Robert Dick

Composer and Flutist
www.robertdick.net
“… a flutist whose technical resources and imagination seem limitless.”
Allan Kozinn, New York Times
“There are few musicians that are truly revolutionary. Robert Dick is one of them.”
Bill Shoemaker, JazzTimes
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....................”Diz zy Gillespie
With equally deep roots in classical music old and new and in free improvisation and new jazz, Robert Dick has established himself as an artist who has not only mastered, but redefined the flute. Known worldwide for creating revolutionary visions of the flute’s musical role, listening to Robert Dick play solo has been likened to the experience of hearing a full orchestra – an orchestra unlike any other on Earth. Robert plays the flute like it’s a human powered synthesizer, a shape-shifting entity responding to his impulses. Turning on the proverbial dime, his sound can be thick chords one instant, then chromatic percussion, then delicate whispering filigrees, then a display of surprising power. His performances typically include flute (with his invention, the Glissando Headjoint®), piccolo, alto flute, and bass flutes in C and F. On special occasions, he’ll bring out the giant, stand-up contrabass flute.
Primary performance projects currently are:
SOLO RECITALS of original compositions for flutes, selected from Dick’s thirty years of creating music – repertoire ranges from the now classic Afterlight, to the science fiction scenario of IF for amplified bass flute in F, to the performance art combination of poetry and acting with flute performance of [email protected]
DUO CONCERTS with pianist Ursel Schlicht - collaborative repertoire and works by both artists. http://www.urselschlicht.com
SoundCarrier – RD, flutes; Miya Masaoka, koto; Satoshi Takeishi, drums; Ursel Schlicht, piano. A new band! An astonishing sound – world music in space.
http://www.miyamasaoka.com
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~takeishi/
Robert also has an ongoing trio with bassist Reuben Radding and drummer Lukas Ligeti.
http://www.lukasligeti.com
http://www.reubenradding.com
Dick’s newest recording is Photosphere, in which he and pianist Ursel Schlicht reinvent the flute and piano duo. A look at Robert’s discography reveals a musician of major creative scope, with over twenty CDs of original solo and chamber works and collaborations with fellow creative musicians. Other CDs feature music by Telemann (the Fantasies for flute alone) and Jimi Hendrix.
As an improvisor, Dick has performed and recorded with New Winds, Tambastics, Oscura Luminosa, the Soldier String Quartet, the A.D.D. Trio, Paul Giger and Satoshi Takeishi, Jaron Lanier, Randy Raine-Reush and Barry Guy, Mari Kimura, Steve Gorn and many more of Europe and America's finest improvisors.
Robert Dick’s multifaceted musical life includes work on redesigning the flute itself. Brannen Brothers Flutemakers manufactures his invention, the “Glissando Headjoint”, which does for the flute what the “whammy bar” does for the electric guitar. Dick performs on a special flute that Brannen built for him. This flute has a myriad of new musical possibilities and many of Dick’s recent compositions embrace these freedoms. Dick also has a relationship with Emerson Musical Instruments, which produces the Robert Dick Model bass flute. The goal of this bass flute, which Dick plays in his concerts alongside of the unique Brannen, is to be a powerful, rich-toned yet modestly priced instrument.
Dick lives in New York City and is on the faculty of New York University and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.M. in composition from the Yale School of Music. “I’m looking for students who want to be unique individuals, realizing their musical potentials in more ways than just playing the flute well.”
Dick has authored and published, on his Multiple Breath Music imprint, a number of seminal works for contemporary flute: The Other Flute: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques; Tone Development Through Extended Techniques; Circular Breathing for the Flutist; and Flying Lessons: Six Contemporary Concert Etudes (Volumes I and II). Translations are published in German (Zimmermann), Dutch (Molenaar), Italian (Ricordi) and Spanish (Mundi Musica). These books on contemporary flute technique are the acknowledged standard in the field.
For complete info: www.robertdick.net
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