August 8-11, 2013

2013 New Orleans Convention

New Orleans, LA

Paul Fried with Di Zhao

"The DZ200 and the DZ700 are the best student and intermediate flutes I have ever played."

   - Paul Fried

Mr. Fried's bio:

Paul Fried is widely regarded as one the foremost flutists of his generation. He began his studies with his father Milton Fried, a professional musician who played all the woodwinds. At the age of 8, in 1955, he auditioned for Julius Baker and was accepted to study at the Juilliard Preparatory School on full scholarship. He continued at the Juilliard Preparatory School and also performed with the college school woodwind ensemble, until he was 11. By the age of 10 he was performing concertos and performed on the nationally televised Arthur Godfrey talent show. He also performed as a member of the Suburban Symphony, in New City New York.

Later, while living in Las Vegas, he continued his studies with Eugene Foster, Solo Flute of the Utah Symphony. He was offered a position with the Utah Symphony conducted by Maurice Abravanel at the age 16 and turned it down to once again go to New York, where he was accepted into Juilliard, and continued his studies with Julius Baker. He also was influenced by the teaching of Marcel Moyce. Fried graduated from Juilliard in June of 1970, having already won the 3rd Flute/Alto Flute position with the Boston Symphony. He was promoted to Assistant Principal flute of the BSO in January 1971, and was later promoted in 1976 to Solo Flute of the Boston Pops under both Arthur Fiedler and John Williams. In December of 1976 Fried was invited to perform as Solo Flute with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin, under Herbert von Karajan. 

Paul Fried left the BSO in 1982 and performed as Co - Principal Flutist of the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1982 to 1985, then conducted by Andre Previn. Since September of 1985, he has lived in Los Angeles where he is Solo Flutist of the New West Symphony. He was a featured soloist with his colleagues in January 2008, performing the CPE Bach D Minor Concerto. Paul has also been active in the studios as Solo Flutist for many movies including many of the movies of David Newman and Michael Kamen. These movies include Hoffa, Ice Age, Anastasia, The Spirit, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Robin Hood and many others.

Fried currently has nine solo cds available at CDBaby.com, Paulfried.com and Simplicityrecords.com. His newest recording is his Music Minus One Recording and arrangement of the Vivaldi Seasons, with the Czech Symphony Chamber Orchestra. In 2004 he performed at the First China Flute Convention held in Shenyang China. 

Paul Fried teaches flute privately in Los Angeles and teaches flute students worldwide on Skype.

November 4, 2011

Rochester Flute Association Flute Fair

Rochester, New York

November 11-13, 2011

Chicago Flute Club Flute Festival  

"The Unconventional Flute"

Hilton Orrington Hotel

Evanston, Illinois

January 27 - 29, 2011

36th Florida Flute Association Annual State Convention

Orlando Airport Marriott Hotel

Orlando, Florida

These events will provide a great opportunity for plenty of performers, teachers, students, flute manufacturers, and clinicians to meet.  We hope to see you there!

THINK BIG ...

Flute World, the USA's premier flute specialty retailer, recently annouced their top picks for alto flutes, bass flutes, and other low flutes.

We are honored to be included in that list. 

Many wonderful flutists stopped by!  Our thanks to everyone who organized the convention, as well as all participating NFA members and other visitors. 

Please find us at Booth #420.

A full selection of Di Zhao flutes will be available.  We hope to see you there!

Article originally published by the Suzuki Association of the Americas, by Kelly Williamson

All photos courtesy of Diana Bettin Mujica

The excellent quality and affordability of Di Zhao flutes have made dreams come true for a number of students in Latin America, and they are inspiring many others to see their own dreams as a real possibility.

In the fall of 2009, a group of Suzuki flute teachers and students in Canada, the US, and Taiwan contributed to the purchase of a Di Zhao alto and bass flute for the Orquesta de Flauta Traversas de San Martin de los Andes in Patagonia, Argentina.

In September 2010, members of the ensemble traveled to Paraguay to give demonstration concerts in local schools, and participate in master classes in Suzuki pedagogy for twelve teacher workshop participants. The twenty-seven-member tour group included flutists from the ages of seven to adult, and they performed Argentinean folk music as well as standards like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the concerto for two flutes in C major by Vivaldi, and Passacaglia by Handel. They made big waves: the teachers who heard them play in Asunción immediately set the goal of founding a flute orchestra in Paraguay over the next few years.

