Duos in the Classroom: The Pedagogical Benefits of Culturally Diverse Duo Programming
by Aaron Rib, Vanessa Lopez, and Claire Gunsbury

At the San Antonio National Flute Association convention in August 2024, Aaron Rib, Claire Gunsbury, and Vanessa Lopez presented a lecture-recital titled “The Pedagogical Benefits of Culturally Diverse Duo Programming.” Rooted in their experiences studying flute duos as graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University, the lecture explored the myriad learning opportunities that arise from mastering repertoire for two flutes. The presentation highlighted how programming culturally diverse works not only enhances technical and musical skills but also fosters deeper engagement with global perspectives. This article provides a summary of topics discussed and the application of pedagogical tools in works by Allison Loggins-Hull, Samuel Zyman, and Yuko Uebayashi.

The Benefits of Duo Playing

Playing in a flute duo is one of the most effective ways to develop your ear and flexibility as a performer. While you can learn from the strengths and playing styles of other flutists in masterclass or studio class performances, playing in a duo accelerates the process and is applicable to any instance in which you’re playing with another musician. None of us have the same strengths or weaknesses, and playing in a duo is a beautiful opportunity to learn from another person’s strengths while troubleshooting overlapping weaknesses as a team.

Personal Insight from Claire:
When Aaron and I first started playing together, Aaron had a much bigger, more open sound than I did, while I had a strong core and intensity to mine. We learned from each other, and over time could blend more seamlessly depending on what sound we were going for. Aaron’s sound helped give me a model for playing with more spaciousness, while mine was a model for adding a certain edge to their sound.

Duos can also teach students to articulate their disagreements. A musician who is too “set” in their artistic vision or has a brash communication style will likely be less sought-after. Having a safe environment to experiment with communication skills for healthy disagreements helps students become effective musicians and collaborators.

Students also learn to develop a democratic leadership style by playing in a duo. Rather than having a single leader, both students can feel empowered in the knowledge that their ideas hold weight. Students are encouraged to put forward their own musical opinions and respectfully articulate themselves so their duo partner can understand their precise intent. Learning how to communicate musical ideas and opinions is also a key component of learning how to teach.

The Importance of Varied Repertoire

A healthy critique and investigation of the flute canon is a skill every flute student and teacher should develop. This applies to flute duo repertoire as much as any other instrumentation, and the work and discovery that comes with programming diverse repertoire teaches us flexibility and open-mindedness. There are many questions to be asked that can inspire personal reflection and fruitful conversation as a duo when selecting repertoire. These questions might include:

• How can we make art music (more) relevant to our community, whether that is in the flute studio or the broader community?
• How is my life reflected in what I perform?
• Why are we playing what we play?
• What kinds of conversations or experiences are we seeking to create?
• And, for university level students and teachers, what skills and styles are being learned?

Asking these questions is less about having a “right” answer, and more about the exploration it inspires. It can empower students and professionals alike to shape our standard repertoire to reflect a multitude of identities.

Personal Insight from Vanessa:
While preparing Zyman’s Fantasía Mexicana, I kept hearing little snippets in my head that reminded me of the style of a mariachi trumpeter. Without meaning to, I heard different articulation options come to mind from the music I heard on the radio growing up, and that changed how Claire and I prepared the music. By “seeing” myself in the music I performed, I felt much more curious about exploring color options, and felt more joy in the process of preparing the music.

Having students play varied repertoire opens the possibility for students of that background to feel connected to their music-making in a new way, and for students not from those backgrounds to hear their colleagues talk about that experience and learn from it too. Of course, performing diverse works can also change the audience’s experience. A program that allows a different range of audience members to see themselves in the music, or to see something new in the music, can completely change the energy of the space.

Learning in Context

The program portion of the lecture-recital focused on three diverse works for two flutes with examples of learning opportunities available in each work. The first work, Run-On, was conceived by flutist-composer Allison Loggins-Hull as a test of endurance for her own flute duo with Nathalie Joachim, Flutronix. This piece helps instruct the importance of rhythmic solidity and shared tempo memory over the foundation of an electronic track.

The second piece, Samuel Zyman’s Fantasía Mexicana, features both flutists equally, particularly in the duo cadenza. This provides an opportunity for flutists studying this piece to practice their communication skills as they troubleshoot how to best represent the freedom and fluidity of a solo cadenza while maintaining their synchronicity and matching articulations as an ensemble.

The final piece on the program was Yuko Uebayashi’s Au-delà du Temps, which explores the concept of light throughout four movements. Incorporating both French Impressionist music and Japanese film music, Uebayashi’s composition challenges flutists to match their sound in atmospheric passages, develop impeccable intonation, and play with a common pulse in multiple cadenza-like sections.

Programming choices are one aspect of a larger aim: for musicians to step more fully into their roles as citizen-artists that look for the relevance of art music as a response to the needs of contemporary society. Expanding repertoire choices is one part of the toolkit students should develop as they learn how to become productive contributors to their broader community.

Playing repertoire beyond the Eurocentric canon opens the door to have more expansive conversations and experiences. While a piece may not bring cultural, political, or personal topics into the rehearsal space, the act of engaging with diverse music opens the door to such discussions. In fixating on the “traditional” repertoire, the likelihood of those topics coming up organically is diminished – a missed opportunity for deeper connection and learning.

Biographies

Aaron Rib is an Atlanta-based flutist who seeks to share joy, love, and kinship through the transformative experience of live music-making. They hold the Second Flute/Piccolo position at the Atlanta Ballet, teach flute at the Lovett Conservatory of Music, and serve as the Young Artist Competition Coordinator for the Atlanta Flute Club. aaronrib.com

Vanessa Lopez is a Mexican-American flutist and piccoloist with a strong passion for music education equity. She is the Flute Fellow with Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, and performs regularly with Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Vanessa teaches across Chicago with Sistema Ravinia, The People’s Music School, and The Latin School of Chicago. She is also the Pipeline magazine editor for the Chicago Flute Club. vanessalopezflute.com

Claire Gunsbury is a Pittsburgh-based flutist who brings a spirit of collaboration and curiosity to her creative work. She is the Piccoloist for the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Program Director of Lullaby Project Pittsburgh, and Community Engagement Coordinator for Pittsburgh Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Claire performs with the Pittsburgh Opera, Erie Philharmonic, and Westmoreland Symphony and enjoys teaching her private flute studio. clairegunsbury.com