Riverbend Flute Festival returns to SCC this weekend
Ask any Iowan to name a fabulous flautist and they might come up with James Galway, or perhaps Ian Anderson of the rock band Jethro Tull, or maybe even jazz's Herbie Mann.
This weekend in Burlington, the fifth annual Riverbend Flute Festival will introduce locals to the wonders of the woodwind as demonstrated by world-renowned electric flutist Melissa Keeling and many others.
Yes, a flute is a woodwind, even though most modern instruments are made of copper-nickel, silver and gold. The oldest flutes were found in a cave in Germany and made of bone and mammoth ivory. Simple wooden flutes were used in the Middle Ages, and Bavarian goldsmith and flutist Theobald Boehm created the first metal flute in 1847.
Festival origin
The Riverbend Flute Festival is the creation of Karen Weirather, who teaches flute and the Alexander Technique for classically trained vocal coaches and musicians at Culver-Stockton College and Southeastern Community College.
The Alexander Technique promotes the balanced use of the vocal tract by consciously increasing air flow.
Born on Whidbey Island, Washington, Weirather founded the Future Flutist Youth Scholarship to help young flute players in financial need.
Flute Day
Founded as Nauvoo Flute Day in 2018, Weirather wanted to provide a festival for her rural area.
"Flutists of all ages would be able to attend without having to pay a ton of money and/or drive several hours away," she said. "I loved attending events like this when I was younger, and now I want to give back to the community in the best way I can."
Weirather moved the event to SCC two years ago.
"I grew up in Nauvoo, so I did it there and it got quite a bit bigger, then COVID didn't really help numbers," Weirather said. "Basically it's the same festival that's re-branded."
The RFF is funded primarily by local businesses.
"When I started in Nauvoo, I literally walked the streets — Nauvoo being such a small town where everybody knows me — and I went to each business and asked if they'd like to donate," Weirather said. "Then I would try to get them advertising during the festival and, depending on the amount of the donations, they'd be on the backs of the T-shirts. It helped that it wasn't just in Nauvoo."
SCC music program coordinator Daniel Pappas said the college is delighted to host the Riverbend Flute Festival again.
"Karen has gathered some incredible faculty and is providing aspiring flutists with access to what will no doubt be inspiring instruction," Pappas said.
Melissa Keeling
Acclaimed for a performing repertoire ranging from orchestral literature to electronic music, Melissa Keeling is an adjunct professor of music education and music history at Western Kentucky University. Keeling is also a Trevor James International Flute Artist. A native of Kentucky, she has released three solo albums and two flute-themed books. She performs with orchestras and rock bands alike. Keeling regularly presents solo and chamber music across the country at festivals and universities.
"Each year Karen seems to raise the bar even more and add new elements to the day," Pappas said. "This year she is bringing in a phenomenal guest artist who plays electric flute and uses a glissando neck."
Keeling is nationally recognized as a champion of the electric flute — a flute played into a microphone connected to an amplifier.
"I’m a flutist, but this won’t be your 'traditional' flute concert," Keeling said. "I’ll be playing flute with effects pedals such as delay, looping, harmonizers and more to create unique arrangements and original songs, too."
Keeling will also introduce her concert crowd to the glissando flute; the Glissando Headjoint is a sliding, telescoping tube that extends the overall length of the flute to create a glissando to and from every note. This headjoint offers access to a new sonic vocabulary of glissandi, bends, multi-phonics, timbres, microtones and scales that dramatically increase the expressive potential available to flutists and composers.
Keeling's free concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at the Capitol Theater, 211 N. 3rd St. in Burlington.
Workshops and recital
The actual Riverbend Flute Festival will be held Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington.
"There will be a full day of fantastic flute events, workshops, performances, and competitions," Keeling said. "I’m so happy for this chance to connect with flutists and music lovers in the area."
Weirather said some 20 people had registered as of this week. The festival includes participation workshops, performing in the flute choir, watching professional flute recital, and flute swag bags. Participants can also compete in the concert for cash and prizes.
Registration continues the day of the festival but latecomers will not receive T-shirts or be able to compete.
A faculty concert at 11:30 a.m. and a “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” competition at 4 p.m. are open to the public. A final flute choir piece follows "Bruno," followed by a reception.
Weirather said the signups were from all over southeast Iowa.
"I got quite a few from Keokuk. I got a couple from Hamilton, a couple from Nauvoo," she said.
Featured workshops are by Keith Hanlon of Coralville, a flute technician and a founding board member of the Iowa City Flute Choir; Suyeon Ko, a flute professor at Western Illinois University; Heather Neuenschwander, the principal piccolo player with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra and director and co-founder of the Iowa City Flute Choir; Rose Bishop, principal flute of SEISO and a teacher at St. Ambrose University, Coe College, Cornell College and Kirkwood Community College.
Karen Weirather
Weirather said she has always loved music.
"I loved band ever since I was a kid, and when I got older, I realized I wanted to do it for a living," she said. "So I went to college and got my bachelor's and master's in flute performance."
Weirather chose the flute in fourth grade because, "I thought it looked the prettiest," she said. "It ended up being the perfect instrument for me."
"Karen’s playing is beautifully exquisite," retired Bel Canto Chorale director Roger Hatteberg said. "Her passion for living composers and their works is admirable, necessary and inspiring."
SEISO executive director Jeffry Phillips agreed: "Karen is yet another gem of a musician in southeast Iowa."
Saturday's Festival is free and open to the public.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Riverbend Flute Festival returns to SCC this weekend
