HERNÁNDEZ FLUTES
Christine Erlander Beard
Christine
Beard
Described by the Canadian journal Flute Focus as “...having shattered any notions that the piccolo might be lacking in deep, expressive powers," flutist Christine Erlander Beardenjoys an international career as a soloist, chamber artist and teacher. A passionate performer noted for her “warm lyricism” (BFS journal, Pan 2014), she has performed extensively across North America, South America and Europe, including thirteen conventions of the National Flute Association and three British Flute Society International Conventions, as well as flute events in Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, France, Latvia, Slovenia, Spain and The Netherlands. She can be heard alongside the French piccolo legend Jean-Louis Beaumadier on his CD, Postcards: World Piccolo, Vol. 2, released on the SKARBO label; and with Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band on their inaugural CD, Victorian Era Music for Brass Band by Thomas Coates, released on the MSR Classics label.
Beard’s engagements in 2016-2017 include appearing as a concerto soloist with both the Orquestra Filarmonica de Mendoza in Argentina and the Orquestra Sinfoníca de Porto Alegre in Brazil; making her second appearance as a guest artist for the Toronto Latin American Music Festival; and festival appearances in Canada, Portugal, Costa Rica, Brazil and Ecuador. Her debut solo CD, “To the Nth Degree” featuring music for piccolo by Matt Smith, David Loeb, Herman Beeftink, Derek Charke, Dana Wilson and Christopher Caliendo will be released in 2017.
As a chamber artist, Christine regularly performs as a member of Zephyrus with percussionist, Tomm Roland. Formed in 2010, this duo has toured across the United States, and has been featured at the Festival of New American Music (CA) and at the Festival Flautas del Mundo in Argentina. After meeting at the 2014 flute festival in Peru, Beard has also formed a duo with Brazilian guitarist/composer Daniel Wolff. Building off the success of their individual solo careers, the Beard-Wolff Duo gave their inaugural performances in the USA , Peru and Brazil in 2015, and the duo’s most recent engagements have included a featured performance at the Adams International Flute Festival in The Netherlands (April 2016), a concert at the 44th National Flute Association Convention (August 2016), and performances on the Noite dos Museu concert series in Porto Alegre, Brazil (May 2017).
Passionate about collaborating with composers, Christine has commissioned and/or premiered dozens of new works from composers across the globe, most recently “Haven” for piccolo and piano by Nebraska-based composer Daniel Baldwin, and “California Card” for 2 flutes, cello and guitar by Daniel Wolff, both of which she premiered at the 44th NFA Convention to enthusiastic reviews. In October 2016, she premiered a new trio entitled “Birds” for piccolo, flute and cello by American composer
Herman Beeftink with Canadian flutist Christopher Lee and Brazilian cellist Rodrigo Alquati; and in August 2017 Beard will give the NFA premieres of two new works for piccolo at the 45th NFA Convention in Minneapolis: "Whispers from Another Time" by Dana Wilson, and "Ramas de Plata" by Jay Vosk.
In 2007, Beard founded the International Piccolo Symposium (www.piccolosymposium.com), an intense 4-day workshop held at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The goal of IPS is to bring piccolo players and enthusiasts together from all over the world to learn about and discuss solo, chamber and orchestral music featuring the piccolo, and pedagogical issues specific to the piccolo, led by some of the world's leading piccolo players. A member of the NFA’s piccolo committee and a contributing editor for the NFA's The Flutist Quarterly, Christie’s pedagogical articles and columns have been published in Flute Talk, The Flutist Quarterly, Flutewise, and The Instrumentalist.
Beard earned her MM and DMA in flute performance from The University of Texas at Austin where she was a student of Karl F. Kraber. She joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2002 where she was named UNO’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor in 2011, and received the Regents-Foundation Professorship in 2013 for outstanding creative activity and research. At UNO, Christine teaches flute, woodwind pedagogy, chamber music, contemporary music literature, and heads UNO's contemporary music program as the director of Ensemble 768. Christine performs on a 5k Sankyo flute with an 18k headjoint (also by Sankyo), and she was named to the Sankyo Flutes international artist roster in July 2016. Her piccolo is a Roy Seaman Ltd, on which she uses headjoints by Tobias Mancke (Germany) and Julio Hernandez (Argentina).
