Adult Flute Retreat
Join us for our 2024 Twin Cities Adult Flute Retreat Aug 9-11!
Rejuvenate your playing and spend time with fellow flutists! Our weekend retreat is the perfect balance of all the things you love most about flute. We'll dig in with some of the Twin Cities' leading musicians, play chamber music and flute choir pieces, and share a few meals together for great conversation and company!
Work on keeping your playing pain-free and sustainable with Alexander Technique. Play for SPCO Principal Flutist Julia Bogorad-Kogan in a relaxed masterclass. Improve your ornamentation and style with Baroque specialist Paul Jacobson. Dig in on the fundamentals of tone and technique, explore using theory and harmony to deepen interpretation, and cap the weekend off with a concert!
Daily Schedule
Friday, Aug 9th
4:00: Tone and Technique
5:00: Theory and Interpretation
6:00: Chamber Music
7:00: Dinner
Saturday, Aug 10th
9:00 Alexander Tech with Käthe Jarke
10:30: Break
10:45: Masterclass with Julia Bogorad-Kogan
12:00: Lunch
1:00: Tone and Technique
2:00: Baroque Ornamentation with Paul Jacobson
3:00: Break
3:15: Chamber Music
Sunday, Aug 11th
10:00: Tone and Technique
11:00: Chamber Music
12:30: Lunch
1:15: Depart
2:00: Concert
3:00: Goodbye till 2025!
"You surprise yourself ... and you leave your lesson with a real desire to duplicate that success."
--Kay Ellickson, lifelong flutist
Guest Clinicians
Käthe is a graduate of The American Center for the Alexander Technique and of the Juilliard School. She did extensive post-graduate work with John Nicholls and with Pedro de Alcantara, author of Indirect Procedures, a Musician’s Guide to the Alexander Technique. In addition to an active performing and teaching career as a cellist she has a large practice in the Alexander Technique in New York City, with an emphasis on the performing arts. Käthe has served on numerous faculties, including ATNYC (Alexander Technique New York City), where she taught Alexander teacher-trainees, The Neighborhood Playhouse, where she worked with young actors, and Mannes College Preparatory Division, where she taught young cellists. She has presented Alexander workshops for musicians at Yale University, Mannes College, The University of Minnesota, The Manhattan School of Music, New York University, The Harttt School, The New York Youth Symphony and the School for Strings in New York. She has twice been invited to work with the musicians of the Guanajuato Symphony in Mexico and has taught at the Gloppen Music Festival in Norway as well as workshops in Hidden Valley, California and at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, and workshops for the US Air Force Band.v
The New York Times called Julia Bogorad "a wonderful flutist“” her playing is graceful, virtuosic, and always full of interest." Bogorad, who became Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra principal flute at age 22, combines an orchestra career with regular recital and solo performances. A frequent soloist with the SPCO, Bogorad has also performed at the Ravinia and Marlboro festivals. She was flute soloist in Lukas Foss' Renaissance Concerto under the composer's direction at the Grand Teton Festival, and appeared at Tanglewood as acting principal flute of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Bogorad has presented recitals in Seattle, San Diego, and Victoria, B.C., as well as at the Phillips Gallery in Washington, D.C., New York's Merkin Concert Hall, and in the Schubertsaal of the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has also performed with Pinchas Zukerman and other SPCO members at the Rolandseck Festival in Germany. A guest of several "Saint Paul Sunday Morning" radio shows on Minnesota Public Radio, Bogorad discussed and played a variety of flutes on an unusual live recital broadcast in 1995. She released her debut solo album in 1990 on the Schubert Club's Ten Thousand Lakes label, and is a featured soloist on the SPCO's recording of Holst's A Fugal Concerto on the London/Decca label. With SPCO bassoonist Charles Ullery and harpsichordist Layton James, Bogorad has recorded a CD featuring the complete Handel Flute Sonatas. She currently serves on the music faculty of the University of Minnesota, and was visiting professor at the Oberlin Conservatory in 1987-88.
