Featured Guest Artists
Rhonda Larson
Rhonda Larson is a Grammy Award-winning player of the flute, born and raised in the mountains of Montana. This Big Sky Country in the Wild West helped form her into a nature-loving, free spirited trail blazing artist. She entered the national music scene by winning first prize in the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition at the age of 22, including a Carnegie Hall debut. Shortly thereafter, Rhonda was invited to join forces with the Paul Winter Consort, initiating her journey into a rich palette of music gleaned from around the world. Composing much of her own music, Larson’s visionary force showcases her gold flute and an array of ethnic flutes in a new and refreshing light. Rhonda has also expanded the sonic capabilities of her instrument with entirely new techniques, most notably her inventive flute-and-voice unison, performed simultaneously. Rhonda’s latest CD release, Live from China, features her band Ventus from a recent twenty-five city tour throughout China. Most of the selections are Larson’s original World Fusion compositions, including arrangements of traditional Celtic, Armenian, Romanian, and Chinese melodies. The recording offers a bonus track of Rhonda’s new solo, Metamorphosis, which took her four years to write due to its inherent complexities and inventive techniques she has developed further. “No piece has ever taken this long to complete, but I really have no other choice than to humbly allow the time it takes for the music to evolve, and IT lets me know when it is ready to be offered. The title speaks to its musical journey, but also as a metaphor to my own development on both a sacred and technical level. My first priority is to artistic authenticity, hoping to better serve the odds of lifting people’s hearts—THAT is why I am a musician.” Rhonda tours world-wide, and has a discography of over 20 commercial recordings, including two other solo recordings, Distant Mirrors, and Free as a Bird. As a sought-after teacher, she conducts masterclasses at universities, flute organizations, community outreach events, and individual instruction. She owns and operates her publishing company, Wood Nymph Music, producing her sheet music from graphic design to distribution. Ms. Larson performed on a live CBS finale episode of “Survivor” from Madison Square Garden’s, seen by over 40 million viewers, and is featured in “Flute Stories–101 Inspirational Stories from the World’s Best Flute Players” publication. She is a former Board member of the National Flute Association, and currently serves as a member of the World Flute Society Board of Directors. Rhonda and her husband Dr. Lee J. deLisle live in Connecticut, and part-time at their home in the medieval village of Roccantica, Italy. When not playing the flute, Rhonda can be found out-doors.
Michael Morton
Michael began his studies with jazz at Berklee College of Music with Peter Gordon and Matt Marvuglio . He then decided to focus on classical studies, transferring to the University of Memphis, where he studied with Bruce Erskine. After 3 1/2 years, he transferred to Chapman University, studying with Arthur Hoberman and received his Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance. He then was awarded a fellowship to study at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where he earned a masters in flute performance with Jim Walker. Michael is former principal flutist with the Southeast Symphony of Los Angeles and a member of various chamber groups. He can be heard on movie soundtracks, and has performed with or for The Los Angeles Opera, Placido Domingo, Whitney Houston, Terrance Blanchard, Rihanna, Terrance Howard, and Spike Lee. He currently resides in Nashville, where he is a freelance flutist and plays with the Nashville Jazz Workshop Quartet. He has recorded 7 albums, some of which can be found on Amazon, Spotify and other streaming services.
Andra Bohnet
Andra Bohnet is a flutist who embraces a rich variety of musical styles with both virtuosity and sensitivity. In addition to her position as Professor of Music at the University of South Alabama where she teaches flute, music literature, music technology, and music business, she is the principal flutist with Mobile Symphony Orchestra where she has been a featured soloist on several occasions. She plays Irish flute, whistle and Celtic harp in a variety of settings including new her newest band, 2nd Breakfast (www.2ndbreakfast.org), and Liminal (www.liminalduo.org), a flute and percussion duo, which crosses the threshold between ancient and modern musical idioms with a bit of technology added into the mix and released it’s debut CD in 2020. She previously performed with the legacy band Mithril (www.mithril.us), a high-energy Celtic/world music band which released seven CDs and appeared with symphony orchestras throughout the U.S. from 2002-2018. Her solo CD, Clinton on Clinton, rediscovered the music of John Clinton (1809-1864), an Irish flutist, composer and flute maker who was a major figure in 19th century flute design (www.clintonfluteproject.com). She also performed with the Trebuchet Wind Trio who released their CD Perpetuum Mobile in 2016. She also recorded and toured previously with her chamber ensemble for flute and strings, the Silverwood Quartet, which has performed throughout the United States and in Japan. The group recorded six CDs and explored popular and world music in addition to the classical repertoire. Also the group's primary arranger, Andra's creative charts capture the musical essence of styles ranging from Irish traditional to Tibetan Chant and alternative rock and roll. Their last CD, A Celtic Mosaic, explores a variety of unique and original music from Celtic sources including music from Riverdance, Lord of the Rings, Ballykissangel, and a trilogy of tunes by Loreena McKennitt. About The Classic Rock Album, rock icon Ian Anderson, flutist and leader of Jethro Tull, said, "Many thanks for the CD. I enjoyed it very much and especially the variety of musical styles it incorporated. Keep up the good work and help bring the worlds of pop/rock and the Classical traditions together." And To Drive the Cold Winter Away, their holiday CD, is an annual best seller and has over 4 million streams on Spotify! Andra performs and records on flutes of all shapes and sizes (classical, traditional simple system, baroque and a variety of ethnic instruments), as well as whistle and Celtic harp. She has performed and presented at several National Flute Association Conventions, the Canadian Flute Convention, British Flute Society, World Flute Society, and Boxwood Canada. In addition to fluting, Andra is a master martial artist, yogi, avid snow skier, techno-geek, and alternatively wishes she was a hobbit or a Jedi knight!