Flute Lessons with Maria Tamburrino

My latest gift from my star pupil, Alfredo! Happy holidays to all flute pupils everywhere!

I gained 160 followers, created 1 post and received 6 reactions in the past 90 days! Thank you all for your continued support. I could not have done it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

Happy Easter! My beautiful rhododendron is putting its yearly musical show for all of you! Enjoy!

Perfect hand position at age 10! So important..
Bravo Isabelle! Maybe you watched your Sister Kareena…?

Spring recital with an amazing program. Pupils from Sacramento, Pleasanton, Fremont, Berkeley, and Rochester MN on zoom (got ill and canceled last minute)
Marvelous program and high heels galore. I stayed in flats for running around…ha!
Memorable day!

My email to Michie and tribute to the great William Bennett
Dear Michie
Please accept my deepest condolences. There are not enough words to express the feeling of great loss we all feel. In the few interactions I had with Wibb, it was clear I was in the presence of greatness. He was always searching for more information, and probing the intonation problems of the flute. His playing was simply the best and many times I slammed on the brakes in my car when Wibb soared through the texture of the ECO or LSO etc with his signature tone. It was his scintillating musicality, and perfect intonation that stood out.
The recordings are mind- boggling. The book “Wibb” is simply proof of his probing mind. He explored every aspect of flute design to which he made a huge contribution: including pitch and head joint cuts. Sheer genius, really.

I remember the Prom concerts during which Wibb participated in the Sinfonia Concertante of Mozart, Robert Levin transcription with my husband George Cleve conducting the ECO. The tour continued to Cologne where I sat in various vantage points in the hall for multiple concerts. Wibb wore a bright red vest so he was easy to spot. He also sat on stage during the interval and tuned every note he was to play on the second half (a Mozart piano concerto with Mitsuko Uchida) with his hand over one ear. He was spectacularly wonderful every night, his tone effortlessly soaring through the hall. Beautifully phrased and perfectly in tune. Unforgettable.

I’ve sent my pupils to his classes and they’ve returned with a trove of special fingerings and Wibb stories. I remember when George and I attended a flute class at the Royal Academy of Music. It lasted from 9 am to 6 pm with a small break for lunch. Wibb’s energy was astounding. I remember he stopped one flutist 18 times because his repeated low A’s in the beginning of the Bach Partita were not in tune. Wibb let me play his Louis Lot flute with open G #.
He could switch easily. Trevor Wye was there. George and I joined them for lunch and I witnessed their private parlay…

One of my pupils returned from a Wibb class and said “Isn’t that intonation stuff a bit over the top?”
I said, “No. it’s everything.”

Wibb left so much to all of us on this planet. There is no way to express my appreciation here. I feel for you, Michie, and hope that somehow all of the love and appreciation from the flute community will bring some peace.

With deepest sympathy,
Maria Tamburrino

Halloween concert. San Jose.
Happy fall to all returning flute pupils everywhere.
A few suggestions for surprising your teacher:
Check yourself out in the mirror
Are your thumbs right? Left thumb overlaps. Right thumb under the flute and back. Curved fingers
Posture?
Right arm swings forward a bit.
And don’t forget your feet. Left foot forward and right back a bit and to the right
Review your reading. Put a new piece on your stand. Track it with your finger, then your eyes.. from a good performance on YouTube
Pitch: take one phrase each day..loud, soft, high, low. Tune every note in the phrase at the correct volume. Use your lips, air direction, and air speed. Use a tuner.
Play a few tapers and harmonics
And lastly
Take that alcohol swab and clean and polish your flute daily, especially in this warm muggy weather.
There...you’re ready for your lesson!