Jill Felber Interview
How long have you been at UCSB?
I am currently in my 26th year! I started in 1989.
What do you like best about teaching there?
I love that the students are smart, focused and passionate
Can you give us 5 career highlights?
Enjoying the festivities with my former students of The Summit at UCSB in May, 2014- the celebration of my 25th anniversary teaching at UC Santa Barbara
ZAWA! Headliner Concert in Dallas NFA in 2000
A standing room only crowd and a standing ovation at ZAWA’s Carnegie Hall concert in 2000
Performing a recital in Wigmore Hall in 1998
Being the Program Chair of 1993 NFA convention and presenting my young international flutist colleagues to USA audiences
Delivering my NYC recital debut at Merkin Hall in 1993 with Samuel Baron in the audience
What do you like best about performing?
The engagement from the audience…to hear them gasp, cry and laugh!
CD releases?
Of the10 CDs I have recorded, 2 have been released this academic year (Cynthia Folio’s Inverno Azul and Diana Gannett’s Artemis in the Oak Grove.
Recent releases include:
Fusion CD (with pianist Dianne Frazer) seems to be sold around the globe, as well as my Aria CD (flute with harpist Jane Rosenson, recorded in Sydney Opera House). I get notices from all continents that my music has been purchased online and in stores.
What does your schedule look like for the next 6 months?
Given I am Chair of the Music Department now, I have reduced my 25 engagements a year to about 12 per year. In the next few months, I will be the guest artist/faculty member at four music festivals. I will be a concerto soloist three times and will deliver four solo and chamber music recitals. Recital and concerti performances take place in Philadelphia, Boise, Salt Lake City, Half Moon Bay, Bellingham, and Washington, DC.
What things would you offer as advice for a young flutist?
The most important thing to teach an upcoming flutist/student is awareness and accountability and to be your own best teacher.
My goal with students is to focus on issues of technical and aesthetic awareness so he/she can accept responsibility for his/her own progress. My hope is that the flutists with whom I work feel they have the tools when they leave to become his/her own best teacher. The perception and awareness skills have to be refined before the ability to achieve will improve. When the parameters for refinement are understood and embraced, much can be accomplished.
Imagine…believe…and don’t lose sight of your dream (and of the joy) of playing the flute!
