Click link for enrolment form: Queensland Summer Flute Workshops 

Director:  Dr Karen Lonsdale

It  has been such a pleasure to hear AMEB examination performances in New South Wales, ACT and more recently Queensland, over the past 15 years.  Hearing so many talented, up and coming flute players is a great thrill, and witnessing the wonderful work that flute educators are doing is inspirational.

The role of an AMEB examiner is to report on the work presented, not to teach a player how to improve particular aspects that may have been weak.  This side of examining has at times felt frustrating, as on many occasions, there was recognition that the candidate was more than capable of playing to the required level, or answering a question, but simply didn’t have the current skills or knowledge to do so.  As a response to this, it has been a long term dream  of mine to design a workshop package whereby advanced flute students can participate in a range of sessions that will assist them in their exam preparations.  The outcome of attending these workshops will be more confident exam performances and much greater accuracy and specificity in the general knowledge component of your flute exam.

The Queensland Summer Flute Workshops will be held in January, and include sessions on solo playing, form, flute history, style, aural skills and musical analysis. Each student will receive comprehensive handouts to use for study purposes.  I will be taking a class called “The Dot Point Version of General Knowledge for AMEB Exams”, as well as “A Concise History of the Flute and Flute Playing”.  I am delighted to be working alongside Ms Anna Lu, a well respected aural and theory specialist who will be presenting the morning sessions on improving aural skills as well as showing students and teachers how to analyse works from the flute repertoire.  Ms Lu will also present sessions on standard musical forms such as the sonata and sonata form, as well as discussing the characteristics of Baroque dances, such as the minuet, sarabande, and siciliano, among others.

I warmly welcome advanced flute students who are preparing for 2012 AMEB Grade 7 to Diploma level exams and their teachers, to attend the Queensland Summer Flute Workshops, to be held at the MTAQ Auditorium in Taringa from January 9 – 12, 2012.  This is your opportunity to participate in 4 days of intensive flute exam preparation workshops.

One of Queensland’s most experienced flute accompanists, Ms Kathy Sander will accompany all solo masterclasses.

Am very excited to introduce these new workshops to you, and look forward to assisting you reach your potential in your next AMEB exam!

Dr Karen Lonsdale holds degrees from the Queensland Conservatorium, Hochschule for Music in Munich and Griffith University.  She is an AMEB flute examiner and has presented at major music conferences in Australia and the USA, such as the Australian Flute Festival, National Flute Association Convention, and Performing Arts Medicine Association Symposium.

Details:

Queensland Summer Flute Workshops

January 9 – 12, 2012, 9:30 am – 3:30pm.

Music Teachers Association of Queensland

26/200 Moggill Road, Taringa, Brisbane (parking available on site)

Further information and enrolment forms:  

Dr Karen Lonsdale

Mobile 0412 002 802

Email kazflute@gmail.com

Web www.karenlonsdale.com

The last few weeks have been jam packed with concerts, student auditions and exams, as well as submitting the hard-bound version of my thesis.   Again, I’m so proud of my students who have worked very consistently this year and achieved outstanding results:

Corinne Edgeworth has been accepted into a Bachelor of Music degree at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University for 2012.  She will also continue as Principal Piccolo with QYO 3.  Corinne has had a very busy year and is playing brilliantly, so I’m so pleased all of her hard work has paid off.

Natalie Wong has been awarded her Associate in Music, Australia (AMusA) at the age of 15.  A fantastic achievement!

Julian Lindsay, Daria Orlovskaya, Anastasia Sechenova, Trinity Kim, and Chelsea Dunn all achieved excellent results in their AMEB grade exams.

Brijette Tubb was a semi-finalist in the Australian Flute Festival solo competition, and has also just completed a traineeship with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Jessica Lee  has won auditions to be a member of the Young Conservatorium Wind Ensemble and Flute Choir, as well as the Gold Coast Youth Orchestra.

Minji Kim has won a position as Flute 1 with the QYO Wind Ensemble.  Minji is only 11 years old, so this is a particularly impressive achievement for such a young flute player.

