TGIF, Jul 3, 5:30pm

Our Friday night concert is privileged to welcome the Flutissimo! Flute Choir, an accomplished orchestra from Dallas, Texas. They celebrate America with us by offering a concert of patriotism, harmony, and freedom.  Doors to the sanctuary open at 5:15pm and the concert begins at 5:30pm. The concert is free with donations accepted.

Program

Star Spangled Banner – John Stafford Smith, Arr. Ricky Lombardo

Heritage of America – Arr. Ricky Lombardo

Simple Gifts – Arr. Phylis Avidan Louke

The Fairest of the Fair -John Philip Sousa, Arr. Ricky Lombardo

Baroque Hoedown – Jean Jacques Peppy and Gershon Kingsley, Arr. Ricky Lombardo

Stephen Foster’s America – Stephen G. Foster, Arr. Ricky Lombardo

Stars and Strips Forever – John Philip Sousa, Arr. Bill Holcombe

Flutissimo Flute Choir, Dallas, Texas

Veronica Mascaro, Conductor
Janice Spooner, Artistic Director

Flutissimo! Flute Choir Biography

In 1997 Flutissimo! Flute Choir began with 8 members under the name of Mid-Cities Flute Choir. Three of those members, Kathleen Holley, Janice Spooner, and Cheryl Stewart, are still performing with the group. In three years our numbers had grown to 16 including two alto flutes, we had an actual conductor, and their name changed to what it is today. Their first conductor was George Virgili, former band director at Richland H.S. and now deceased. Their second conductor was Mark Chandler, currently the Fine Arts Director of HEB ISD. Flutissimo! grew to about 20 people when Tom Connelly, music teacher at TCC-S, was the director on the fall of 2009 and helped the group grow to about 25 people, taking them for the first time as a performing group to the National Flute Association (NFA) Annual Convention in Charolotte, NC, in 2011 and again to Chicago in 2014. In the fall of 2014, Felix Torres became the conductor. By his fifth year, they had grown to over 30 performers, and in 2017 he took them to NFA in Minneapolis for their third national performance. The National Flute Association’s convention is the world’s largest flute convention in the world, with the 2nd largest being the Texas Flute Society Festival held in Denton, TX, every May. Being selected to perform at NFA is a highly regarded achievement that solidifies their place in the flute playing world and skyrockets their abilities to the next level. Their wonderful conductors have taken them to the Texas Flute Festival where Flutissimo! has won Outstanding Amateur Ensemble consecutively since 2008. In 2014 they had their first commissioned piece by low flutist Chris Potter, “Tres Ratitas Ciegas,” a Mexican-style version of “3 Blind Mice.” They have had composers from all over the US, Peru, and from England and Scotland send them compositions. Alexander Abbott from Scotland not only writes for them, but in 2011 came to Texas to conduct two of his pieces. Flutissimo! is now under the leadership of Veronica Mascaro, herself a world-renowned flutist. Flutissimo! Flute Choir is a success story of nearly 25 years!