VIII Edition

Dear flutists,

The new VIII Edition of The Babel Flute marks the two year anniversary of The Babel Flute since we announced a new platform and project on March 20, 2021. The global flute community immediately supported it! Thank you so much to all our contributors, readers, and followers!

In a sense, this has become a powerful unifying and creative movement in the world of the flute, which we are happy and very proud of!

The Babel Flute now has 70 contributors from 27 countries! In this Edition we have 9 new authors and 3 new countries! 

The Babel Flute received over 250,000 visits from 228 countries in 2 years! In February 2023 alone, “The Babel Flute” appeared on Google search over 142,000 times, not counting social media and other sources.

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day in March, the new magazine cover reflects our tribute to all women and their talents! 

The Babel Flute Courses are available in 100 languages on a dedicated platform! Don’t forget to visit it!

We also would like to announce a new pedagogical initiative “CRESCENDO: Growing Together“:

Crescendo: Growing Together aims to bring teachers together on the Crescendo forum, exchange ideas and offer help.

Crescendo: Growing Together is led by Kathy Blocki, Director of Education for The Babel Flute with a team of Crescendo Flute Pedagogy Specialists: Emily Beynon, Dr. Heidi Kay Begay, Elizabeth Brightbill, Amy Likar, Paula Mims, and Mary C. J. Byrne, Ph.D, and Nicole Elkins and consists of Crescendo Forum and Crescendo Resource Center. In the future, as the initiative develops, additional features are planned to be released.


In this edition:

Kyiv Flute Days festival is being held on March 19-21, 2023! Congratulations to its Artistic Director Anton Kushnir/Антон Кушнір and all participating flutists! We will be posting updates in the News & Events category!

The Babel Flute is proud to be the main media partner with the International Kyiv Flute Festival from the very beginning in 2021!

Lázaro Antonio Mena Cordero, a master from Cuba, tells us about his unique experience and work on Claude Laurent’s crystal flute and shares many interesting pictures of the process:

Flauta de Cristal de 1838 Restaurada

Anush Naroyan (Greece-Armenia) talks about Alan Hovhannes, a well-known American-Armenian composer who became famous in the 20th century for his originality:

Composer Alan Hovhaness

César Peredo (Peru) shares his teaching method, which is the result of his 40 years of teaching experience. Its goal is to make learning music and playing the flute exciting:

Método de flauta traversa de César Peredo

Daniel Cueto (Peru) talks about “Prisma”, his first composition for flute solo, an intimate project that emerged at a defining moment in his career as a Peruvian flutist and composer:

PRISMA, o una luz que se desdobla en colores andinos

Francisca Fernandez (Chile), a professional flutist and psychologist discusses how to incorporate the idea of ​​​​compassion in the field of musical practice:

Perfeccionismo y Compasión en la práctica del Músico

Irina Nekipelova (Russia) is the athor and organizer of Flute Extravaganza, a new socially significant event in Saint- Petersburg, uniting musicians of different ages – from young children who are just starting their way in Music, to adults – professionals who teach and play:

«Феерия Флейты» – рождение проекта

Jennifer Stinton (UK) shares about her life and career as a musician and how to prepare for a performance:

My Life As A Musician – Preparation for a performance

Jocelyn Crosby (USA) conducted a survey of flute teachers to get their feedback on the skills and habits from band. There are some interesting and unexpected answers!

Flute Teachers’ Survey Results: Skills and Habits from Band

Katherine Lewis (USA) explores how music classrooms (public and private) provide space for many musicians where other places don’t, and provide creative tools for educators of all kinds to serve as a beacon for music accessibility throughout the industry:

Music Classrooms as the Gateway to Access

Australian flutist Laura Chislett‘s interviews with flutists Zacharias Tarpagkos (Greece) and Keyna Wilkinson (Australia) are published in the category “Flutists travel“: 

Interview with Zacharias Tarpagkos

Interview with flutist and composer Keyna Wilkins

Lea Pearson (USA) shares some of the biggest myths about breathing, which she calls myth-conceptions and suggests to have an informal talk about it:

Myth-Conceptions about Breathing

Lindsey McChord, an American flute maker, shows us the engraving process and illustrates it with stunning examples of engravings on various parts of the flute:

Flute Engraving – Everything You Need to Know

Ludwig Böhm (Germany) tells us about his legendary great-great-grandfather Theobald Böhm and his career as a flutist, as we continue the publication of a series of Ludwig’s articles from “Commemorative Writing on the occasion of Theobald Böhm’s 200th Birthday, Munich 1994”, gradually approaching the celebration of Theobald Böhm’s 230th birthday in 2024:

Theobald Böhm as a flutist

Manuel Carranza Cueto (Peru) talks about the moceño, the transverse Flute of the Altiplano. This unique wind instrument originally comes from Bolivia and has a very interesting intimate sound:

El Moceño: La Flauta Traversa Del Altiplano

Marco Gaudino (Italy) discusses the differences in the behavior of the vocal cords between sound emission on the flute and vocal production.

Le corde vocali nella produzione del suono

Mirella Pantano (Italy) examines the relationship between flute player and flute and discusses how the relationship between musician and instrument affects musical performance.

Passione… Amore… Odio e nel flauto traverso

Onorio Zaralli (Italy) provides an invaluable guide to writing cadenzas using Mozart’s Concerto in D Major as an example. By the end of the article, you will feel inspired and equipped with all the tools to give it a try!

La Cadenza: che cosa è, come scriverla

Paola Andreoli ( Italy) discovers the connection between the flute and well-being and explores the effects and benefits of 432 Hz music:

Musica per l’Anima

Rachel Simon, The Fute Mechanic from the USA, reveals all the secrets of how to become a flute technician along with insights from her own experience in this field:

The Road to Becoming a Flute Repair Tech

Rogier de Pijper (The Netherlands) offers an unexpected and captivating topic on why you shouldn’t always play pretty and shares a contemporary technique called “wind sounds”:

Waarom je niet altijd mooi zou moeten spelen

Stefan Keller (Switzerland) talks about what is so special about the quarter-tone flute, how to learn to play it and what are the advantages of this instrument:

The Quarter Tone Concert Flute

Vilma Campitelli (Italy) tells us about Violet Archer, a fundamental figure in Canadian composition whose music has been performed all over the world and has earned international recognition and awards.

Violet Archer (1913-2000) – Antesignana della musica moderna in Canada

Yulia Berry (USA) invites you on an exciting and entertaining journey through the history of advertising. You won’t believe some of the examples of how the flute has been used to promote various products. See for yourself!

Flute in the history of advertising

As always, the new edition comes with new flute games and quizzes, created by Onorio Zaralli. Test your knowledge and have fun!

As always, we ask you, our readers, to share and leave comments under the articles you like. Your comment or repost will be equivalent to a virtual thank you!

We now start accepting articles for June!