An afternoon of free music from Emporia State University flautists promises entertainment for anyone who wishes to attend.
Current and former members of ESU’s flute choir have been busy preparing for a reunion and free concert, to take place Sunday at 3 p.m. in the university’s Heath Recital Hall.
In addition to the student flautists, the reunion will include both Kate Bergman, ESU’s current flute instructor, and Jan Parker, who taught flute at ESU from 1987 to 2000. Parker was responsible for creating the flute choir at ESU after she was able to arrange funding for the school to obtain an alto and a bass flute to round out the choir. She currently lives and teaches in Appleton, Wis.
The reunion will include former students of both instructors as well as undergraduates currently studying with Bergman.
For many who study music in school, it’s natural to keep playing even if their career paths lead away from their instruments. One alumna who will take part in the reunion, Tanya Terhune, graduated in 2001 with a degree in elementary education. Others go into musical careers specifically, including Stacy Regehr, a 2002 graduate who teaches flute and piano in Madison, Wis.; Amy Schrader, a 1994 graduate who teaches elementary music in McPherson; and Sara Coltrane, who recently revived the Kindermusik program in Emporia. Former student Melissa White also will take part in the reunion.
This year is Bergman’s eighth year teaching at ESU, but this is the first reunion of former flute students to take place.
“Jan (Parker) suggested we should have the reunion,” Bergman said. “She contacted me about a specific piece of music and then it’s ended up being what we’re going to be doing at the reunion.”
At the free concert on Sunday, the separate groups will play a few pieces on their own, then get together and play a couple as one group.
One song the group will perform together will be “Yorkshire Ballad” by James Barnes. Bergman said the song is played every year during ESU’s Woodwind Day, a day set aside to recruit students for the university’s music program.
Current students taking part include Nancy Rice, an Emporia native who recently earned a bachelor’s degree and is now in graduate school. Rice has been playing the flute for 15 years, and is looking forward to Sunday’s reunion and concert.
“When I was in high school I heard the flute choir that they had then,” Rice said. “I thought it was amazing, so I joined.”
Current student Audrianna Claassen of Newton joined the flute choir even though she is not a music major.
“I’ve been playing the flute since the fifth grade, and I joined the flute choir because I didn’t want to stop playing after high school,” Claassen said.