The Charm of Finches - Flute Ensemble
As colleagues and friends, the members of Charm of Finches have been swooping in and out of each others’ lives for more than a decade. Their shared connections include hometowns, high schools, universities, training orchestras, and now Canada’s professional arts landscape. The Finches are active soloists and chamber musicians in their own right; their performance history extensively covers Canada and the US, as well as Asia, and the United Kingdom, and performance venues stretching from the forests of Haliburton, Ontario to Carnegie Hall.
The Finches’ premiere performance opened the Canadian Flute Association’s 2015 Convention and featured bass, alto, C-flute and piccolo. In their inaugural 2015/2016 season they performed as featured artists at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, The Arts and Letters Club, Guelph Connections Series, and Stratford Summer Music Festival’s Bach Walk where their performance exceeded expectations attracting record breaking numbers of audience members at each show. Media coverage includes Rogers’ Daytime Toronto, the Toronto Star, and Stratford Beacon Herald and a strong social media following.
The Finches’ shared love of the flute’s orchestral repertoire is reflected within their individual careers. They have had the privilege to perform and/or hold positions in ensembles such as the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Kingston Symphony, the Niagara Symphony, the London Sinfornia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Esprit Orchestra. This passion has informed the group’s repertoire which includes nuanced quintet arrangements of orchestral masterpieces. They also find mutual inspiration in contemporary music. All members have been active in the premieres and promotion of new repertoire by both emerging and established Canadian composers. The group is excited to continue this pattern in the canon of FluteQuintet Repertoire. In 2016 Charm of Finches premiered two new arrangements for Quintet arranged for and dedicated to the ensemble as well as a brand new commission by Canadian Estonian composer Riho Esko Maimets.The groups’ collective history is enriched by a diversity of training from some of the world’s most prestigious flautists including, James Walker, Timothy Hutchins, Douglas Stewart, Leslie Newman and Lorna McGhee. Charm of Finches are dedicated educators, with well-established private teaching studios, who bring their training and experience as guest artists in schools and summer music programs across the province. They hold degrees in performance from McGill University, the University of Toronto, The Royal College of Music, University of British Columbia and the University of Southern California.
A bird sings to attract a mate, establish territory, or simply because they love to sing. Charm of Finches look to make an impact on Canada’s music scene.
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