Zoe Wright has successfully auditioned for the position of Principal Flute with QYO 3.

Neve Murphy has been accepted into the music programme at Cavendish Road State High School.

Am very pleased to report that I have now passed all the requirements for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and will be graduating on December 17th at Brisbane Convention Centre. My research focuses on “Understanding contributing factors and optimizing prevention and management of flute playing-related musculoskeletal disorders.”   Central to this research are two components: a large survey providing insight into how practice, education, lifestyle, and background impact on the prevalence of pain; and an electromyography study assessing upper body muscle responses during playing.  The research reveals that through a better understanding of the physical characteristics of playing and applying principles from ergonomics, performing arts medicine, physiotherapy and exercise science to practice, technique and positioning, flute players can better prevent and manage playing-related musculoskeletal disorders.  The thesis will soon be available online, so I’ll be posting the link in due course.

Now that the thesis is out of the way, I’m grateful that there has been time to be a performer again.  Over the last few weeks, I’ve performed at a huge convention with the Queensland Pops Orchestra (conductor Barrie Gott; vocalists Rachael Beck and Ian Stenlake), as well as with X-Collective at a private function (vocalists Craig Allister Young of Masterchef fame and David Kidd from the Ten Tenors).  X-Collective (cabaret orchestra) officially split up at the end of last year, because of lack of funding to keep it going.  A great shame, but hopefully one day we can do more concerts again.  Touring with X-Collective and performing throughout Queensland was definitely one of the highlights of my career to date.

One of my favourite concerts not just of this year, but of all time was a Tribute to Dame Nellie Melba, held in October at the City Baptist Tabernacle, for the Brisbane City Council.  Dame Nellie Melba was an Australian operatic soprano who performed alongside famous flutists such as John Lemmone and Philippe Gaubert, among others.  It was a great privilege to perform some of the works they presented on concert tours, such as Donizetti’s Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor with Jacqueline Mabardi (Opera Australia), Lo Hear the Gentle Lark by Henry Bishop with D’Arne Sleeman (Opera Queensland) and Mozart’s L’amerò, sarò cost ante as well as Hue’s Soir Païen with Dana Kingsford (Opera Queensland).  The finale was Home! Sweet Home! with all the cast including Bernard Wheaton, Laura Coutts, Monique Latemore, and the producer of the concert, Janelle Colquhoun.  Our beautiful accompanist was John Woods, who was a joy to work with.

Well, it’s now 5:00am and the kookaburras have joined the very loud chorus of birds outside.  Time to sign off but will be back with other news very soon.

Another congratulations to Brijette Tubb who has been selected as a finalist in the state flute competition (James Carson Prize).

As for me, I’ve been doing lots of examining for the AMEB (Brisbane, Bundaberg and Townsville), plus the usual teaching.  Still so, so tired after submitting my thesis a few weeks ago, and then travelling lots for a few weeks, so just resting up now!  More soon, when I am feeling more alive!

Just wanted to congratulate some of my students for some of their recent successes:

Brijette Tubb: Has been awarded an internship with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra!!  Brijette also reached the Semi-Finals of the national flute competition at the Australian Flute Festival.  Looking forward to hearing her play in the competition in Canberra this October.

Clare Son: Won her section at the All Hallows Eisteddfod and passed her Grade 7 AMEB flute exam with flying colours!  She was also accepted into SHEP (State Honours Ensemble) for 2011.

Sarah Rooney: Won her age section at the Beenleigh Eisteddfod

Neve Murphy: Passed her AMEB grade 3 flute exam with Honours!

Congratulations to you all!

I’ve just returned from the USA where I was presenting as part of 2 panels on performing arts healthcare issues at the National Flute Association Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

However, gotta teach one student, then catch a plane!  Hopefully my 3-day late baggage (thanks to a plane delay with Delta which caused me to miss 2 subsequent connections with VAustralia and Virgin Australia!!!) will arrive in Townsville today.

