Acclaimed Flutist Returns for Festival

Former Filene Artist-in-Residence Paula Robinson, known as "the first lady of the flute," returns to Skidmore in November for the annual Flute Choir Festival. The event, scheduled Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5 and 6, features Robison in concert at 8 p.m. Friday. Saturday will include a 10 a.m. master class by Robison along with workshops and two student ensemble concerts.

Friday's concert program features classic and contemporary selections including "Fantaisie" by Adolphe Georges-Hue; Sonata in D major, Op. 94, by Sergei Prokofiev; and "Blue Ridge Airs II" by Kenneth Frazelle. Pianist Timothy Hester will accompany Robison. Admission ranges from $2 to $5.

Robison last visited Skidmore during 1988-89. She is treasured on several continents for bringing pure intonation, beautifully varied tone, and extraordinary technical mastery to an astonishingly diverse repertoire. In addition to classical recitals with piano, guitar and harpsichord, her affinity for Brazilian music is heard on two CDs, Brasileirinho (Omega) and Rio Days, Rio Nights (Arabesque). She recently joined Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops for a "Brazilian Beat" program at Carnegie Hall and last year made a second southern tour of the United States with guitarist Romero Lubambo and percussionist Cyro Baptista. The trio has appeared at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Gardner Museum, and at the distinguished Classic Chamber Concerts series in Naples, Fla.

In the classical realm, Robison's recital partners include guitarist Eliot Fisk, pianists Jeremy Denk and Hester, harpsichordist John Gibbons and harpist Mariko Anraku. Her engagements include tours of the Far East and Australia; a performance with Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall; appearances at New York's "Mostly Mozart," the Marlboro and Seattle International Music Festivals; recitals in London, Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; acclaimed performances of Bernstein's "Halil" with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London and San Francisco symphonies; concertos with the Detroit, National, Vermont, New World, and North Carolina Symphonies and Louisville Orchestra; two U.S. tours as soloist with the Budapest Strings; and the continuation of her annual concerts at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Known to millions from her television appearances on CBS Sunday Morning, Live from Lincoln Center and Christmas at the Kennedy Center, Robison was a founding member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and was for 10 years co-director of chamber music at both the Italian and American Spoleto Festivals. She is also co-director (with oboist Douglas Boyd) of Boston's Gardner Chamber Orchestra. With her interest in expanding flute repertoire, she has commissioned concertos by Leon Kirchner, Toru Takemitsu, Oliver Knussen, Robert Beaser, and Kenneth Frazelle. Her books are published by Universal, Schott, and European-American Music.

Robison was born in Tennessee and spent her childhood in California. She began playing the flute at age 11, and at 19 she moved to New York to study with Julius Baker at the Juilliard School. The following year she was invited by Leonard Bernstein to be guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic. She then studied with Marcel Moyse and became the first American to win the top prize at the Geneva International Competition. Other awards and distinctions include winning the Young Concert Artists International auditions, and the 1987 Adelaide Ristori Prize for her contribution to Italian cultural life.

Her recordings are available on the Arabesque label.

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