Flute Day

ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

If interested in participating, please email
Dr. Michel at robmich@bgsu.edu.

We welcome all ages and abilities to participate! 

Activities include guest artist recital,
BGSU flute studio concert, masterclasses,
flute choir reading and technique classes.

Brooklyn-based flutist Roberta Michel is dedicated to the music of our time. She has commissioned and premiered hundreds of new works and has worked with many notable composers of our day. Roberta is the flutist and Co-Director of Wavefield Ensemble and is a member of Da Capo Chamber Players, PinkNoise, and Duo RoMi.

Roberta has also performed with: Art Ensemble of Chicago, Cadillac Moon Ensemble (founding member), SEM Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ecce Ensemble, Portland String Quartet, Newspeak, Wet Ink Ensemble, Argento, Iktus, Wordless Music Orchestra, Ensemble LPR, and Cygnus Ensemble among others. Recent venues include: Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tulley Hall, Merkin Hall, The Kennedy Center, Roulette, Issue Project Room, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She can be heard on New Focus, Chandos, Innova, Tzadik, Bridge, Wide Hive, New Dynamic, and Meta Records. She played on the 2021 GRAMMY-winning album of Dame Ethyl Smyth’s The Prison with Experiential Orchestra. 

Her recently released solo album Hush, on New Focus Recordings, “digs deep into the possibilities of flute on this gripping solo recital” and was included on Bandcamp’s “Best Contemporary Classical: November 2024.”

Originally from Maine, Roberta attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and SUNY-Purchase College and has studied with Robert Dick, Tara O’Connor, Alexa Still, and Jean Rosenblum. She holds a doctorate in music performance from the City University of New York Graduate Center and is a winner of the NFA Graduate Research Competition for her dissertation on the flute music of Salvatore Sciarrino.

Roberta is the Assistant Teaching Professor of Flute at Bowling Green State University and previously taught flute at Sarah Lawrence College, Brooklyn College, and music courses at St. Francis College. She plays a Brannen flute with a Mancke headjoint. 

robertamichel.com

Alexa Still is known for her distinctive performances and a rich discography. Originally from New Zealand, Alexa won competitions including the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and the East and West Artists Competition while doing graduate studies. At age 23, while completing a DMA at SUNY Stony Brook, she won the position of Principal Flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.Further honors include the Churchill Fellowship and a Fulbright award, which encouraged a focus on pedagogy. Alexa eventually joined the Oberlin Conservatory in 2011 where she has received the award for teaching excellence and the NEA professorship. During the summer, regular engagements include the Round Top Festival (Texas), Orford Musique (Quebec) and Aria Academy.Performance highlights include notable premiers in Australasia and the U.S., as well as solo engagements with organizations like the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Colorado Music Festival, the Albany Symphony, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Istanbul Chamber Orchestra, every orchestra in New Zealand, the Takacs Quartet, and the percussion ensemble Nexus. Alexa won The American Prize 2024 for Instrumental Performance.Alexa's discography boasts over 20 highly acclaimed CDs. Reviews from esteemed publications include Fanfare Magazine: "Still creates a rainbow of colors within the range we might call 'beautiful'. You just won't hear better-sustained flute playing than this, or more subtle, characterful phrasing: real, warm, communicative musicality.", Sequenza 21: "Reviewers far and wide agree that Alexa Still doesn’t make anything sound tough. She gracefully sprints and hurdles through menacing challenges without seeming to break a sweat. Added to this technical superiority comes an equally sensitive musical side.”, and Gramophone Magazine: "Whatever she plays sounds musical in every turn of the phrase....” Recent world premiere recordings include her recording of Mathew Hindson’s House Music, now available as a digital download, SONY Korea's inaugural release in high-definition audio (2022), "Finding Home," showcasing Michael Fine’s Concierto Del Luna with Ensemble Bravura and guitarist Jason Vieaux, and Aaron J Kernis’ Air, and Alexa's latest solo disc including five premiers, "WISH," featuring music by Valerie Coleman, with pianist Evan Hines and spoken word by Carmen Twillie Ambar.  “WISH”  was released on the Oberlin label in 2023.Alexa has contributed to her profession serving as the President of the National Flute Association (USA) and authoring articles for flute publications worldwide. She performs on a silver flute by Brannen Brothers of Boston, complemented by gold or wooden headjoints by Sanford Drelinger of White Plains, New York. When not immersed in music, Alexa enjoys motorcycling, nature and her elderly rescue dogs.Short Bio (232 words)Alexa Still is known internationally primarily through her 20+ recordings that have garnered unanimous praise: “impeccable in technique and taste, seductive in phrasing” (Stephensen Classical C D Guide). “Still plays... so convincingly I cannot separate her from the music” (American Record Guide), “whatever she plays sounds musical in every turn of the phrase” (Gramophone), “a stunning showcase for the astonishing Alexa Still” (Fanfare). “Still showcases her exquisite lyricism and virtuosity on every track” Cleveland Classical.  Alexa got her doctorate in New York (SUNY Stony Brook), won competitions including the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, and East and West Artists Competition and then at 23, returned home as principal flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Other awards include a Churchill Fellowship, a Fulbright, and the American Prize for Instrumental Performance, 2024. Alexa left the NZSO to devote more time to solo engagements and teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder, then the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (where she was also director of Performance Research), and since 2011, the Oberlin Conservatory. Alexa has also performed as soloist in 16 countries, including many world premieres. Alexa’s articles have been read around the globe, and she has served her profession as President of the National Flute Association (USA). When her flute is in its case, Alexa loves old dogs and motorcycles. You can read much more about Alexa on her website: http://www.alexastill.com/