In this interview, Bonita Boyd shares more about Joseph Mariano’s influence on her artistry. She also explains how a teacher’s unwavering support is the secret to student confidence and success.

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Bonita Boyd is professor of flute at the Eastman School of Music and an active concert soloist throughout the world. She began her professional career at age twenty-one with appointments as principal flutist of the Rochester Philharmonic and the Chautauqua Symphony, making her the youngest principal flutist in a major U.S. orchestra at that time. She has served as performer and/or artist-teacher at various festivals including Marlboro, Bowdoin, Grand Teton, Johannesen, Eastern, Masterworks, Filarmonica de las Americas, the Hamamatsu Seminar, Aria, Credo, and the Aspen Music Festival. She has been president of the National Flute Association, a 5,000-member worldwide organization of flutists. Ms. Boyd's premieres and recordings of new works include those of Adler, Benson, Rozsa, Rands, Augusta Read Thomas, Sessler, Sierra, and most recently, the National Flute Association’s first performance of Melinda Wagner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Flute Concerto.  Her Flute Music of Les Six won a Stereo Review Record of the Year award, and her Paganini Caprice CD was on the final Ballot for a Grammy. Other CDs include the premiere recording of Bernstein's Halil (chamber version) and Quicksilver, the latest CD of the Boyd/Goluses Duo, with guitarist Nicholas Goluses.  Bonita has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Flute Association, as well as the Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Eastman School. Learn more.