Festive Flutes event brings music to Cambridge Idea Exchange
Performance remembers late musician
CAMBRIDGE — Lots of people want to hear from a choir at this time of year.
But not everyone expects a choir to be made up of flutes.
And yet an ensemble of flute players, including piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute, gathered at the public library in the Galt section of Cambridge to play Christmas carols for an appreciative audience of about 75 people Sunday afternoon.
The melodious strains of music wafted through the building. A large picture window behind the performers revealed bare trees and a church roof dusted with snow.
The flutes of all sizes have different ranges and each needs its own technique, some of the players explained later.
Merlin Williams, who plays for the Stratford Festival orchestra, came to the event because “it’s an opportunity to get the big flute out.”
The curved flute with its lower range requires a strong, slow supply of air, said Jennifer Jowle of Waterloo, who teaches and plays flute.
The organizer of the “Festive Flutes” event, Laurel Swinden, said she wanted the performance to be dedicated to a musician colleague who died a week ago after a struggle with cancer.
David Gerry was a performer, educator and clinician who promoted the Suzuki method of teaching music in Canada.
He was based at McMaster University in Hamilton.