Flute Performance to be Focus of "Pantasmagoria" Conference at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Flute performers and educators from around the world will be in residence at UB July 8-17 for "Pantasmagoria," a series of master classes, interactive workshops and concerts aimed at exploring the changing world of contemporary classical flute playing.

The conference is being organized by Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The purpose of the conference is to "engage, educate, excite," says Hoffman, who points out that the event takes its name from "a compilation moniker -- the sum of 'Pan,' the bodacious half-man/half-goat mythological creature and flutist…and 'phantasmagoria,' a changing scene comprised of multiple elements."

The conference, she says, "seeks to enhance the traditions passed along to the world's next generation of eager flutists." Designed for student and young professional flutists, the sessions will focus on standard flute repertory, highlighting works of the French school and the Baroque and Contemporary periods. Technique classes will address such topics as standard and extended-playing techniques, improvisation for the classically trained musician and memorization skills.

The faculty will include several world-renown flutists who will present public solo concerts, as well as conduct master classes and interactive workshops highlighting flute performance practices and compositions from the earliest of traditions to the cutting edge of today's world.

In addition to Hoffman, a former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and founder of Plosion, UB's flute ensemble, faculty members will include Peter Lloyd, a former Principal Flutist for the London Symphony Orchestra who now is professor of flute performance at the Royal Northern College of Music at Manchester; Wissam Boustany, an award-winning Lebanese humanitarian and active, United Kingdom-based soloist, chamber musician and faculty member at Trinity College, and Robert Dick, an American composer, flutist and inventor who has been dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix of the Flute."

Among other performers and instructors on Pantasmagoria's guest roster are Catherine Bull, Principal Flutist for the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra; Nina Assimakopoulos, professor of flute at Houghton College; Michael Colquhoun, professor of music at Canisius College, composer and flutist with the band Los Caribes; Yan Yan Chan, a pianist and collaborative keyboard artist from Hong Kong, and Daniel Pyle, a harpsichordist for the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and Harmonie Universelle.

Also participating in the conference will be UB Flute Studio graduates Derek Charke (M.M. '04, music performance), I-Lin Lee (M.M. '04, music performance) and Lindsay Peterson (B.M. '04, music performance), as well as continuing students ChungLin Lee and Sabatino Scirri, and new student Jonathan Rogers.

Concerts by festival participants will be presented from 3-4:30 p.m. July 9-16 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North (Amherst) Campus. Dick will perform at 8 p.m. July 9 in the Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. Boustany will perform at 8 p.m. July 14 in Baird Recital Hall. All concerts are free and open to the public, although a $10 donation is suggested for the evening faculty concerts.

Comprehensive auditor passes to attend all master classes, concerts, warm-ups and workshops are available for $350. Day passes covering all events held on any given day can be purchased for $35.

For more information or a complete schedule of events, contact Hoffman at 645-2765 ext 1257, or at gabbycheer@aol.com or gabcheer@buffalo.edu.

Conference sponsors include the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Music, Meet The Composer, Inc., Emerson Flutes, McClelland Music House and the whooosh flute resource fund.