Wendy Rolfe

Position
Professor
Affiliated Departments
Faculty Bio E-Mail
Telephone
617-747-8337

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Career Highlights
  • Performances with the American Classical, Boston Baroque, Dallas Bach Society, Handel and Haydn Society, New York's Concert Royal, and Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestras
  • Recordings for Boston Baroque, Grammy nomination (Telarc), Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Juno Award), Handel and Haydn Society (Decca), CRI, and Newport Classic
  • Fulbright Commission Senior Specialist Roster
  • Former codirector, Boston Jazz Flute Ensemble
  • Specialist in contemporary and Brazilian music techniques and historical flute performance (Baroque traverso, 8-key flutes)
  • Soundtracks for Disney/Touchstone's Casanova and Ken Burns's documentary Thomas Jefferson
  • Professor, International Summer Course, Escola de Música Brasilia, Brazil
  • Guest artist, Fiesta en la Mitad del Mundo and Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música, Quito, Ecuador
  • Master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory, Louisiana State University, and the universities of Alabama, Wisconsin, Delaware, São Paulo, Rio, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, and Rio Grande do Sul
  • Guest artist and clinician at the Texas Flute Society Flute Fair, St. Louis Flute Society, Northern Ohio Flute Society, and Greater Boston Flute Association
  • Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Grant
  • Private lessons with Robert Willoughby, Harvey Sollberger, Lois Schaefer, and Marcel Moyse
Education
  • B.M., Oberlin Conservatory of Music
  • M.M., Manhattan School of Music
  • D.M.A., Manhattan School of Music
In Their Own Words

"As musicians, we need to learn to step back and realize that it takes a lot of patience and a lot of quiet observation to achieve what we want to achieve. And we probably never really achieve it [laughing]. The quest is the important part."

"A lot of what I do marries traditional training with innovative pedagogy and diverse styles. I teach quite a lot through Brazilian choros, which are a kind of semiclassical musical tradition, with many works written for the flute. They’re great music, and my students love them."

"Performers have to wed the physical to the emotional and the creative. Poor posture can lead to injury, so I try to work on helping students get their bodies into a relaxed but aware position. I study the Alexander Technique, which is a way to align the body and work on breathing. But the most important thing for me is that my students keep their love of music, and that they’ll have the tools to impart that to other people. I also hope they develop ways to become their own teachers. That’s what we’re all striving for—to become our own teachers."

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