Brijette Tubb has recently achieved a High Distinction in her Semester 1 Masters Recital at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. Her playing was exquisite beyond belief, and I’m incredibly proud of her.  Here is part of her recital, where she played the 4th movement from Cesar Franck’s Sonata for Flute and Piano (arr.):

Shortly after, Brijette participated in the Michael Cox Flute Course in Adelaide, and several people commented on how beautifully she played there.

Zoe Wright has been accepted into the SHEP (State Honours Ensemble) programme again this year.  Corinne Edgeworth played 2nd flute at the MOST concert for Musically Outstanding Students from Education Queensland State High School programmes.  I heard a lot of very positive feedback about the concert.  Corinne and Zoe are both doing extremely well in their school music recitals, so congratulations to them both on a fantastic year of flute playing, again!

I’d like to also congratulate my former student Clara Wells, who has just been registered as a school music teacher in Queensland.   I first taught Clara when she was a very young girl at John Paul College, and then later, as a student at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.  So proud of you Clara!!

Chelsea Dunn, Anastasia Sechenova, Sarah Rooney, and MinJi Kim who all passed their AMEB flute exams with flying colours.

Brijette Tubb who won the Open Age Championship at the Brisbane Eisteddfod

MinJi Kim who won 1st place in her age group at the Redlands Eisteddfod

Proud of you all!  Well done.

A few of my students deserve recognition, however!  Congratulations to all of the following students on their fine achievements:

Stephanie Green – received ‘Honours’ (A) in her grade 5 flute exam

Daria Orlovskaya – Won 3rd place in the grade 4, 5, 6 section at the Brisbane Eisteddfod

Min Ji Kim – Won ‘Highly Commended’ in the grade 4, 5, 6 section at the Brisbane Eisteddfod

Corinne Edgeworth – Accepted into Education Queensland’s M.O.S.T programme (Musically Outstanding Students).

Also found a wonderful clip of my student Mel Wong, performing with the QYO Wind Symphony.  Mel is sitting in the back row, third from the end.  Also in the flute section are Nadia Myers (piccolo), one of my former McGregor Summer School students, and Jo Lagerlow (piccolo), one of my students at the Conservatorium in 2010.

Mel is now going to be concentrating on her university studies, so I wish her all the best in her chosen field.

Congratulations all!

Brijette Tubb has been going from strength to strength and has recently been awarded a flute teaching position at one of the top private schools in Brisbane, St Joseph’s College, better known to locals as ‘Gregory Terrace’ or ‘Terrace’.   Brijette has also been invited to be a performer at the Michael Cox course in Adelaide this July.  She will also be Principal Flute with the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra throughout 2011.

Corinne Edgeworth has recently been awarded the position of 2nd Flute with Queensland Youth Orchestra 2, in addition to her position with the Young Conservatorium Symphony.  Corinne has also recently progressed to the 2nd round of the MOST scholarship, for musically outstanding students in the Queensland state school system.  Zoe Wright has also been awarded the Principal flute position, so it’s a thrill to see both of my students making up the current flute section of QYO 3.

Congratulations to Zoe Wright, Jennifer Chen, and Brijette Tubb, who were all awarded diplomas at the recent Australian Music Examinations Board graduation ceremony.  Brijette was invited by the AMEB to perform a solo work at the ceremony, having been awarded a Distinction in her LMusA.

Clare Son is playing 1st Flute in Wind Symphony and Senior Flute Ensemble at All Hallows School.  Well done Clare.

Been a terrific few weeks and I’m really delighted to see so many of my students reaping the rewards of their hard work and enthusiasm.  Proud of them all.

I would like to welcome some of my new students in 2011:

Anna Brauns, Daria Orlovskaya, Anastasia Sechenova and Min Ji Kim

Until next time…

Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (Townsville)

Beenleigh Eisteddfod

Brisbane Eisteddfod

Cairns Eisteddfod

Gold Coast Eisteddfod

Ipswich Eisteddfod

Marcato Competition (Flute)

Queensland Eisteddfod

Redlands Eisteddfod

Sunshine Coast Junior Eisteddfod

Toowoomba Eisteddfod

Townsville Eisteddfod