Benefit Concert

On Sunday, August 14, 2011, I performed with flutist, Susan Fries for an afternoon of harp and flute music benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in the McCreary Modern Gallery at the Newton-Conover Auditorium in Newton, North Carolina. Susan is the professor of flute at Concordia University in Irvine, California, and a former student of master flutist, Marcel Moyse. She was attending the American Flute Association Conference in Charlotte and signing her book titled "My Teacher, Remembering Marcel Moyse" at the Conference. Her former flute student, Cheryl Brinn (the flute instructor at the NewArt School at the Newton-Conover Auditorium) invited her to perform a concert while in the area and graciously asked me to accompany her on the harp. It was an amazing experience to perform with such a talented flutist! Susan shares a quote in her book about her teacher, Marcel Moyse telling her that she had a "silver flute, but a golden tone" and that is absolutely true! I was enthralled by her talent and delighted to share in this musical experience with her. She is a such beautiful person, musician, and performer, and I was inspired by her musicality and musical insights that she shared. As a musician, you never stop learning. You are continually workings towards perfecting your craft and pushing yourself towards musical excellence. She told me a story about her teacher, Marcel Moyse and how at the age of 92 years-old he threw open the doors of his practice room and shouted, "I just discovered something new!" This is coming from a master flutist! I just loved that story. Thank you Susan for sharing that with me.

Here is an outline of the musical program that we performed.

Concerto for Flute and Harp - W.A. Mozart (with pianist, Andris Rozukalns)
Allegro

Serenade No. 10 - V. Persichetti
Larghetto
Allegro comodo
Andante grazioso
Andante cantabile
Allegretto
Scherzando
Adagietto
Vivo

Intermezzo - H. Andrissen

Piece en Frome de Habanera - M. Ravel

"Kojo No Tsuki" (The Old Castle by Moonlight), Traditional Japanese Folk Song, arr. L. Moyse

Somewhere in Time (movie theme) - J. Barry

Entr'Acte - J. Ibert

As an encore, Susan and I perform a fabulous jazzy rendition of "Amazing Grace" arranged by I. Nakagawa. Susan found this arrangement while she was performing in Japan and it was truly a show stopper! I have never heard the flute sound like that before. Simply amazing. Thank you family, friends, and supporters for coming to hear Susan and I perform and to support such a wonderful cause!