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Robert Aitken

Canadian flutist and composer Robert Aitken studied flute with Nicholas Fiore, Marcel Moyse, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Severino Gazzelloni; from the significant statistics, Aitken respect Moyse because the instructor who experienced the most effect on his personal playing. Aitken’s structure studies were carried out with Barbara Pentland and John Weinzweig. In the sensitive age of just 19, Aitken was primary flutist from the Vancouver Symphony from 1958 to 1959, and Aitken’s record stands, as he still the youngest flutist to carry first chair with this symphony’s background. Aitken completeed his music levels at the University or college of Toronto in 1965, where he also worked well within the Electronic Music Studio room, composing the functions Structure for flute and tape (1962), Hamlet (Incidental Music) (1963), Noesis (1964) along with a Quartet for flute, oboe, viola, and contrabass (1961). Aitken’s main general public debut was along with his personal piece, Concert for 12 Soloists and Orchestra (1968) premiered by Seiji Ozawa performing the Toronto Symphony, where Aitken kept first flute seat from 1965 to 1970. Aitken offers premiered a lot more than 65 functions of additional composers, most created expressly for him, including Elliott Carter, Roger Reynolds, George Crumb, Toru Takemitsu and R. Murray Schafer, with whom Aitken spent some time working particularly carefully, premiering Schafer’s opera Patria I: Wolfman in 1987. Robert Aitken’s flute playing is usually mentioned for the clearness of his firmness and a delicate feeling of phrasing, and concert travels provides led him all around the word. Furthermore to many various other distinctions, Aitken was a prize-winner on the 1971 Concours International de Flûte de Paris. Being a composer, he provides received numerous essential commissions. Aitken’s previously functions, such as for example Spectra for four chamber groupings (1969) were organised around transformations from the twelve-tone series and display a pastime in spatial modulation of audio. Following a five-month Asian trip in 1970, Aitken was significantly inspired by his encounters there, which is shown in his Darkness pieces. The structure Spiral (1975) features amplification of 1 device each from many combined woodwind pairs, creating exciting timbres. Robert Aitken’s afterwards pieces are inspired by minimalism. Aitken founded the summertime chamber music celebration Music at Shawnigan in 1981, which proceeds of beneath the aegis from the Johannesen International College from the Arts. Although Aitken experienced retired from the majority of his teaching articles by 2001, he continues to be active in different ways, and from 2003 he offers appeared frequently with the brand new York Flute Golf club, leading them in the brand new World disk Henry Brant: Music for Massed Flutes in 2006.

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