New Bloomington Flute Choir hitting the high notes
Leighann Daihl ("Dale") Ragusa leads a new group of flutists, Bloomington Flute Choir, and they meet twice monthly to rehearse in a member's home. Two of the members, Ragusa and Frances Shelly, are professional musicians, but the choir welcomes several levels of expertise.
"Some people expect us to be all professionals, but that's not what I wanted," Ragusa said over the phone.
She aspired, instead, to fill a void. "I wanted a smaller group, where musicians could feel heard." In a big group, people often feel anonymity, and Ragusa wants each flutist to feel special.
More: What do arts administrators do? Bloomington's Sally Gaskill is a perfect example
The group took shape in October and gave its first concert at the Monroe County Public Library for Halloween. Library children's services manager Lisa Champelli told a story from a picturebook, to which the choir performed tunes such as "The Adams Family" and other ghostliness. Members also talked about flutes as instruments, explaining differences among piccolos, flutes and alto flutes.
For the holidays, the choir performed a concert at Trinity Episcopal Church downtown, and a program for Friday Musicale Bloomington (founded in 1905), a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs, founded in 1898. Ragusa hopes to add concerts to the flute choir's schedule in 2022, although the pandemic, she said, has encouraged audiences to stay home and receive entertainment online.
"Streamed concerts are 10 times harder to do than live ones," she said.
Ragusa chooses most of the choir's repertoire, using sheet music that she or Shelly already own.
"We try to use what we have." Ragusa tries to have at least two flutists on a part. "The bottom (music) line is hard, because it's low." And the flute is a high-pitched instrument.
In addition to receiving the prestigious Netherland-American Fulbright grant, Ragusa's degrees come from DePauw University and Indiana University as well as degrees in historical flutes from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (The Netherlands) and IU.
She has given concerts throughout central Europe and the United States as a soloist and as a collaborator of orchestra and chamber music. Listeners can often hear her on Chicago’s classical radio station WFMT, 98.7.
More: Jewelry business a creative outlet for IU instructor, Ph.D. student
Among other things (she also walks with her dog, bicycles and gardens), she is the Baroque Flute Competitions coordinator for the National Flute Association, founded in 1972. The group consists of more than 3,000 people, all 50 states included, and more than 40 countries.
She also serves as development director for the Bach and Beethoven Experience. According to its website, this group's goal is "to shatter expectations of classical music concerts. ... We don't do stuffy formal performances that prescribe how you should behave or enjoy yourself. Listen to the music, strike up a conversation, clap or shout whenever you feel like it, take a nap, enjoy a beer. Whatever."
Flutists may inquire about the choir by emailing Leighann Daihl Ragusa at leighanndaihl@gmail.com.
Find more about Ragusa at leighanndaihl.org and the Bach and Beethoven Experience at http://bbexperience.org.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Leighann Daihl Ragusa forms Bloomington Flute Choir
