (cello) and Dr. Douglas Worthen (flute), both of SIU’s School of Music.  The Concert admission fees are $6 for students and $12 for adults, except Master Class registrants will be admitted free.

Both the Master Class and Concert are partially funded by a grant from The Brannen-Cooper Fund at Brannen Brothers Flutemakers, Inc.

Mr. Delafontaine is a Swiss flutist – pianist – conductor of remarkable talent.  He studied flute with Andre Pepin at the Geneva Conservatory, graduating in 1975, and was a finalist in the Montreux International Competition the following year.  He attended Master Classes with Alain Marion and William Bennett in Canada, and toured the United States and Europe as Principal Flute of the  Orchestra Jeunesses Musicales under the direction of Leonard Bernstein.  In 1977 he became Principal Flute of the Orchestra of Lucerne, Switzerland.

Mr. Delafontaine has presented many solo recitals in Russia, the United States and Europe in collaboration with harp, string quartet and piano.

His discography includes recordings of C.P.E. Bach, the quartets of Mozart, works for flute and organ, and modern works by Russian composers.

He has been artistic director and conductor of the City Orchestra of Yverdon, Switzerland for the past ten years. He has taught at the Conservatory of Neuchatel, and maintains an active private studio.  He  presently performs with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Camerata and Lucerne Festival Strings.

Special guest,  Gary Schocker, renowned flutist-composer-pianist, instructed a Masterclass for the assembled, working directly with six of the attendees.  The day’s other activities included workshops offering suggestions on how to improve tone, a flute choir reading session, and a presentation on the economics of a music career.  Representatives of numerous universities and flutists from this region were in attendance.

The Fest concluded with Mr. Schocker’s free public concert in Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall, accompanied by Dr. Paul Transue, pianist.  The finale for two flutes and a piano included Dr. Douglas Worthen, flutist.

The Southern Illinois Flute Society is dedicated to promoting music education in the art of flute performance and the study of flute literature by providing performance opportunities, Masterclasses, and concerts.   The organization greatly appreciates the community support which makes events such as this possible.

The Flute Choir is in final rehearsals for its Holiday Concert to be held Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 214 W. Main, Carbondale.  Admission to the concert is free.

The Choir, at eighteen members strong, utilizes a variety of flutes:  bass, alto, piccolo, and C flutes.  The December 2 Concert will feature mostly seasonal music, highlighted by choral singing and drums.

The Southern Illinois Flute Society would like to thank our wonderful fans who attend our concerts, and those who so generously help us with our financial needs so that our concerts can be offered free to the general public.   We hope to see you December 2!

The Saturday concert at 7:30 p.m. will feature SIU faculty members, Douglas Worthen (Baroque flute) and Eric Lenz (Baroque cellist), performing together with Maryse Carlin (Kingsbury Ensemble director and harpsichordist, Washington Univ.) and Paul Thompson (Kingsbury Baroque flute, SEMO).  The Kingsbury Ensemble, founded in 1999 in St. Louis, has achieved status as one of the predominant groups in the Midwest staging authentic performances of music from the Renaissance to the early Romantic period.   Composers from the high Baroque era, whose music will be featured in this concert, are Jean-Marie Leclair, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.  The unique nature of this concert is its focus on chamber ensemble music for two Baroque flutes, with continuo accompaniment of harpsichord and Baroque cello.

Sunday’s concert at 5 p.m. will feature five SIU faculty members and twelve students performing works from six composers, including J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach, as well as Boismortier, Telemann, Vivaldi, and contemporary composer, David Maslanka.  The players include soloists, a duet, trios, a saxophone quartet, and a flute quintet.  Performing will be SIU faculty members Jeanine Wagner (soprano), Robert Allison (trumpet), Jennifer Presar (horn), David Lyons (piano), and Douglas Worthen (flute).

Both concerts are free of charge, and open to the public.

“Hello! I’m Kathryn Waldyke, and I’m new to living in Southern Illinois, teaching at SIU, and the SIU flutes, but my flute and I go way back, to 1975.  I played in middle and high school and college bands and orchestras.  I joined my first flute choir in college and loved it.  The 5 years after college were extremely busy with more school and training, but after that I was stationed with the US Navy in Corpus Christi, Texas–home of the Coastal Bend Flute Choir, as a co-worker informed me, and I played with them for 3 years. After that, in Oregon and Illinois (Champaign) my flute forays were mostly limited to playing at church, and my group musical outlet was singing with “Amasong,” a women’s chorus in C-U. This semester I’ll be playing bass (tenor) flute, as I love the tone and of course wearing black and carrying a larger flute make one look slimmer.”

Kathryn, we’re glad to have you on board!