Jan Vinci
Flutist
P/F 718-651-4179
email
website
"This is a fabulous recording. ... plays with control, color, and effortless technical facility. Her tone is beautiful, rich, and never out of tune. ... It is easily one of my favorite flute discs of the year." - American Record Guide
"exquisite performer" - High Performance Review
"Jan is a constant when it comes to excellence." - The Saratogian
"performances are expert" - Prodigy, Martin Bookspan
"plays it with great aplomb" ..." 'creates a special connection between its musical sound and one's heart.' Her performance demonstrates this very well." - Flute Talk
"a first rate flutist" - Bennington Banner
"a splendid performance"- Albany Times Union
"shines with zest" - Les Cahiers de la Guitare
Effortless control, combined with extraordinary musicality, are hallmarks of performances by flutist Jan Vinci, whose eclectic tastes and broad talents have led her to explore the far corners of her instrument's repertoire. A soloist with a clear, clean sound that weaves itself around her audience, Vinci also performs in ensemble, most recently in the flute and harp duo Iridescence, and for 10 years with Tritonis, a flute, guitar and cello trio. In her work with chamber music ensembles, she has commissioned more than 20 works of new music since 1988.
First Prizewinner of England's International Electric Music Performance Competition, Jan Vinci has performed in Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space, and at events such as Blossom Festival, International Computer Music Conference in The Netherlands, Electric Music Festival in England, Killington Music Festival, Chamber Music Conference of the East at Bennington College, New York Flute Club and other flute club concert series and National Flute Association Conventions, and as featured artist for flute festivals in New York, Ohio and Florida. She has performed in Denmark and Ibiza, Spain, as well as at colleges across the U.S. including Stanford, Ithaca, Crane, West Florida, Central Oklahoma, and in return engagements at her alma maters.
Vinci also has performed with her jazz musician husband, alto saxophonist Mark Vinci, on National Public Radio's Performance Today, and in numerous performances throughout the U.S. and in Spain.
Jan Vinci's 2006 solo CD, Global FluteScape: Premieres and Rare Gems (Albany Records) presents interesting contemporary works by Shen, Higdon, M. Vinci, Thibodeau, Vaughan Williams and others. Performing in ensemble with Vinci are her husband, internationally acclaimed composer Jennifer Higdon (who is Vinci's former flute student), and the celebrated pianist Hugh Sung.
The recording drew high praise from American Record Guide: "This is a fabulous recording. ... plays with control, color, and effortless technical facility. Her tone is beautiful, rich, and never out of tune. ... It is easily one of my favorite flute discs of the year." Other recordings demonstrate Vinci's musical breadth. High Performance remarked on "…exquisite performers" in her Tritonis CD, Five Premieres: Chamber Works with Guitar (Albany Records). Percussia: Chamber Music for a New World (self-published in 2002) presented a chamber ensemble with percussion, playing music by Ravi Shankar, Lou Harrison, Piazzolla, Crumb and Takemitsu.
The first woman and second person to receive a doctorate in flute performance from The Juilliard School, she also earned a master's in music from The Cleveland Institute of Music and a bachelor's in music from Bowling Green State University. She studied with Julius Baker, Samuel Baron, Maurice Sharp, Judith Bentley and Martha Aarons. Vinci is Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and formerly served on the faculties of Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and Hofstra University. For 16 years, Ms. Vinci has directed and taught master classes at the Skidmore Summer Flute Institute, and for more than a decade has presented an annual Skidmore Flute Festival. She served as President of the New York Flute Club.