Robert Dick (flutist)

Robert Dick
Background information
Born (1950-01-04) January 4, 1950
New York City, New York
Genres free improvisation, new jazz, classical contemporary
Occupation(s) flutist, composer, teacher, author
Instruments Flute, piccolo
Years active 1973-present
Labels New World, Tzadik, Enja, NEMU, Mulatta
Website www.robertdick.net
Notable instruments
contrabass flute, bass flute is F and C, open-hole alto flute, flute, flute with Glissando Headjoint® and piccolo

Robert Dick (born January 4, 1950) is a flutist, composer, teacher and author. His musical style is a mix of classical, world music, electronic and jazz,and he is the inventor of the "glissando headjoint," a custom flute head joint that allows the player to achieve electric guitar-like whammy bar effects with their instrument.[1] In 2014, the National Flute Association awarded Dick its Lifetime Achievement Award.[2] The New York Times said his “technical resources and imagination seem limitless"[3] while JazzTimes called him “revolutionary.”[4]

Early life and history

Robert Dick was born and raised in New York City. He began playing the flute in the fourth grade, after hearing the piccolo on the radio in the Top 40 hit “Rockin’ Robin. His primary teachers were Henry Zlotnik, James Pappoutsakis, Julius Baker and Thomas Nyfenger.[5]

As a teenager, Dick wanted to become an orchestral flutist, and played first flute in the Senior Orchestra at the High School of Music and Art[6] and also the New York All-City High School Orchestra. “Studies with him (Julius Baker) were geared toward becoming an orchestral player, and that was my dream at the time. But as I grew out of that dream, I realized that my training really hadn’t provided a look at music from the inside, which is what I needed—particularly the idea that music is generated from hearing within and recognizing what you are hearing.”[7] He became a soloist and composer.

At Yale College, Dick earned a BA degree,[5] and met Robert Morris, a composer and theorist, who mentored him as he wrote his first compositions. While at Yale, Dick wrote his first book: THE OTHER FLUTE: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques,[8] and then earned his master's degree in composition, studying with Morris as well as electronic music with Bulant Arel and Jacob Druckman.[5]

While attending Yale’s graduate school, Dick composed “Afterlight,” a flute piece that used multiphonics as its basis.[9] “Afterlight” received a BMI Oliver Daniel Prize.[10]

Career

After leaving school in Spring 1973, Dick lived in New Haven, Connecticut until September 1977, when he moved to Buffalo, New York to join the contemporary music group, the Creative Associates. Dick was a member of the group until June 1980.[11] While in New Haven, he wrote his second book Tone Development through Extended Technique and began to develop himself as an improviser and composer.

Dick spent six months in Paris from July - December 1978 working at I.R.C.A.M. (Institute of Research and Coordination, Acoustics and Music) developing his idea for a new flute mechanism. The first prototype was made by Albert Cooper in London in 1984. This design remains unfinished.[6]

From Fall 1980 until Spring 1992, Dick lived in New York City, developing his compositions, improvisations and wrote Circular Breathing for the Flutist.[12] In this period, he self-published The Revised Edition of THE OTHER FLUTE: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Technique and his later books, compositions and instructional recordings through his Multiple Breath Music Company.[13] In 1986, he left the role of concert soloist in contemporary music to perform his own music and the music of composer-performer collaborators exclusively. Dick performed a recital of his own works as part of the New York Philharmonic’s Horizons 84 Festival at Avery Fisher Hall in 1984.[14]

In May 1992, he moved to Switzerland for ten years, continuing his career as a composer-performer. He returned to the US in 2002, as Visiting Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Iowa. In July 2003, he returned to New York City.[5] Since July 2013, Dick has been dividing his time between New York City and Kassel, Germany, where his children Sebastian (born 2006) and Leonie (born 2008) live with their mother, the composer-pianist Ursel Schlicht.{citation needed}

Dick's recitals today primarily consist of his compositions and improvisations, and occasionally incorporating the influences of Paul Hindemith, Georg-Philip Telemann and Jimi Hendrix into his repertoire.[15]

As an instructor, Dick created a method and practice of teaching for flutists that he documented in his books: Tone Development through Extended Techniques, and Circular Breathing for the Flutist and the two volumes of FLYING LESSONS: Six Contemporary Concert Etudes.[2] He teaches masters classes at hundreds of international universities.[15]

Dick is the inventor of the Glissando Headjoint®, a telescoping flute mouthpiece which allows the flutist to slide and extend notes.[16]

As a composer, Dick's work has been recognized by a Koussevitzky Foundation Commission, a Guggenheim Fellowship and two NEA Composers Fellowships, among many grants and commissions. Dick has composed a new work for the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. He has recorded over 20 albums and appeared as a guest on many other recordings.[5]

Discography

As Leader

Original compositions on compilations

Performances of other composers

Flute Instruction

Orchestral Position

 

Professional Affiliations

References

  1. ↑ "Flutist Robert Dick Demonstrates the Glissando Headjoint". Artists House Music. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Achievement Awards". The National Flute Association. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (June 18, 2005). "New Music in Festival Spotlight at Mannes". New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Shoemaker, Bill (June 1998). "Robert Dick with the Dave Soldier String Quartet Jazz Standards on Mars New Winds Potion". JazzTimes. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Woodwind Faculty: Robert Dick". NYU Steinhardt. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Flute Possibilities" (PDF). New World Records. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "Music From Within: Peter Bacchus Interviews Robert Dick". The Flutist Quarterly. Winter 2010.
  8. ↑ Trageser, Stephen (April 6, 2015). "Experimental Flutist Robert Dick Plays FMRL Pop-Up at Portland Brew Wednesday". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Afterlight For Flute Alone". Just For Winds. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Interpretations Robert Dick & Ursel Schlicht Gustavo Aguilar Get Libre Collective". newmusicworld.org. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Archive of the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts: Finding List". University of Buffalo. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Circular Breathing All you need to know about Circular Breathing". Flutecolors.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "Multiple Breath Music Company List of Books". Book-info.com.
  14. ↑ "Philharmonic to Present "Horizons"". New York Times 3. February 29, 1984. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Fmrl Last Minute! Robert Dick (Flute), W/ Vkd+Evan Lipson". Timeout Nashville. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  16. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (September 3, 2010). "In the Forest of Instruments, Signs of Evolution". New York Times 2. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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