The NFA Gala Concerto Concert

An inspiring evening of flute concerto music

Saturday, August 5
Symphony Hall
Phoenix, AZ

The annual NFA Convention hosts the biggest flute concert of the year and the only event of its kind in the world: the Gala Concerto Concert.

This exciting gala evening presents a rare opportunity to experience an entire concert of flute concertos, performed by virtuoso flutists from around the globe, with a full orchestra. Each year, the Gala Concerto Concert offers an eclectic mix of repertoire featuring flute and piccolo in a variety of periods and styles. Past programs have included everything from classical favorites to compelling new music. For the thousands of flutists who attend the annual convention, the Gala Concerto Concert is the highlight of the week and eagerly anticipated all year.

2023 Gala Artists

Carol Wincenc

Sato Matsui, The Goldenrod Sonata for flute and orchestra

Keith Underwood

Léa Freire, Vento em Madeira

Aralee Dorough

Pablo de Sarasate, Carmen Fantasy

Matthias Ziegler (multiple flutes)

Philipp Classen, Evolution

Carla Rees

Daniel Kessner, Celebrations

Ebonee Thomas (piccolo, flute) and Anthony Trionfo (flute, alto flute)

Benny Golson, Thad Jones, and Charlie Parker, A Jazz Suite, orchestration by Kim Richmond

FINALE

Carol Wincenc and Sooah Jeon, with antiphonal flute choirs featuring the evening's soloists

Andrew William Thomas, Samba

Aralee Dorough

About

Carla Rees

Photo By Nick Romero

About

Daniel Kessner

Conductor

About

Past Gala Programs

2022 – Chicago

Demarre McGill

Miguel del Aguila, Malambo for flute and string orchestra

Jennifer Gunn

Thea Musgrave, Piccolo Play (orchestration commission by NFA)

Kersten McCall

Carl Reinecke, Flute Concerto

Sharon Bezaly

Christian Lindberg, The World of Montuagretta

Valerie Coleman

Jennifer Higdon, The Light That We Can Hear (world premiere NFA commission)

2019 – Salt Lake City

Chelsea Knox

Eldin Burton, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra

Jonathan Keeble

Richard Prior, Concerto for Flute

Hélène Boulègue

Theodor Verhey, Flute Concerto No. 1, Op. 43

Christina Smith

André Jolivet, Concerto

2018 – Orlando

Zart Dombourian-Eby (piccolo) and Carol Wincenc

Georg Philipp Telemann, Concerto for Flute and Piccolo in E Minor

Julien Beaudiment

Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Poem for Flute and Orchestra

Julia Bogorad-Kogan

Leonard Bernstein, Halil

Matthias Ziegler (multiple flutes)

Benjamin Yusopov, NOLA Concerto for various flutes and strong orchestra; second movement

Jasmine Choi

Daniel Dorff, A solo work for flute and orchestra, a world premiere written specifically for Jasmine Choi and the NFA

Marianne Gedigian

Jacques Ibert, Flute Concerto

2017 – Minneapolis

Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke, Time Dominoes: Concerto for Flute and Strings

Jeffery Zook (piccolo)

Egil Hovland, Concerto, Op. 117

Alexa Still

Elliott Carter, Concerto

Jean-Louis Beaumadier (piccolo)

Jean-Michel Damase, Concerto

Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson

Carl Nielsen, Concerto, FS 119

2016 – San Diego

Göran Marcusson

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto in G, K. 313

Jennifer Gunn

Ken Benshoof, Concerto in Three Movements

Linda Toote

Martin Amlin, In Memoriam C.D.H.

Trudy Kane

Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Concerto Elegia

Adrianne Greenbaum

Traditional arr. Adrianne Greenbaum, Klezmer Melody

Walter Auer

Carl Reinecke, Concerto in D Major, Op. 283

2015 – Washington, D.C.

Lorna McGhee

Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Milan Munchinger, Concerto in C Major for flute and orchestra after the A Major Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1055

Paula Robison

Kent Kennan, Night Soliloquy

Mark Sparks

Katherine Hoover, Four Winds

Demarre McGill

Jeff Tyzik, Dream Sequence

Aaron Goldman

Lowell Liebermann, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 39

2014 – Chicago

Sarah Jackson

Daniel Dorff, Flash! for piccolo and orchestra

Leone Buyse

Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067

Robert Dick

Robert Dick, Concerto for flute/bass flute, strings, and percussion

Mary Kay Fink

Gabriela Lena Frank, Will-O-The-Wisp: A Tone Poem for flute and orchestra

Julien Beaudiment

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto No. 2 for flute and orchestra in D Major, K. 314

2013 – New Orleans

Nobutaka Shimizu

Orchestral excerpts:

Claude Debussy; Ludwig van Beethoven, Maurice Ravel

Orchestral excerpts:

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune; Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, “Eroica,” Beethoven Op. 55, Movement IV; Daphnis et Chloé

Karl-Heinz Schültz

Orchestral excerpts:

Georges Bizet, Johannes Brahms, Paul Hindemeth, Antonín Dvořák

Orchestral excerpts:

Entr’acte from Carmen (Prelude to Act III); Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98; Movement IV; Symphonic Metamorphosis, Movement III Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88; Movement IV

Sarah Jackson

Orchestral excerpts:

Gioacchino Rossini, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov; Rossini

Orchestral excerpts:

Overture to La gazza ladra; Caucasian Sketches, Op. 10, Movement IV; Overture to Semiramide

János Bálint

Felix Mendelssohn, arr. János Bálint, Concerto for flute (violin) and string orchestra in D Minor

Gary Shocker and Marcos Granados

Gary Shocker, Three Dances for Two Flute and Strings

Marianne Gedigian

Kryzstof Penderecki, Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra