The Texas Flute Society is proud to present our 2017 Guest Artists
Viviana Guzman, Nestor Torres, and Timothy Hagen

 

Described by the New York Times as “an imaginative artist,” Chilean-born flutist, Viviana Guzmán (http://www.Viviana.org) performs over 80 concerts a year throughout the world. Her latest album “Traveling Sonata” received a Grammy Nomination.  She has been featured on programs for PBS, NBC, and NPR, seen on the cover of Latina Style Magazine, and in COSMOPOLITAN en Español and has played in 123 countries including South Africa, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Bali, India, Peru, and Greece featuring flutes from her collection of over 100 gathered from concert tours.  Her music video was aired on UNIVISION in 30 countries.  She has performed as soloist with orchestras in Russia, Chile, Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, California, Texas, and Montana, in such halls as in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and on other prominent stages with such artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Placido Domingo, and Glenn Close.

Viviana began her musical training at the age of 5 and won her first competition at 7.  By the age of 15, she played as a soloist with orchestra, studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal, and was featured on a John Denver nationally televised NBC special. Ms. Guzmán studied with James Galway, and Albert Tipton and graduated from the Juilliard School. Viviana has released 11 CD’s entitled, “Telemann Flute Fantasies” (2002), “Planet Flute” (1997), and “Danza de Amor” (2002), “Mostly Tango” (2002) and “Serenity” (National Geographic 2002) “Meditations for Flute” (2006), “World of Music” (2008),“Argentine Music”(2009), “Traveling Sonata” Reference Recordings (2013), “Byzantium” (2014), “Mediation for Performers” (2014).

 

Standing on the shoulders of flute giants from worlds as diverse as Rampal & Galway in Classical Music; Richard Egues’ Cuban Charanga style; rocker Ian Anderson’s Jethro Tull; Herbie Mann and – most influential of all – Hubert Laws as pioneers of Jazz Flute, Latin Grammy Award winning Nestor Torres’ rhythmic and mellifluous flute sound remains apart in a class all by itself. His 14 recordings as a soloist; 4 Latin Grammy nominations, one Grammy nomination and one Latin Grammy Award; collaborations with diverse artists such as Gloria Estefan, Kenny Loggins, Dave Mathews, Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente, Michael Camilo, Paquito D’ Rivera and Arturo Sandoval; as well as performances with the Cleveland, Singapore, and New World Symphony Orchestras among many others, are testament to the remarkable journey of an Artist who continues to grow and enrich the lives of those who experience his talents.

Born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Nestor Torres moved to New York City, where he pursued Classical flute studies at Mannes School of Music, Jazz at Berklee College of Music and Classical and Jazz at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. During that time he also learned to improvise in the ‘Charanga’ Cuban Dance Music style, which helped shape and develop Nestor’s melodic and danceable sound.

His CD This Side Of Paradise won the Latin Grammy award in the Pop instrumental category, scheduled to be presented on September 11, 2001. This great achievement – and its timing – proved to be a major turning point for Torres.

“Of course it was a great honor and privilege to win the Grammy. That being said, the fact that I was to receive it on 9/11 gave my work and my music a stronger sense of mission and purpose.”

Since then, Torres has focused on transcending his role as a Jazz Flautist to that of an agent of change through crossover multi-media productions, compositions and performances. To that effect, his compositions ‘Successors’, Marta y Maria and Disarmament Suite (commissioned by the Miami Children’s Chorus, St. Martha-Yamaha Concert Series, and ICAP – International Committee of Artists for Peace – respectively), are variations on Nestor Torres’ multi-cultural fusion sounds as expressions of today’s world. Then again, Nestor’s music has always been about that: a Crossover fusion of Latin, Classical, Jazz and Pop sounds. Rich and engaging, complex and exuberant, profound yet accessible.

In addition to his achievements in the studio and on the stage, Torres is also the recipient of many awards, including two honorary doctorate degrees from Barry University and Carlos Albizu University, for his commitment to youth, education and cultural exchanges.

 

Timothy Hagen is an internationally acclaimed flutist, praised for his “technical virtuosity and musical sensitivity” (NewMusicBox). He won First Prize as well as the award for Best Performance of the Newly Composed Work (Gary Schocker’s Prestidigitation, or POOF!) at the 2016 Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition, sponsored by the Texas Flute Society. Past awards include Second Prize at the Australian International Flute Competition, the Jack Smith Memorial Award for Most Promising Talent at the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition, two Artist Grants from the Léni Fé Bland Foundation, and the prestigious Graduate Scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. He was also the only American semifinalist named in the 2007 Jeunesses Musicales International Flute Competition in Serbia.

As Principal Flute of the Missouri Symphony, Hagen spends his summers in Columbia, MO, where he has performed multiple times as a concerto soloist. He also substitutes regularly with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and as Principal Flute with the Dallas Wind Symphony. Over the past decade, he has been active as a guest musician with ensembles throughout the country, including the Minnesota Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Midland-Odessa Symphony, Las Colinas Symphony, and Winston-Salem Symphony. In addition, he has had solo debuts at New York’s Lincoln Center and 92nd Street Y and performed at the Atlantic, Hot Springs, and Las Vegas Music Festivals, as well as the Norfolk and Austin Chamber Music Festivals.

The depth and breadth of Hagen’s experience as an educator distinguish him. He currently serves as Lecturer in Flute at Oklahoma State University and Instructor of Flute at Brookhaven College. Additionally, he has taught for Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, and The University of Texas at Austin, among many other fine institutions. His private students have consistently won regional and national awards and auditions, and he is in high demand as a teacher, clinician, and speaker at universities, festivals, and conventions throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. He is also frequently called upon as an adjudicator on regional and national levels, including for the National Flute Association’s Young Artist and Piccolo Artist Competitions.

Increasingly in demand as a composer, Hagen has won awards from the American Composers Forum and MetLife Creative Connections. His chamber and solo works for flute, published by Owl Glass Music, have been commissioned and performed throughout the United States and were mentioned favorably in the February 2014 issue of Flute Talk. Upcoming commissions include the newly commissioned work for the Texas Flute Society’s 2017 Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition and a work for piccolo and piano to honor the legacy of longtime Cincinnati Symphony solo piccoloist, Jack Wellbaum. His pedagogical and scholarly work is published by Owl Glass and in national and international journals, such as the NFA’sFlutist Quarterly and the British Flute Society’s Pan.

Service to his musical community is also important to Hagen, as demonstrated in the many volunteer roles he fills. He is currently on the NFA’s pedagogy committee and co-coordinates its annual Youth Flute Day. Additionally, he serves as board member and Master Class Coordinator for the Texas Flute Society and from 2015-2016 served as Corporate Sponsorship Chair on the board of the award-winning Flute New Music Consortium. Hagen received his Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Texas at Austin, Professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School, Master of Music from the University of Southern California, and Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His former flute teachers include Jim Walker, Marianne Gedigian, Philip Dunigan, Renée Siebert, and Tadeu Coelho.