Legendary Flutist to Present Free Recital, Master Classes During Flute Weekend

Date: 1/22/07
Contact: Marc Lebovitz

Flutist William Montgomery, who is professor of flute, chamber music and wind pedagogy at the University of Maryland, will present a free guest recital at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, in Kemp Recital Hall as part of a flute weekend at Illinois State University.

He will be accompanied by local pianist Patty Foltz.

Montgomery will give master classes at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, and at noon Sunday, Feb. 4, all in Kemp Recital Hall. In the master classes, students of Kim Risinger, associate professor at Illinois State, will perform flute solos, flute concertos, flute and piano and orchestral excerpts. Flutists from the community also are welcome to attend.

Since his 1960 solo recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, Montgomery has established an international reputation as a performer and teacher. He has performed as principal flutist with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the National Gallery of Art Orchestra, the Washington Opera, the Washington Chamber Orchestra and the U. S. Marine Band. He has been a soloist or chamber musician with such groups as the New York Philharmonic Octet, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Guerneri String Quartet and the Cassatt String Quartet.

Montgomery's many acclaimed students, including Kim Risinger, hold positions with many universities, conservatories and orchestras in the United States and Europe, and have been prize winners in many national and international competitions.

The author of more than 30 articles on the flute and flute performance, Montgomery has served as a consultant to the Music Division of the Library of Congress and was a member of the U.S. Fulbright Selection Committee in Music. He has produced more than 450 concerts on his weekly series at the Arts Club of Washington, D.C., and on the occasion of his 400th concert, the U.S. Senate honored him by flying a flag above the Capitol building in his honor.

Montgomery's Feb. 2 program will include Debussy's Prèlude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Donizetti's Sonata in C Major; "Der Lindenbaum" from Schubert's "Die Winterreise;" Sigfrid Karg-Elert's Appassionata Sonata in F sharp Minor, Op. 140; Beethoven's Romance in F Major, Op. 50; Rabboni's Sonata No. 1 in G Major for Flute and Piano; Stephen Foster's Two Songs from "The Social Orchestra; and Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano.