Flutist Amy Porter has been praised by critics both for her exceptional musical talent and her passion for scholarship. Through a versatile and distinguished career as a concert performer, she has become one of the most skillful and creative muses for composers of our time. From her prolific performances of Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears to her October 2022 performance at Carnegie Hall celebrating Lukas Foss’s centennial with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Porter’s accomplishments speak for themselves. The multifaceted Porter is also an acclaimed professor of music at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Recipient of the Henry Russel Award in 2006, Amy has served as a mentor to developing musicians at the University of Michigan. Amy’s popular workshop Anatomy of Sound, is now the AOS-Wellness.com website and offers courses in peaceful breathing, yoga and meditation, along with channels on movement, meditation, wisdom, practice, and breathing.
Winner of the 3rd Kobe International Flute Competition and the Paris/Ville d’Avray International Flute Competition, Ms. Porter has served on international juries around the world, including the 6th Kobe competition. She has been heard in recital on National Public Radio; on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center; and featured on the covers and as a writer for the magazines Flute Talk in the USA and The Flute in Japan. She has won praise both as a recording artist and as a chamber musician. As a member of Trio Virado, with violist Jaime Amador and guitarist João Luiz, she performs and records new works for flute, viola and guitar. Formerly a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Porter graduated from The Juilliard School. She plays a 14K white gold flute with rose gold engraved keys made for her by the William S. Haynes Co.
Molly Barth is constantly in motion. This Grammy Award-winning flutist, professor and clinician moves effortlessly from concert hall to teaching studio to rehearsal room to orchestral section. Molly needs fuel for this fire.
Molly is fueled by visceral communication with listeners. This “ferociously talented” performer (The Oregonian) crosses from VA to CA, the UK to Korea. The halls may be large or small, the music may be old or new, but the performances are always concentrated, and intense.
Molly is fueled by the smell of wet ink. Molly has premiered hundreds of pieces, finding the creation of new music uplifting and miraculous. As co-founder and former member of the ensembles Eighth Blackbird and Beta Collide, Molly toured the world, recorded a dozen albums, and—with Eighth Blackbird—won a Grammy Award.
Molly is fueled by the spark and closeness of chamber music. Molly is a co-founder of the Zohn Collective, a group of curious musicians who share a love of risk and exploration. They have collaborated with a puppet company and a cartoonist, and have toured the world and record extensively.
Molly is fueled by her work as a teacher. Molly is Associate Flute Professor at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, and Molly guides her students to become comprehensive flutists. They leave Molly as skilled, flexible, bold musicians, able to think critically and speak to audiences. Molly took her inspiration primarily from her stellar teachers at Oberlin, the Cincinnati Conservatory, and Northwestern.
Molly is fueled by involvement in community. Molly is the Associate Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy, where she curates connections among people.
Molly is fueled by the natural world. Molly runs or bikes daily, and friends say that if she sees a mountain, she wants to climb it. Molly is driven to play in unconventional locations such as a lava field, a lighthouse, a gold-mining dredge, Crater Lake National Park, and a well-traveled pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville.
Molly is fueled by her desire to document her adventures as a performer. You can hear Molly’s blend of control and ferocity on these featured albums: Vento Appassionato, digging into 20th-century solo flute repertoire; Thorn, focusing on the chamber music of David Lang; and Castillos de Viento, performing intimate music with guitar. Then see where it all began on her YouTube page: at her first solo public performance, in fifth grade, of “Memory” from the musical Cats.
Molly grew up in a small town north of New York City, the daughter of a librarian and a nurse. Molly now lives in Nashville with her wine-industry-professional husband and their cello-playing son. They keep Molly’s feet firmly planted on the ground.
To help fuel Molly, contact Molly via her website: mollybarth.com
Flutist, musicologist and entrepreneur Maria Fernanda Castillo has been offering intentional and meaningful performances that can contribute to the search for balance in the music world. Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and co-founder of the Latin American Music Initiative, Maria has found approaches to teaching, research, and performances that not only highlight the importance of standard works in the flute canon but also help the inclusion, awareness and accessibility of works by underrepresented composers.
