Rome. Venice.

December 28, 2012 By

How can you say no to Italy???  Certainly not I.  Whenever my agent offers me Italy, I have to accept.  The Roman streets were were sultry in the balmy summer air.  Can you believe I even encountered a flute playing afar whist I was dinning??  I followed the delicious sounds down the dark alleys and found myself witnessing a Flute and Piano Recital amongst the Ancient Roman Ruins.  How delightful!!  I wan’t able to find out the name of this wonderful artist.  I tried to find this flutist on Facebook unsuccessfully.  He will never know how much I appreciated having found him performing in this romantic and historic setting.  Someday I hope to return and present a recital in this very place.

Venice is always so splendid, magnificent, perennial.  I always feel like I’m in a living version of Romeo and Juliet in Venice.  It’s just so darn romantic.  Someday I hope to visit with my lover….

Viviana Guzman Photography:

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Salvador, Brazil

December 28, 2012 By

The Brazilians are by far The Most Affectionate Audience one could ever encounter.  They express such enthusiasm, passion, love, and support, it’s the one place where a Flutist can actually feel like a Rock Star.  Ahhhh, yes….  my Inner Leo loves THAT!!!  Following is the standing ovation I got from my Brazilian audience after playing Lord of the Dance.  Muito obrigada Brasil!!!  Thank you Brazil!!!

YouTube Preview Image
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Funchal, Portugal & Cadiz, Melilla, Cartagena, Spain

December 28, 2012 By

Did I mention that it was my intention to cut down on my travels?  HA!  It may be my intention to travel less, but not to give it up altogether, no.  Instead of touring most of the time, I’m down to touring about 50% of the time.  I’m still trying to find my perfect balance between home and the road as this is still a work in progress.

So when my agent waved Funchal, Cadiz, Melilla (North African province of Spain) and Cartagena, Spain I said, “YES!”  I can’t help myself.  I love to travel.  Combine that with my other love, performing, and you have one happy camper named Viviana.  So off to these exotic lands I went.  My performances were very well attended and I got consistent standing ovations (yes, the Leo that resides inside of me believes this is very important).

The most interesting to me was Melilla with it’s Medieval Fortress and cobblestone streets.  Despite being a Spanish province, people looked more Arab and they spoke Arab and Spanish and French.  What an interesting place it was!

Playing in Cathedral in Spain YouTube Preview Image

 

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San Francisco Flute Festival

December 28, 2012 By

I started the San Francisco Flute Festival for several reasons.  First, I had been so impressed by the way Matej Zupan and Salvatore Lombardi ran their flute festivals in Slovenia and Milan respectively, that I thought someday I would like to return the favor and ask them to come to San Francisco to perform for us.  I’m feeling more and more called to start looking for reasons to keep me more at home rather than touring 95% of the time like I used to.

So in 2010, I decided to embark on producing the 1st San Francisco Flute Festival.  I invited Matej Zupan (Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra) as well as Bulent Evcil (Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra), Timothy Day (San Francisco Symphony) and Robin McKee (San Francisco Symphony) to join us in our inaugural event.   We held it in an oceanfront venue near my house in Half Moon Bay which was both charming and inspiring.

The event turned out to be so successful that we were thrilled to be able to launch the 2nd San Francisco Flute Festival this year, this time presented at the San Francisco Conservatory near the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco.  Our guest artists included Gary Schocker, Mario Caroli, Christina Jennings, Nicole Esposito, Linda Lukas (San Francisco Symphony) 6 flute choirs, and San Francisco local flutists Areon Flutes, Carol Alban, Rebecca Kleinmann, Lars Johannesson, Pamela Ravenelle, Teresa Orozco, Gail Edwards, Ai Goldsmith.

The event would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of our Corporate Members, Linda Shum, Diane Sangster and the amazing Sue Rupp whose attention to detail and diligent work help launch us from a one day festival to a two day festival.  We had twice as many participants and attendees and loads of fun was had by all.

Viviana Guzman and Gary Schocker play Schocker YouTube Preview Image

Mario Caroli plays Bach YouTube Preview Image

Just Another Flutist, Joanna Tse’s review of the SF Flute Festival YouTube Preview Image

Christina Jennings plays Caprice Variations YouTube Preview Image

Nicole Esposito plays FLASH YouTube Preview Image

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Festival of Four

December 28, 2012 By

At the beginning of the year I did a tour with my quartet, Festival of 4.  We had concerts in Fort Walton, Florida and Biloxi, Mississippi where I also presented a Flute Masterclass at the Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, FL.  The South is pleasant at that time of year as the weather is crisp and fresh.  We had very enthusiastic audiences who gave us standing ovations and insisted we return soon.  I really enjoyed presenting the Masterclass at the Northwest Florida State College.  The Flute Professor there, Robin Horne, was especially gracious to have organized the class so quickly and to have had so many people in attendance despite the cold and rainy weather.

