When flutist Merrie Siegel steps onto the Academy Village stage Tuesday and begins to play the rollicking "The Heebie-Jeebies" by Venezuelan-born composer Marco Granados, the audience is in for an exciting hour of music many may never have heard before.
A dynamic artist critically acclaimed for her technical facility and purity of tone, Siegel is a leading interpreter of contemporary Latin-American flute music, most of it written in the last two decades.
Her concert, free and open to the public, begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Arizona Senior Academy Building at Academy Village, an active-adult community six miles southeast of Saguaro National Park East off the Old Spanish Trail.
The concert will include "Echoes of the Ancients," a flute quartet composed by Sarah Bassingthwaighte. Brian A. Luce, flute professor at the University of Arizona, and two of his students, Elyse Davis and Diana Schaible, will join Siegel in the performance.
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All the music on the program has been recorded on Siegel's two CDs, "Flute Music of the Americas."
You can catch the flutist again at the Fourth International Symposium of Latin American Music at the University of Arizona. Siegel is a featured artist at the opening concert on Jan. 24, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Stevie Eller Dance Theater.
About Merrie Siegel
Currently living and teaching in Seattle, where she is principal flute with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Siegel began flute studies in her native Philadelphia under Adeline Tomasone, the first of many inspiring teachers.
At the age of 19, she made her New York debut as the winner of the New York Flute Club's Young Artist Competition.
After earning a bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, Siegel accepted the principal flute position with the Filarmónica del Bajio in Guanajuato, Mexico. From there she moved to Monterrey to perform as principal flute with the Sinfónica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon.
She also taught flute at the university as well as at Monterrey's Escuela Superior de Música y Danza.
As she explained recently, "There weren't many Mexican wind players at the time because Mexico didn't really have a tradition of wind music. They needed musicians to play with."
The experiences deepened her love for Mexico and its culture, and defined her musical focus. For her graduate work at Rice University, Siegel's doctoral dissertation analyzed the "Concerto for Small Orchestra and Flute" and the "Sonata for Flute and Piano" by Samuel Zyman, a prominent Mexican composer now on the Juilliard faculty.
In great demand as a teacher, recitalist and orchestral musician, Siegel keeps a busy schedule at school campuses and on concert stages north and south of the border.
In 2007 the Monterrey Escuela Superior honored her with a Distinguished Teaching Award.
If you go
• What: Flute concert featuring Merrie Siegel
• When: 11:30 Tuesday
• Where: Arizona Senior Academy Building at Academy Village, 13715 E. Langtry Lane
• Admission: Free; donations accepted
• Reservations: Recommended; email info@arizonasenioracademy.org or call 647-0980
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