In this Flute Unscripted interview, Burkart Artist Ebonee Thomas shares all of her piccolo tips and her secrets for staying in shape on the instrument even when she is on the go with a busy schedule. The Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory talks more about what excites her about shaping the next generation of young flutists and the lessons she tries to pass down to them from her own mentors and role models.
Ebonee completed a four-year fellowship with the prestigious New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall, she was a featured soloist under Tilson-Thomas, performing Joan Tower’s Flute Concerto and the North American premiere of Christian Lindberg’s flute concerto, The World of Montuagretta.
Along with performing orchestral repertoire, Ebonee is an avid chamber musician, applauded as a “standout” by Theater Jones in her latest performance for the Fine Arts Chamber Players. She performs regularly with the Austin Chamber Music Society and Voices of Change, a new music ensemble in Dallas, TX. She was a finalist for the Austin Arts Awards for her performance of Valerie Coleman’s Danza de la Mariposa, for solo flute. Ebonee has been a member of the Firebird Ensemble with Seraphic Fire and can be heard on several of their released recordings including The Brandenburg Project. Ebonee had the rare opportunity to perform John Adams’ Chamber Symphony in Carnegie Hall under the composer’s baton. She also served as Principal Flute of the Star Wars in Concert! Orchestra during their U.S., Canada, and Mexico tour and was Principal Flute of the American Repertory Theater’s revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
As a passionate pedagogue, Ebonee is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory. Along with all of her musical endeavors, Ebonee serves as a member of the board of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras and is on the National Advisory Board of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program
Ebonee received her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance degree from Southern Methodist University and received her Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers Jean Larson Garver, Claire Johnson, Helen Blackburn, and Fenwick Smith. Ebonee plays on a Burkart 998 with a platinum Mancke headjoint and a Burkart Elite Piccolo.
Leave a comment