Festival of 4 then flew back West Coast where we played at the Rabobank Theater in Bakersfield, CA where Kid Rock had performed just days prior to us in the 3,000 seat theater.  We managed to pull in a sizable audience of about 2,000 and again received a standing ovation and sold loads of CDs.  I presented another Masterclass at the University of California, Bakersfield sponsored by Altus Flutes and generously co-ordinated by Audrey Boyle.

Festival of Four Promotional Video YouTube Preview Image

Festival of Four Short Promotional Video YouTube Preview Image

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NAMM & Sh!t Flute Players Say

December 28, 2012 By

 

I attended the NAMM Convention 2012 where I visited with my wonderful flute maker Altus Handmade Flutes.  I ended up hooking up with Fluterscooter and we filmed “Sh!t Flute Players Say” when those memes were popular in early 2012.  Our video ended up with more than 40,000 views.  We thought it was pretty good considering we whipped it up in less than 48 hours.  This partnership lead us to subsequently film, “Things Nobody Says at NFA” which promoted our appearances at the National Flute Association Convention in Las Vegas.

 

 

Sh!t Flute Players Say YouTube Preview Image

Things Nobody Says at NFA YouTube Preview Image

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From Canary Islands, Spain to Salvador, Brazil

December 15, 2011 By

Viviana in Canary Islands, Spain

It was a loooong trip:  San Francisco, London, Madrid, Canary Islands.  But what a pleasant surprise when I checked into the luxurious 5 star hotel!  The Santa Catalina is a historic 1890 hotel right on the port.  In the lobby of my exquisite hotel, the pianist played campy Spanish bullfighting music while foreign languages dissipated like smoke from every table.  The balmy Canary Island evening breeze caressed my face whilst I ate a magnificent meal in the terrace restaurant with the former Ambassador of Ghana in the United States that I met in the elevator.  I felt like I was in a James Bond movie!

The orchestra I played with was very good.  It was nice to see some familiar faces.  I got a standing ovation after performing for 2,000 people, yes!  This always puts a huge satisfying grin on my face.

Next was Salvador, Bahia, Brasil.  I wish all my audiences were Brazilian audiences!!!  WOW!!!!  What energy!  What enthusiasm!  What love of life!  The most supportive audiences of the world are the Brazilian audience, hands down!!  There is nothing more satisfying that performing for Brazilian and feeling the audience love in their standing ovation and cheers.  Thank you Brazil!!!  Watch the Brazilian audience response in this video:

YouTube Preview Image
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Recital in Thailand, My 119th Country to Visit & Perform

December 14, 2011 By

Viviana with tuk-tuk

I’m proud to announce that Thailand was the 119th country that I have performed in.  I had such an INCREDIBLE time in Bangkok.  WOW!!!  What an amazing city!  I was so well received and taken care by Mr. Mongkol who graciously picked me up at the airport with his lovely wife, Dao.  He had me staying in an amazing 5 star hotel that had an ice bar downstairs… in the middle of Bangkok!  I was honored to be invited and to attend a very special dinner hosted by the Ambassador of Chile to Thailand, Javier Becker.  He and the Deputy Head of Mission, Gabriel Jara came to my concert, too.  It is as a result of meeting these two gentlemen that there is talk of a possible Grand Asian Tour 2012 sponsored by the Government of Chile.  I will keep you posted as details evolve.

 

From the river

I was there during the flooding which was sadly affecting the suburbs of Bangkok.  One evening while driving back from a rehearsal with my pianist, I saw waters that would have come just below my knee had I been walking.  I was in a car and praying that the car would not stall.  I took a small ferry to go see the Grand Palace where again, I saw a lot of the affected areas.  As usual, it was mainly the lower income houses that were falling into the river.  The high rise buildings and majestic hotels seemed untouched by the rising waters.

Flooding in Bangkok

 

The Bangkok Post gave me a nice write-up.  I presented a masterclass and played a concert with pianist Sun Hee Kim at the Goethe Institute that was sponsored in part by Altus Flutes both of which were fruitful.  But most of all, I have to admit, were the $10 massages that I was treating myself to every day.  I highly recommend a nail, pedicure and one of those famous Thai massages at Burberri Hair and Nail Salon in Silom near the Holiday Inn.  In fact, my last day in Bangkok I got 4 hours of treatments there.  I was in heaven!

