DEAR COMPOSERS: 4th Competition underway!

Dear cherished composers: we are pleased to announce (again, better a little late than never) that the 4th Composition Competition of the Summer Flute Academy is underway! 

Our two categories this year are: 1) SOLO WORK for "low flute"—alto, bass or contrabass; and 2) QUINTET for a flexible group of five flutists. The competition is open to composers of all ages and nationalities. We are excited to see, play and hear what you send in, so set your imaginations free!

First prizes include a premier performance at the 5th Summer Flute Academy, recorded in video and audio, publication of the work by Scherzo Editions, and cash prizes. We are proud to be sponsored by Verne Q. Powell Flutes, USA, and Kingma Flutes in Holland, and supported by ESMAE and Scherzo Editions—thank you all!

All details can be found on the Summer Flute Academy (Academia de Flauta de Verão) site. Deadline for entries is March 20th, 2017. SPREAD THE WORD!

Information available online in both English and Portuguese

Better Late than Never!

That is the motto—chosen some 10 or 15 years after graduation—of my Pomona College Class, and I find it just PERFECT! And appropriate right now as I've been "off" the blog since early into our India tour. Technical difficulties; note to self: take IT genius along on next tour!

I have also been distracted or occupied with mundane things like a knock-down, drag-out cold (after not being ill for one instant in India!), orchestra concerts, both for the New Year (fun!) and Mahler Symphony Nº1 (amazing, always!), the Christmas season and the post-Christmas season. Excuses!

And, I admit, I've been distracted with "current events", which are worrisome at best. As an indirect response, I'd like to relaunch the blog today with one photo that, for me, sums up a lot about India, about tolerance, inclusion, and living in a country of 1.3 billion people—which is to say, a lot about living on an Earth with some 7.5 billion people.

This is a street sign in Delhi, and not an unusual one. It has the street name ("Marg" means street) in four of the 22 official languages of India: Hindi, English, Punjabi, and Urdu. How cool is that? And if we look carefully, doesn't each have its own visual beauty? Surely each has its own special sound, though that goes far beyond my linguistic abilities. In sum: diversity is beautiful, enlightening, enriching. 

Note also the "PIN code" at the bottom—India: serious IT going on!

Today! First Concert in India!

Time is flying and today we'll have our first concert here in Delhi, India, at the Piano Man Jazz Club!  Along with that excitement, we've launched a FaceBook Artist page for Syrinx : XXII where you can follow us, and we'll be premiering the fantastic work written for us by Carlos Marecos, "7 Instantes from Rural Portugal" , Op. 92. Also, there is a great article about another of the works on the program written up in Serenade Magazine, which is an online magazine about Western Classical Music in India—and a very fine and interesting magazine it is!

Yesterday we fit in a bit of proper tourism, visiting Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. This preceeds the Taj Mahal by some 80 years, dating to the 16th century, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the first garden-tomb complex, with various buildings and the central tomb; the Mughal style later culminated in the Taj Mahal, which is some five times larger! Yet the scale and proportions and sheer beauty of the layout at Humayun's Tomb were already a delight, and as it was a holiday, there were many locals as well as tourists enjoying the visit in a leisurely manner.  

A few photos here—I especially liked the coexistence of the very modern "selfie" moment, fine dress of a young man, and the beautiful, centuries-old monument in the background of the first photo! 

The international gesture of the moment… 

The sarcophagus in the very center

View of the gardens from the tomb

Happy tourists! 

Back to Work!

After a day of rest, it's back to work, rehearsing for our upcoming concerts! We were grateful to the Delhi Music Society for the use of their largest room to unpack gear and rehearse for many hours. A great pleasure also to again take up preparing for the premiere of Carlos Marecos' fantastic work written for us, "7 Instantes from Rural Portugal" for flutes, recorders and piano. Marecos is famous for sensuous melodies and harmonies—effortless mastery, really—and we are sure the audience will love the work as much as we already do! Lots of other works, covering five centuries of music, on the program too, so we think there will be something, hopefully many things, on the program for everyone! 

More photos of the day! 

Powell Flutes, unpacked and ready to go, plus a lovely Soubeyran traverso! 

Just a few of the many recorders to be used for the program… 

A lovely Bõsendorfer piano owned by the Delhi Music Society. Ivory tops of keys nailed down due to humidity causing the glue to "melt". 

Masks to protect against the smoke (receding, fortunately) in Delhi—better safe than sorry.  

Best news of the day: Hotel Concierge with our delayed luggage! Whew!