Flute Festival to Open Friday in Costa Mesa

Almost any kid can blow across the top of a soda-pop bottle to produce a deep, hollow tone. (In this respect, the soda -can generation may be a deprived one.) But it is a big step from doing that to playing the flute.

Nonetheless, thousands are trying.

More than 15,000 young professional flutists gathered in St. Louis last summer for a four-day convention sponsored by the National Flute Assn. And already more than 50 high school, college and professional flutists have signed up for a flute festival to be held Friday through next Monday in Irvine and Costa Mesa.

“I wanted to do the same kind of thing here (as in St. Louis),” flutist Marianne Whitmyer said recently. Whitmyer is coordinating the Flute Festival, as well as giving recitals and master classes. “I wanted to make a lot of musical events available to the public and to flutists at low cost. You can go to everything here for only $40.”

Sponsored by the Irvine Symphony and UC Irvine, the festival will include 14 artists giving master classes and clinics in classical and jazz flute. There also will be recitals and a concert by the Irvine Symphony at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Whitmyer said that the popular success of Jean-Pierre Rampal and James Galway has helped spur interest in the instrument. But she has mixed feelings about their impact on opportunities for other flutists.

“Sure, interest (in the flute) would not exist without people like Rampal and Galway,” she said. “They opened up doors in terms of increasing audience appeal and making more flute literature available. There were pieces written for them and scores (that) everyone had heard about but which had been lost were recovered.

“But they also closed doors. Agents are much more likely now to say, ‘If you can get Rampal or Galway, why get someone else?’ So (their impact) has been good and bad.”

Despite its popular appeal, the flute is an extremely difficult instrument to master, even though it may look easy to play.

“People can see all this activity when they watch a violinist and pianist,” Whitmyer said. “But with a flute, you only see fingers move, so you think it must be easy. But wind instruments are just as difficult. There is a lot of internal physical effort.”

“You can see how a violinist manipulates his bow to get all these different tone colors. But all that has to be done inside here,” she said, pointing to her windpipe. “That’s our bow.”

To facilitate the production of tone color, two major schools of flute-playing--the German and the French--have emerged, Whitmyer said.

“The difference between the two is a matter of where you direct the air into the mouthpiece. In the German style, you aim the air low. In the French, you aim much higher. Everything else and the principles of playing are the same.

“The German (method) gives a darker sound. It is a little more clear, close up and has advantages when you’re playing very loud. The French (method) is a lighter sound, much more ethereal, and it projects better.”

Unfortunately, Whitmyer said, many teachers restrict the development of their students by focusing upon only one of the two methods.

“But really versatile flutists develop the technique to play in both styles and so get a variety of tone colors. You can go back and forth (between the two methods), even on one note. A good teacher is a flexible flute player who tries to give that flexibility to the students.”

“However, I always start students with the German style because there is no wasted air at all. Particularly for beginners, it’s easier.”

Whitmyer, 35, began developing her technique even before she was able to play the instrument.

“I started with a mouthpiece when I was 6 because my hands were too small to reach the keys,” she said.

“But you can do many things with a mouthpiece. You change pitch by changing the length of the tube. You can insert a finger and change the (tone) color. You can invert it and get trumpet sounds. I developed many things during those years.”

In fact, Whitmyer’s husband, Peter Odegard, incorporated some of these sounds in his piece, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” which will be played in the Whitmyer-Walker recital Sunday. Odegard is music director of the Irvine Symphony and a professor of music at UC Irvine.

Whitmyer has been concertizing since 1977 and has been teaching at UCI for 10 years. She was a student of James Walker, whose jazz group, Free Flight, also will be part of the festival.

Whitmyer said she has spent months preparing her students for the upcoming master classes.

“Master classes are much more difficult than a private lesson because the student is so highly featured,” she said.

“Very few students can get up and play something wonderfully the first time. It’s a long, arduous process. We start nine months in advance. They have to learn the repertory, and we have to get them performance opportunities and arrange to work with pianist. It takes a tremendous amount of time.

“We even have to do a lot of preparation getting them used to the idea of being helped in public. My goal is to make certain we get master teachers who are not only knowledgeable, but also good at handling young people, providing constructive help rather than severe criticism.

“You have to be careful, especially with young people. Any musician who plays in public is putting his soul on the line. It’s yourself out there, not just a performance.”

The Flute Festival will begin with a master class by James Walker from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday and end with a concert by the Irvine Symphony, with Walker and Marianne Whitmyer, at 8 p.m. on Monday at the Center. A full-festival ticket, good for admission to all events, is $40. Tickets for individual events range from $7 to $25. For a complete list of events and further information, call (714) 856-6616.