An even greater dream was realized last Saturday, October 9, 2010, when a flute was donated to a blind child in Bogotá, Colombia. Thanks to the efforts of his teacher, Diana Bettin Mujica, and the generosity of a group of donors, student Nicolas Piracún received the gift of a Di Zhao flute with a solid silver head joint. Nicolas lives at the Fundación Juan Antonio Pardes Para Niños Ciegos in Bogotá. The children who live at the institute are all blind from birth or have very limited vision, and they come from poor families. Many are orphans; for these, the other children at the institute are their only family. They are taught by three teachers who are also blind: the director of the school, Tarcicio Andrade, plays the flute, and Pablo and Betty play the violin and recorder, and sing. All three teachers have taken Suzuki teacher training to assist them in providing a musical education for the children at the institute, to give them the means to improve their lives in the future, as well as happiness in the present. The teachers are assisted by volunteer teachers such as Diana, from the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá.

Nicolas was the first to volunteer to play for me. In his master class, he demonstrated poor physical posture and balance of the flute, and during the ten minutes that he played for me, our entire attention was focused on correcting the position of his hands and body. When he stood up to play again the following day, I was astounded to see the change in his posture: he had corrected everything that had been pointed out, as though he had never played any other way. I asked him how hard he had worked to effect such a great change so quickly, and he bashfully admitted that he had practiced for well over two hours the night before—his teachers had finally insisted that he stop at ten thirty so that everyone could go to bed! He was very pleased with my commendation, and also with the admiration of his friends, who all cheered him loudly.

At fourteen, he showed himself to be a leader within the group. When a little stuffed pig temporarily disappeared, having been misplaced by a little girl to whom it was lent overnight, Nicolas was one of the teenagers who assured me that it would be recovered—and sure enough, it was presented to me the next day, a little grubby, but otherwise none the worse for wear!

I have another memory of Nicolas from that workshop, which is one of the best of my teaching career. Leidy, another student from the institute, had worked so well on the articulations in her assigned piece (The Moon Over the Ruined Castle) that I played a lovely counter-melody along with her as a treat at the end of her master class. Nicolas was sitting quite close to us, with his head leaning on his hand. As we played, he was so moved that he couldn’t help murmuring out loud, “Tan bonita! Tan bonita! (So beautiful!)” I will never forget the expression on his face as he listened, nor the shy surprise of Leidy when the other children all burst into enthusiastic applause at the end. Their sensitivity, and the openness and love between the children, formed an indelible impression on me.

We do not have many chances in our lives to make a dream come true for another person. So when I had the opportunity to share from a distance in Nicolas’ joy at receiving a new flute of his own, my heart was very full. It is wonderful to see the inspiration that is spreading outwards to many other people, just from these three instruments. The flute students at the Fundación Juan Antonio Pardes Para Niños Ciegos and the Programa Infantil of the Javeriana University all shared in the satisfaction as Nicolas received his flute in a public concert on Saturday. The audience and donors who were present also shared the joy of that moment. I am very grateful to Mr. Di Zhao for making the alto and bass flutes available at the dealer price for the Orquesta de Flautas de San Martin de los Andes: aside from the forty-five flutists in San Martin, flute attendees at the 2010 Festival Internacional Suzuki in Lima, Perú were also able to try the instruments, and the teachers performed on them in concert. It was the first time that any of them had the opportunity to play on a low flute. Even in the capital city of Lima, these instruments are not available for trial or for rent. Ten-year-old Diego Dalmao from Arequipa, Perú was thrilled to have his picture taken playing the bass flute. Diego is a gifted young musician: as he continues along his musical journey, this will be one of the experiences that he will never forget.

Kelly Williamson holds a BMus (performance) with Distinction from McGill University, and a MMus from l’Université de Montréal. Influential teachers include Tim Hutchins, Denis Bluteau, Toshio Takahashi, Geoffrey Gilbert and Peter Lloyd. She was a freelance musician in Montreal for many years, maintaining a studio of twenty-five private students, and was also Suzuki Flute Coordinator at the McGill Conservatory, before relocating to London, Ontario. Kelly has been a frequent clinician and festival adjudicator, and is invited to teach at workshops in Canada, the US, South America and Tanzania. She was appointed as a Teacher Trainer in May 2006, and contributes regularly to the ASJ.