Nashua Flute Choir to present concert with dance studios

Friday, December 9, 2011

Courtesy photo The Nashua Flute Choir presents “Music and Dance” at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 4 Watson St.

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Dancers from the Kathy Blake Dance Studio will perform with the Nashua Flute Choir.

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Courtesy photo The Nashua Flute Choir presents “Music and Dance” at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 4 Watson St.

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Courtesy photo The Nashua Flute Choir presents “Music and Dance” at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 4 Watson St.

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IF YOU GO

Nashua Flute Choir, “Music and Dance”

WHEN: 3 p.m. Dec. 11.

WHERE: Pilgrim Congressional Church, 4 Watson St., Nashua.

TICKETS: Donation is $15 for adults, $10 for students/seniors and $5 children.

MORE INFORMATION: Call 888-1741 or visit www.nashuaflutechoir.com.

NASHUA – Imaginatively reedless, the Nashua Flute Choir, a woodwind ensemble, will present its Christmas concert, “Music and Dance,” on Dec. 11 at Nashua’s Pilgrim Congressional Church.

Eileen Yarrison, who will conduct, studied at the University of New Hampshire, the Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where in 1996 she became the first flutist to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance. This will be her 15th season as conductor of the Nashua Flute Choir.

The Flute Choir will be joined by the Kathy Blake Dance Studio dancers, a group of ballet dancers, age 8-teen, under the direction of Rachel Peters.

“We have 18 flutes and six different type of flute,” said president and CFO Linda True, a co-founding member of the Flute Choir. “We have the C flutes that everybody plays; the piccolos that are much smaller; we have an E-flat flute which is between a piccolo and a C flute; we have an alto flute, which is lower; a bass flute, which is even lower than that; and we have a contra bass flute which stands seven feet tall, and is even an octave lower than that.”

Those six different instruments, all resonating diverse sounds, give you not just a flute sound, but a whole different orchestra of flutes, True said.

“The piccolo and flutes are the same in the orchestra, but the alto is subtly like a violin, and the bass flute is more similarly sounding like the cello; and the contra bass is rich like the string bass, so you have the full range and depth of sounds but it’s all flutes,” True said.

Audiences are usually surprised by the mingling of gentle sounds.

“I think most people are only familiar with the C flute,” True said. “And most people are familiar with the piccolo because they hear that in the famous ‘Stars and Stripes. But other than that, people don’t know the other instruments very well.”

Yarrison echoed that sentiment.

“Many people are surprised when they see us for the first time, that flutes come in different sizes,” she said. “Because it’s not what you grow up knowing. Most people tell me they didn’t know that a flute choir sounds like this.”

True also said an alto flute is rarely played in an orchestra.

“Most people have never heard of an alto, bass or contra bass flute. We’re the only ones in the North East who have a contra bass flute,” True said.

Flute choirs have become increasingly popular in New England within the last 20 years.

“We started our group 28 years ago and in the beginning, there really wasn’t much music to be had, so some of our members started arranging pop music for the flute choir,” True said.

This year, the Nashua Flute Choir welcomes the Kathy Blake Dancers from the Kathy Blake Ballet Studio, who will be performing three pieces from “The Nutcracker.”

“They’ll also be doing a piece called ‘African Noel,’ which has a lot of percussion,” True said. “We have a percussionist who’ll be joining us this year.”

And since this is the Flute Choir’s Christmas concert, there will be no shortage of holiday favorites such as “Holly and the Ivy,” and “I Wonder as I Wander.”

“We’ll also do a lot of Christmas music that was specifically written for the Flute Choir at Christmas time and variations on a lot of Christmas carols,” True said. “And we’re going to do a piece that will just feature our lower instruments and one that will just feature the C flute.”

Ultimately, True and Yarrison are pleased that audience members come back for a return engagement.

“Absolutely,” Yarrison said. “We get a bigger crowd all the time and it’s my hope that people who come for the first time will like what we’re playing and will come back again. We just want to add another dimension to people’s holidays.”