American Flute Guild’s
INDUSTRY REVIEW of NFA EXHIBITS 2005
-Catherine Thompson

View the 2005 NFA Photo Gallery

November 2005 – Every year flutists attend an assigned migration point in the mainland of the USA for an -all things flute itinerary- hosted by the National Flute Association. This year, the 33rd annual convention was located near to the San Diego area at The Town & Country Hotel Resort. The center of focus for those loyal couple of thousand attendees included numerous flute-related events: lectures, demonstrations, concerts, competitions, tributes, workshops, and exhibits…as well as extreme socializing and after–hour parties. The Southern California venue painstakingly organized by NFA utilized the hotel-resort to its full capacity for lodging and presentations, yet even with the resort-like atmosphere, attendees and exhibitors alike were required to subject themselves to the less than favorable environment of the exhibit hall to meander through the aisles and visit with familiar faces and new-comers alike in a converted parking lot.

The exhibit hall has for years consistently acted as an energy generator of sorts and people magnet, in addition to its role as the financial support of the NFA Convention. After viewing the less than adequate conditions, no one can say that the people in the flute industry are anything but flexible and adaptable to circumstances…and obviously hard-working. The combination of the parking-lot ambiance along with the early morning exotic fragrance of sewer gas still did not prevent the die-hard devoted attendees, employees and business owners of the flute industry from participating in the yearly feeding frenzy. Contrary to the convention theme “COMING TOGETHER” – Primary Sources – New Perspectives - - one has to wonder how the industry and the people who planned the event came to an agreement on such a poorly chosen exhibit space. Personally I doubt, anyone would want to sit through a concert in such a place, yet the exhibitors and eager flutists are expected to spend hours a day in such an environment. But like all conventions, attendees enjoy and benefit as much as possible from the opportunity to come together and focus on the rich heritage of the flute.

The new products and standard offerings, as well as the noticeable changes and events taking place in the flute industry were presented over 4 days. Year to year we see the growth and disappearance of companies and individuals. Longer established companies and younger companies created a potpourri of shopping opportunities for flutists. This year’s exhibit displayed new configurations, mergers, “switching of the guard” scenarios, as well as new personal liaisons as in the case with engagements (Lopatin) and marriages (Brannen) for members of our industry. Speaking of mergers, the new musical instrument conglomerate GEMSTONE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS will now umbrella not only Gemeinhardt and Roy Seaman products but Japan’s Sankyo Flute and Taiwan’s Trevor James line of flutes for the US market.

In total there were approximately 80 exhibitors consisting of a mix of publishers, makers, distributors, sellers, accessory specialists, as well as flute-related gift items. For those who could not attend, you are invited to view some of the industry photos and the partial listing below of some of the products that were offered.

ABELL FLUTES made by Chris Abell continue to entice flutists to explore and appreciate the material of wood in flute-making with his finely crafted professional quality flutes. “Light in the Corner” CD featuring flutist Kate Steinbeck beautifully demonstrated the Abell wooden flute.

ARISTA FLUTES was represented by Juan Arista. The flutes and head-joints designed by Miguel Arista continue to attract flutists with their individual standard of sound.

BRANNEN BROS. FLUTES: In addition to the abundant booth display, flutists had the opportunity to consult and sample the standard & prestigious Brannen Flutes, head-joints, and new Robert Dick Glissando head-joint.

BURKART FLUTES and PICCOLOS continue to expand their market by presenting the intermediate priced Global Piccolos in addition to their handmade flutes and professional style piccolos.

DRELINGER HEAD-JOINTS: Moving steadily forward with his patented exclusives, Sanford Drelinger featured his ergonomically and acoustically conceived “UPRITE Headjoint”, successfully with examples of performances by flutists Moshe Epstein, Alexa Still and Aralee Dorough on a set of 3 CDs – it really does play!

TOM GREEN FLUTES: Consistent as always, Tom Green’s friendly demeanor continues to invite flutists to consider his conscientiously made instruments that have earned a fine reputation for quality and endurance. He now offers flutes made with .943 silver tubing.

Wm. S. HAYNES: Progressing forward under new ownership, their standard handmade flutes and piccolos are successfully expanding along with its new line of Amadeus and Concerto Models. Their showcase featured Paul Fried in recital.

LANDELL FLUTES: Jon Landell presented his newly completed “Argentium” flute and head-joints.This flute is the result of research and experimentation with this innovative material now available to flute makers.

LOPATIN FLUTES: Promoting his SQUARE ONE flute, Lenny Lopatin now offers a Stainless Steel head-joint and his other work in progress – the Lopatin Alto Flute!

MIYAZAWA FLUTES: Miyazawa now offers the Brogger mechanic on its flutes!

MURAMATSU FLUTES: The newest innovation to their flutes is the new style ‘Tsuvasa’ head-joint. In addition, the new DS model - the professional style silver flute, now replaces the older AD model and DN model.

NAGAHARA FLUTES: This growing company clearly has made an impression in the market with the obvious crowd of flutists in the booth displaying samples of its quality hand-mades flutes, piccolos and some very interesting head-joints with wooden lip plates. The ’Wearless’ mechanism was also a new point of interest.

VERNE Q. POWELL FLUTES: Displayed several new items namely new White Gold models as well as handmade models now available with drawn tone holes. Their new Soloist –style head-joint, inspired by Ransom Wilson was premiered at the NFA Convention.

DAVID STRAUBINGER: Presented his most innovative flute to date endorsed by flutist Thomas Robertello. His continuing perseverance for excellence is setting a new and refreshing standard.