Hailed by the New York Times as a flutist who performs with “…virtuoso panache,” Maria debuted in New York City with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas in 2008, under Alondra de la Parra. Additionally, in 2009 she had her professional debut as a soloist in Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra under Mtro. Carlos Riazuelo. She has also performed as a soloist with the Caracas Municipal Symphony under Mtros. Rodolfo Saglimbeni and her husband, Régulo Stabilito. Her latest collaboration include the performance of Shadow of Sirius for flute and wind ensemble by Joel Puckett with the University of Tennessee Wind Ensemble conducted by John Zastoupil.
Co-founder of the Latin American Music Initiative (LAMI) with her husband, orchestra conductor Régulo Stabilito, they are committed to advocating for raising awareness of Latin American repertoire. LAMI has allowed them to reach a large community by performing, recording, lecturing and editing Latin American works. Her work with LAMI has allowed her to be part of the 2020-2021 Mellon Public Engagement in the Humanities Fellow. As a musicologist, Maria has created an online flute catalogue with 143 flute works by Venezuelan composers, helping the repertoire be known and accessible for performers all over the world and develop a new approach to flute etude study by contextualizing etudes based on their historical context. In addition, she is part of a group of 9 Latin American female flutists to create the largest catalogue of flute works by Latin American composers. Maria also maintains an active service life within University of Tennessee-Knoxville and other flute organizations, such as serving as coordinator of the NFA Young Artist Competition (2023-2026), as exhibitor’s coordinator for the Mid-South Flute Association and as judge for national and regional auditions/competitions. Lastly, Maria believes in the importance of developing a strong and supporting community which led her to found and direct the Vols Flute Fest, a 2-day festival that takes place at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville every Fall.
As an orchestral musician, Maria frequently performs with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. She has served as principal flute in orchestras in Venezuela, México and the United States. She was the Associate Principal of the Caracas Municipal Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Venezuelan Symphony, the Venezuela National Philharmonic, the Miami City Ballet, the New World Symphony, the Sphinx Symphony, the Mazatlán Sinfonietta, the “Sinaloa de las Artes” Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Acadiana Symphony and the Lake Charles Symphony.
A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Maria began her flute studies at the age of nine with Venezuelan flutist Luis Julio Toro. She holds a Bachelors, Specialist and Doctorate of Music degrees from the University of Michigan as a student of Amy Porter; a Masters of Music from the University of Miami under Christine Nield-Capotee; and a Masters in Latin American Musicology from the Unversidad Central de Venezuela.
Maria currently resides in Knoxville Tennessee, where she divides her time between her work as an educator, performer and activist; and practicing Ashtanga Yoga or playing golf.
Originally from Mumbai, India, flutist Dilshad Posnock has appeared in concerts and festivals across the United States, England, Puerto Rico and India, and has been featured on BBC TV and BBC World Service Radio.
Ms. Posnock’s performance experience is wide and varied. She has been featured as a concerto and recital soloist, as well as a chamber musician, collaborating with musicians from the New York Chamber Ensemble, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as her hometown ensemble – the Bombay Chamber Orchestra. She has also participated in such international music festivals as the Brevard Music Center, the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, the Cape May Music Festival, Musica Viva, and was a founding member of the Sangat Music Festival in Mumbai, India.
Ms. Posnock completed her undergraduate studies with Honors at the Royal College of Music, London, and her Master’s Degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she studied with renowned flutist and pedagogue Jeanne Baxtresser, former Principal Flute of the New York Philharmonic. While in Pittsburgh, she performed regularly with ensembles including the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Ballet, and Pittsburgh Opera, and was Director of the Artist Diploma Program at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music.
Ms. Posnock has a deep passion for teaching. She has served as Artist Lecturer in Flute at CMU, is currently Artist Faculty at the Brevard Music Center and Brevard College, and woodwind coach for the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra. She lives in Brevard, NC with her husband Jason, and two children. She is solo piccolo of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, and travels back to India to perform as Principal Flute with the South Asian Symphony Orchestra.