Paul Jacobson has had a multi-faceted career as a soloist and teacher. Known for his expertise on the baroque and classical flutes, he has been featured with many ensembles, such as: Milwaukee Baroque, the Bach Society of Minnesota, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Plymouth Music Series Orchestra, among others. He is a Lyra co-founder, and also served for many years on the board and as Executive Director. Paul has been a featured soloist at several National Flute Association conventions, at the 1993 International Artist Series at Worcester College (MA), and at the Boston Early Music Festival. Paul gives presentations on 18th century performance practice, history, and improvisation. He has been a NFA board member, chair of the NFA Historical Flutes Committee, and Vice President of Early Music America. He is also a composer, primarily of hymnody and liturgical music, and a woodworker.
Retreat Staff
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Bethany Summersgill is a flutist, piccoloist, and baroque flutist based in Saint Paul. She performs as an extra/substitute musician with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra and plays regularly in the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, and the Winona Symphony Orchestra. She also plays with the Chione Quintet, an active and innovative woodwind quintet based in the Twin Cities. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota and holds degrees in flute performance from Northwestern University and the University of Southern California. In 2016, she received a grant from Metropolitan Regional Arts Council to acquire a baroque traverso flute, pursue further study of baroque performance practice, and perform two recitals on the instrument. Bethany maintains an active flute teaching studio along with her performance work and enjoys working with students of all levels and ages. She teaches both privately and as adjunct flute professor at the University of St. Thomas. She previously taught for five years at Winona State University. Her teaching style is strongly influenced by the Suzuki philosophy, and she creates a positive, encouraging atmosphere for students to develop as musicians. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, biking, and gardening. You can learn more at bethanysummersgill.com/.
Vanamali Medina, flute instructor, has enjoyed teaching students of all ages since 2005. She is on the faculty of MacPhail Center for Music and maintains a home studio in addition to providing regular clinics and in-school lessons at area schools. She encourages her students to approach lessons with a curious and experimental mindset and aims to ensure they feel well-prepared to continue their learning independently during practice. She also emphasizes efficient body usage, helping students to identify and correct problems, prevent injury, and improve confidence. Her performing experience covers a wide range of ensembles, from musicals and opera pit orchestras to wind ensembles, chamber groups, and many years in early music, where she had the opportunity to study Baroque flute. She also founded and conducted the St. Olaf Flute Choir and taught a course on Flute Methods at the University of British Columbia. Vanamali received her Bachelor of Music Performance with Distinction from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., studying with Kay Sahlin. She completed her Master of Music degree in Flute Performance at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she studied with Brenda Fedoruk, Principal Flute of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, and Lorna McGhee, Principal Flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Andrea Myers, performer and Suzuki Flute teacher, received her Bachelor’s of Music in Flute Performance from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where she studied with Immanuel Davis. While growing up she had the opportunity to learn jazz alongside classical which stirred her curiosity about other music styles. She has continued this exploration through her performing career by collaborating with artists of various disciplines, creating performance art to educational concerts. Andrea has been fortunate to have the opportunity to commission and perform new works as a member of various ensembles and as a soloist. As a part of her development as an artist she has participated in masterclasses held by Keith Underwood, Ali Ryerson, Conor Nelson, and Wilbert Hazlezet. Other influential teachers include Nadine Hur, Linda Nielsen-Korducki, and Jennifer Regan-Volk. She has received Suzuki pedagogical training (Books 1 – 9) from David Gerry, Meret Bitticks, Kelly Williamson, Laura Larson, and Wendy Stern. She was drawn to the Suzuki philosophy because of the core values which includes developing the whole person, meeting the student where they are personally and musically, and that music is about community and connection. Andrea is a founding teacher and Managing Director of Hopewell Music Cooperative North. In February 2017 she joined the teaching faculty at Saint Paul Conservatory of Music. She also is a co-director of the Lake Sylvia Suzuki Flute Institute.