Wendy Rolfe, 2013 May 14
Wendy Rolfe, flutist and professor at Berklee College of Music, discusses her early musical influences, education, and experiences, particularly her former music teachers and her studies at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She demonstrates flute playing techniques and discusses flute history, female composers, and her relationship with South American music, especially Brazilian music. She also describes memorable recordings and performances, her teaching methods, and the challenges she sees facing Berklee College of Music in the present day.
Flutist and educator Wendy Rolfe was born in England and raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree in flute performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and her master’s and doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, where she won the Jean-Pierre Rampal Master Class Competition. She was also a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. A specialist in contemporary and Brazilian music techniques and historical flute performance, Rolfe was the first woman hired by the Berklee College of Music Woodwind department in 1987. She is also a professor for the International Summer Course at the Escola de Música Brasilia, Brazil. Rolfe has served as the director of the Odyssey Chamber Players, the co-director of the Boston Jazz Flute Ensemble, and the chair of the National Flute Association Cultural Outreach Committee, as well as being a founding member of the Palisades Wind Quintet.