DAVID WILLIAMS FLUTES: Always offering quality and interesting customizations to his prestigious flutes – the booth was very busy. So busy that it was almost impossible to talk with the flute maker! The new David Williams Wood Flute is now in production.

NEPTUNE SHAKUHACHI HEADJOINTS offered Bamboo Shakuhachi style head-joints now available for Boehm-silver flutes.

DAVID & NINA SHOREY ANTIQUE FLUTES: Saluted the 150th birthday of Louis Lot – presenting Lot’s daily record book. Copies are available!

FLUTE ARTS: Now offering (in addition to their repair services) consignment sales and the Solomon Ostroff Alto Flute– handmade with drawn tone holes and incorporating the Cooper Scale.

OGURA FLUTEWORKS – American distributor for KOTATO FLUTES…Contrabass flutes and the DOUBLE Contrabass Flute now available from Shozo Ogura.

Some of the new faces included ABA Music with Proprietor Ho-Fan Lee as the entrepreneur behind the distribution of Matecki Flutes, Masters, and Nomata flutes. His Thumb Support Product will certainly gain popularity. From Germany, Mancke Flutes brought interesting flute and piccolo head-joints that will be carried by Woodwind and Brasswind. In addition to this Germany based maker, Michael Parmenon Flutes Co. exhibited his products from France. And local maker Monty Levenson displayed his Tai Hei Shakuhachi Flutes.

As for innovative flute gear, the most innovative offered was Dean Stieglitz’s Electric Flute and Amplified flute systems.

Some of the industry Panel Discussions featured topics such as: Coming together as flutists to teach healthy habits, and Carolyn Nussbaum Music Co. hosted a presentation on painless playing – An Injury Prevention Program for Musicians. Other performance health discussions and presentations included Andree Martin discussing Focal Dystonia and the POWERLUNG booth was always busy with curious flutists looking to enhance their own breathing ability. Other workshops included Irish Flute for the Classical Flutist in addition to other publisher presentations.

Some of the publishers in the spotlight were:
• ALRY PUBLICATIONS celebrated its 25th year in publishing those unique arrangements and original works we’ve all come to rely on.

• CHRISTOPHER CALIENDO’s presence dominated much of the convention with his new compositions. Several of his works were performed in recital and showcase performances by Sheridon Stokes, Los Angeles Flute Quartet, the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, flute duos and other flute choirs.

• LITTLE PIPER presented a new flute choir arrangement of Greensleeves. Also Ervin Monroe’s new publication Power Exercises for Flute (Daily Exercise Routine for Acquiring and Maintaining Professional Technique) along with Rebecca Meador’s arrangements of orchestral excerpts with flute choir accompaniment will provide interesting pedagogical benefits to flutists.

• SOUNDFORTH music presented an array of sacred music collections.
Listed below are the companies who exhibited at this year’s convention. Most of these companies already have links on our site under Flutemakers or in our Resources section. If you need any assistance to contact these companies please email us at info@americanfluteguild.com and we will provide contact information. Next year the National Flute Association will host its 34th convention titled “Icons” in Pittsburgh, PA. Please visit www.nfaonline.org to receive further future convention information and to learn about the National Flute Association, its membership and benefits.

TOTAL INDUSTRY EXHIBITS:
PUBLISHERS:
Alry Publications
Bill Holcombe’s Musician Publications
Blis Music Publishers
Brixton Publications
Caliendo World Music Publications
Falls House Press
Howard Vance Guitar Academy
Last Resort Publications, Inc
Little Piper
Soundforth
Zimmerman Music Publishers

MAKERS
Abell Flute Co.
Arista Flutes
Conn-Selmer (Armstrong and Emerson)
Brannen Flutes
Bulgheroni Piccolos
Burkart Flutes & Piccolos
Butterfly Headjoint Co.
Drelinger Headjoint Company
Emanuel Flutes
Folkers & Powell
Full Circle Co.
Gemeinhardt (Gemstone Musical Instruments)
Haynes Flute Co.
Jupiter Band Instruments
Keefe Piccolos
Kingma Flutes
Landell Flutes
Lopatinf Flutes
Miyazawa Flutes
Hammig Flutes and Piccolos
Lyric Flutes
Nagahara Flutes
Parmenon Flutes
Sherdian Flute CO.
Simon Polak Early Flutes
Straubinger Flutes
Tai Hei Shakuhachi Flutes
Wesley & Mitchell Flutes
Williams Flutes

DISTRIBUTORS
ABA – Matecki, Masters. Nomata
Altus (Jupiter)
Dean Yang Flutes
Muramatsu America
Pearl Flutes (Orpheus)
Sankyo (Gemstone Musical Instruments)
Trevor James(Gemstone Musical Instruments)
Yamaha Corp. of America

ACCESSORIES
Altieri
Cavallaro Case Covers
Flute Boutique
Flute Lovers Emporium
Flute Swabs
Wiseman Cases
Wirkkala Designs

EDUCATIONAL & TECHNICAL
Blocki Pedagogical Products
Chesky Concerto
Dean Stiglitz – Electric Flute
Flute Arts
Jim Schmidt Engineering
Nordt Linear Technologies
Powerling, Inc
Sandpiper Enterprises
The Windsmith

FLUTE SELLERS
Carolyn Nussbaum Music Co.
Cincinnati Fluteworks
David & Nina Shorey Antique Flutes
Flutacious
Flute Center of New York
Flute Exchange
Flute Specialists
Flute World
J.B. Weissman Music Co.
J.L. Smith & Co.
Muisc2Master
Northeast Winds
Ogura Flute Works
San Diego Music Exchange
Woodwind & Brasswind

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