Among students of the flute, Ian Clarke has a passionate following. His contemporary compositions, with names like “Zoom Tube” and “Spiral Lament,” and his highly innovative technique have made him a favorite at flute summer camps, competitions and conventions around the world.
When Clarke performs at the Vero Beach Museum of Art next Sunday, among the awestruck listeners will be the two women responsible for his coming here: Janet Hoffman, a Windsor resident and budding flute student who took up the instrument for health reasons; and Vera Guimaraes, her teacher, and the teacher of dozens of students in her 19 years in Vero.
If Hoffman, who is on the board of the museum, is excited about the concert, Guimaraes is over the moon. “Everyone wants Ian, all over the world,” she says.
As soon as word got out that the museum had finalized his appearance, professors of flute from University of Florida and University of Central Florida were asking if he could appear at their schools. “But I said, no, you have to come to Vero Beach,” says a gleeful Guimaraes. “Everybody was like, ‘Wow!’”
Based in London, Clarke is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His self-released CD, “Deep Blue,” made it into the top 10 on the UK Classical Artists chart, believed to be a first for an album of original flute music.
His Vero performance follows an appearance at the Carolina Flutefest at UNC-Greensboro, and the next day he leaves for visits to the Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory and two other universities, before returning to the U.K.
Had Clarke received a request out of the blue, Guimaraes says, he likely would have refused it out of hand, so packed is his schedule. But because it came from within the tight circle of the flute world, says Guimaraes, he accepted. “This is like a big flute family and we are there for each other. This is one of my dreams – to bring him to Vero.”
On the Vero end, Hoffman secured the Leonhardt Auditorium at the museum, after she and Guimaraes met with executive director Lucinda Gedeon and introduced her to Clarke’s work. That was a year ago; schedules on both ends are filled far in advance.
Hoffman had discovered Guimaraes through a neighbor at Windsor, to whom Guimaraes was teaching piano.
Born and raised in Brazil, Guimaraes’ mother was a professor of piano at a music conservatory; Guimaraes earned performance degrees in both flute and piano before moving to California, where she studied music history and chamber music at UCLA. She moved to Vero in 1994.
In 2009, Hoffman was been diagnosed with a lung condition. Her son, a physician, suggested she take up a wind instrument in the hopes of increasing her lung capacity. “He had in mind a sax,” she says, with a laugh. “I didn’t really picture myself as a saxophone player. So I said, what about a flute?”
That’ll work, her son told her. “He gave me my first flute for my birthday.”
That was 2009. “It’s worked,” she says. “It’s really increased my lung capacity.”
“She holds notes for a long time,” says Guimaraes with pride.
As a side benefit, she has found a pastime she adores. “It’s beautiful,” she says. “My life has this whole other part that’s just fabulous. I’ve always loved music, but this really gives you a great appreciation for people who are really gifted and they work very hard.
“I really work at it,” she says, “and I’m getting better and better. You tell your kids that when they’re little, and it’s true.”
She says Guimaraes early on challenged her with difficult works. “I would be tearing my hair out. My fingers are old!” she says laughing. But she persevered, encouraged by her tangible improvement.
Then, shortly after their lessons began, Guimaraes announced she was moving to Paris with her new husband, who works in design and planning for Charles de Gaulle airport; they met in Orlando at a pétanque tournament.
Before she left, though, she helped Hoffman set up a Skype account on her computer and they’ve done nearly all their lessons remotely ever since. Using a Mac and the Garage Band app prior to each lesson, Guimaraes records a piece of music and emails it to Hoffman, along with the sheet music she has scanned.
Now, even when Hoffman is at her home in Colorado, or until recently, in Switzerland, she can still have her lesson.
“It’s great because it doesn’t matter where I am. I don’t have to miss a lesson.”
Guimaraes is now Skyping with a number of students in the U.S. and in France – she’s even planning a Skype recital. “It’s a lot more work in terms of preparing,” she says. “But there’s no problem now with school or vacations. And kids never get to a lesson and say, ‘I forgot my music at home.’“
Like Gedeon, Hoffman learned of Clarke’s music through Guimaraes. “Go online,” she urges. “It’s fabulous. It’s like magic, what he does with the flute.”
Some in Vero may recognize Clarke’s “The Great Train Race,” played by Emilio Rutllant in a concert at First Presbyterian Church two years ago, which drew gasps from the spellbound audience.
Rutllant, a graduate of Vero Beach High School who went on to study flute at the University of Miami and now plays in the Miami City Ballet Orchestra, is one of a number of professional flutists who started out in Vero. While Rutllant’s teacher here was Jane Weise, Guimaraes has taught other Vero flutists who went on to study at Yale, Columbia, MIT, and Stanford.
Last year, Clarke was performing at the annual Florida Flute Association conference in Orlando. Guimaraes, who had returned to the ‘States from Paris to attend the conference, approached Clarke with the idea of coming to Vero. “I thought, I’m going to ask him, but I have a little bit of doubt – he just came last year, I didn’t think he would be in Florida again. But he said yes.”
Clarke will be accompanied by Diane Frazer, an American pianist who specializes in flute accompaniment. Frazer is a professional in residence at Louisiana State University.
Clarke’s concert will be followed by a 4 p.m. workshop for flutists, and all who attended the concert are welcome to sit in and audit. The one-hour workshop will divide a Clarke composition into five parts; each group of students will learn to play one of those parts and then perform in unison. They will be learning techniques described in the museum’s flyer: note bending, jet whistles, singing while playing, and percussive articulations.
Scholarships are available for flute students needing help with the $60 concert ticket ($50 for museum members).
The Ian Clarke concert is Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. at the museum, followed by a reception and the workshop. Call 231-0707 for tickets, and dial ext. 136 to register for the workshop. Go to www.verobeachmuseum.org for more information.