Deputy Head of Mission from Chile in Thailand, Gabriel Jara

With Chilean Ambassador to Thailand, Javier Becker

Thai Students after performance

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10 Holiday Flute Gift Ideas for the Flutist in Your Life

December 12, 2011 By

 

Viviana Guzman proud owner of a Fluterscooter Bag

1.  Gift the sensational Fluterscooter Flute Bag!

 

2.  Gift a Skype Lesson or Business of Music Internet Coaching via PayPal from the following:  a) Viviana Guzman twitter@FluteQueen, b) Lisa Schroeder twitter@SchroederFlute, c) Alexis Del Palazzo twitter@sensibleflutist

Bettine Clemen-Ware

 

3.  Gift a flute repair session, always necessary!  a) Anne Pollack in NYC.  Her website is Your Fluteworks  b) Lori Lee in San Francisco c) Joan Sparks’ Flute Pro Shop in Willmington, DE

 

4.  Gift Flute Holiday Music:  a) Bettine Clemen-Ware’s  Angel’s Noel  b) Fluterscooter’s Holiday Treasures

 

Greg Pattillo's 3 Beats for Beatbox Flute

5.  Gift original music by our favorite flutists:  a) Gary Schocker I found a Sheet Music Plus page with several of his charming works here  b) Greg Pattillo released his 3 Beats for Beatbox flutes this year and can be ordered here.  

 

Gary Schocker will be performing at the SF Flute Festival 2012

6.  Add to the flute collection by gifting exotic ethnic flutes:  a) For a Native American Indian Flute, the best quality for a good price, I think are Odel Borg’s High Spirits Flutes,  b) For Bansuri Flutes check out the  Joshua Geisler Bansuri Flute  c) Purchase a Penny whistle at your local music store usually for under $20.

 

Christina Jennings will be performing at the SF Flute Festival 2012

7.  For the budding toddler flutist, gift Barbara Siesel’s Green Golly and Her Golden Flute CD.  Charming, original, and perfect stories for your little ones set to the beautiful flute playing of Barbara Siesel.  Listen to sound samples and order from CD Baby here.  My 4 year old niece loves this recording!

 

8.  Books written by flutists:  a) Book of poetry, Love Soliloquies by Viviana Guzman  b)  Practice Books by Trevor Wye  c) Scale Studies by Meerenai Shim

Paula Robison

 

9.  Gift Favorite Flute Recordings:  a) Paula Robison (her album, “The Holy Land” is my personal favorite) Preview it here.  b) Check out the Italian Artful Mastery of Mario Caroli’s discography here  c) Take a listen to Christina Jennings’ beautiful records on Amazon here d) For Gary Schocker’s Amazon discography click here.  e) Order my own Viviana Guzman Classical, Latin, Flamenco, Meditation and Tango CD’s from Amazon here.  FYI, Mario Caroli, Gary Schocker, Christina Jennings and I will be performing at the San Francisco Flute Festival on June 16 & 17, 2012!  

 

Viviana Guzman will be performing at the SF Flute Festival 2012

10.  A Golden Gift Opportunity:  24K Altus Handmade Flute.  As price of gold continues to rise, investing in a golden flute would seem to be a wonderful investment.  The 24K Altus Flute is a gem with soaring sounds from the warm high register and lush low register.  A golden opportunity indeed!  Visit  AltusFlutes.com  

Trevor Wye is an Altus Artist

 

 

Mario Caroli will be performing at the SF Flute Festival 2012

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Welcome to FluteChats.com!

November 28, 2011 By

FluteChats.com interview with Paula Robison

I was scheduled to perform in Charlotte, NC at the National Flute Association Convention on Thursday.  My next concert was in Edinburgh, Scotland the following week.  Rather than going all the way home to San Francisco, I decided to come up with a small project that would keep me busy during the NFA week.  Ahhhh… that small project turned into a rather LARGE project… Ta Daaa!!  Welcome to FluteChats.com

 

I decided to take the opportunity to interview various flutists at the convention.  I throught I would create a new website where people could watch and hear advice from today’s leading Flute Stars.

 

As of the time of this posting, I have uploaded the following wonderful interviews:  Greg Pattillo, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Robert Dick, Brad Garner, Fluterscooter, Nicole Esposito.  Coming up you will find Trevor Wye, Alexa Still, Jimmy Walker, Katherine Kemler, Christina Jennings, Lisa Schroeder, Annie Wu, and a few wonderful surprises, too.

 

Whew!  It has become quite the project involving loads of time and several trips to my awesome webmistress Linda Shum’s house (check out ShumDesign.com) to fix different frustrating issues.  I have learned so much from this whole process.  All in all, it has been very rewarding, even if highly labor intensive.

 

I hope you will feel inspired to visit often FluteChats.com, or even subscribe in iTunes here.  Be sure to rate and leave a comment!

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