FlutAria! Music Concert

FlutAria! is a professional flute trio comprised of Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex flute professors Carolyn Keyes (Tarleton State), Shauna Thompson (TCU) and Julee Kim Walker (East Texas A&M  University). Founded in 2016, FlutAria! strives for a wide range of repertoire and style for their performances, and is dedicated to educational outreach for aspiring flutists.

FlutAria! has presented educational clinics for Conn-Selmer, Inc and the Texas Flute Society. They have performed and given masterclasses at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention (2023, 2019), Texas Summer Flute Symposium (2021, 2017), Texas Flute Society Festival, Austin Flute Society Festival (2019), Florida Flute Convention (2018), University of Colorado-Boulder, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Christian University, East Texas A&M University and Tarleton State University, to name a few. They made their National Flute Association (NFA) convention debut in August 2017 in Minneapolis, MN.

FREE, contributions welcome. 

Guest parking is available in the Visitors' Lot to the left of the front gate by texting "PAY" to 77447, followed by the zone number "SMC" at 50 cents per hour.

BIOS:

A native Houstonian, Korean-American flutist Julee Kim Walker is Professor of Flute and Assistant Head of the School of Music at East Texas A&M University near Dallas, TX, where she has taught since 2012. She is an active performer, passionate music educator & pedagogue, and a dedicated mentor & arts administrator.

An esteemed teacher, Dr. Walker was twice the recipient of the Paul W. Barrus Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching at ETAMU, and is sought-after as a clinician, adjudicator, and masterclasses teacher and lecturer all over the world, to include University of North Texas, CU Boulder, Shanghai Normal University in China, the Raffaele Trevisani Summer Masterclass in Italy, and Sao Paulo State University in Brazil. She has also performed in Austria, Italy, France, Croatia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and China.

Dr. Walker performs regularly with FlutAria! trio and with several ensembles in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex such as the Fort Worth Symphony, Plano Symphony and Irving Symphony, and has also performed with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Dallas Winds, The Dallas Opera, New Orchestra of Washington, Fort Worth Opera, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and Dallas Theater Center. As soloist, she has performed with the Dallas Asian Winds, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Southeastern Symphonic Winds, East Texas A&M University Wind Ensemble and Banda Sinfônica de Cubatão in Brazil.

Julee previously served on the Board of the National Flute Association as Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and as President and Vice President of the Texas Flute Society. She is Artistic Director of the Texas Summer Flute Symposium held every summer in Commerce, TX, and runs a Career Mentorship program for individuals and workshops for universities.  She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, her Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. Her principal teachers were September Payne, Christina Jennings, Karl Kraber, Timothy Day and Terri Sundberg.

Julee Kim Walker is a William S. Haynes Flute Artist.
 www.juleekimwalker.com

@juleekimwalker

Flutist, educator, and arts advocate Dr. Carolyn Keyes brings infectious creativity and passion to every aspect of her career.  From the concert stage to the classroom and the community, she is committed to sharing the wonders of music making with the world.

An Ohio native, Carolyn has followed her passion around the United States, most recently to join the faculty of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. In addition to teaching, she maintains an active orchestral, chamber, and solo performance schedule. Carolyn is the newest member of DFW-based FlutAria! with flutists Shauna Thompson and Julee Kim Walker, and performs with guitarist Tim Courtney in dZuo, an eclectic chamber ensemble specializing in original transcriptions of everything from traditional Japanese music to punk rock. Carolyn can also be heard regularly with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale. Previously she was a member of the Longmont Symphony in Colorado, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra in Dallas, Texas, and was a frequent performer with the Cheyenne Symphony in Wyoming.  Carolyn was a finalist and prize winner in the Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Competition and received honorable mentions in the National Flute Association Masterclass Competition and the Texas MTNA Woodwind Young Artist Competition.  

Carolyn received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Flute Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado.  Other studies include a master’s degree from the University of North Texas and bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University.  Her major teachers include Christina Jennings, Terri Sundberg, Elizabeth McNutt, Leonard Garrison, Nina Assimakopolous, and Judith Bentley.  Carolyn also studied the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) with David Yūdo Sawyer.

Carolyn Keyes is a Conn-Selmer performing artist.

@alittleflute 

Shauna Thompson is Associate Professor of Flute at Texas Christian University and chair of the woodwind department.  Dr. Thompson has been a featured performer at multiple National Flute Association conventions and a guest artist at the Texas Flute Society, Kingsville, Waco, and Weatherford conventions. Recent concerto performances include Chaminade's Concertino with the Mesquite Symphony, the world premiere of Martin Blessinger’s Rhapsody for Flute and Orchestra with the Texas Christian University Symphony Orchestra, and Frank Ticheli’s Silver Linings with the Sugar Land Winds. Shauna recently released her first solo album, Reflections. 

In her role as flute professor at TCU, Dr. Thompson leads a competitive studio comprised of undergraduate, Masters, Artist Diploma, and DMA students. The first ever DMA graduate in flute from TCU received his doctorate under her guidance in Spring of 2019. Dr. Thompson’s students have competed in the Myrna Brown competition, various NFA competitions, attended summer music festivals such as Aspen and Brevard, and performed with the Collegiate and Professional Flute Choirs at NFA. Many of her former students are now successful elementary school music teachers, band directors, private teachers, and university professors.

Dr. Thompson won the 26th annual Myrna Brown competition with the Texas Flute Society and was honored to return as a guest artist to their following convention. She is also a prizewinner of many other competitions including the National Flute Association, Pittsburg Flute Club, Claude Monteaux, Frank Bowen, Mid-South Flute Society, and MTNA.

She is currently Competition Coordinator for the National Flute Association. She has previously served as coordinator of the NFA's  Professional Flute Choir Competition and coordinator for the Texas Flute Society’s Donna Marie Haire competition. 

Dr. Thompson holds a DMA and a MM in flute performance from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Brad Garner and Randy Bowman. Dr. Thompson also received a Bachelor of Music from Texas Tech University where she studied with Lisa Garner Santa. Prior to joining the TCU faculty Dr. Thompson served as Consortium Instructor of Flute at the University of Evansville and principal flute with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also previously served as principal flute of the Lubbock Symphony and second flute with the Midland Odessa Symphony Orchestra in addition to performing with the Cincinnati and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras.

@shaunathompsonflute