Member Spotlight-Tammy Evans Yonce

Get to Know...Tammy Evans Yonce

Tammy Evans Yonce is an active supporter of new music for the flute, specifically for the glissando headjoint. Check out her fascinating presentation from TEDx in Brookings about reinventing classical music. During this talk she shares the wonders of the internet for bringing composers and musicians together! We know without the internet we wouldn’t have come together with many of the composers whose music we’ve come to know and love through the FNMC Composition Contest!

Q&A with Tammy…

Describe your musical background and current activities.
I'm an Atlanta native and hold degrees in flute performance. I spent many years as an adjunct instructor in Georgia and South Carolina during and directly after my doctoral work. Currently I'm an assistant professor of music at South Dakota State University. While my primary job responsibility is applied flute, I like to bring a performer's perspective to the other courses I teach here on campus. I perform nationally and internationally, write often, and am an active and frequent commissioner of new music for flute.

Do you have any upcoming events that you would like our friends and followers to know about?
Upcoming events include performing at the MOXsonic festival; performing with the South Dakota State University dance department; solo performances with the SDSU wind symphony and SDSU concert band; two NFA performances, and a solo performance with the Atlanta Concert Band. I will also be releasing my debut CD this year, which features new music for flute.

What about new music for the flute appeals to you?
I love exploring sound, and I'm a compulsive creator. These two things are really good for new music. I also find the collaborative process of commissioning energizing, and I am inspired by the creative energy of the composers I work with. I often perform with the Glissando Headjoint, which is a revolutionary piece of equipment for flutists. It plays into my love of exploring sound.

More About Tammy…

Tammy Evans Yonce, an Atlanta native, is a flutist, collaborative musician, writer, and professor. She is a dedicated new music performer who is particularly interested in the commissioning and teaching of new music. Dr. Yonce has commissioned over a dozen works involving flute, many with a specific focus on creating new music for the Glissando Headjoint.
Her debut CD, which features works for flute as well as Glissando Headjoint, is scheduled to be released later this year.

As a writer, Dr. Yonce has had articles published in Flute Talk; Pan, the Journal of the British Flute Society; The Flute View; and South Dakota Musician. She frequently contributes CD reviews to The Flute View.

Dr. Yonce is Assistant Professor of Music at South Dakota State University, where she teaches applied flute, woodwind pedagogy, and courses in musicology. She currently serves on the New Music Advisory Committee of the National Flute Association and formerly served on the board of the Atlanta Flute Club. She recently gave a TEDx talk about collaboration, new music, and the Glissando Headjoint.

Dr. Yonce can be found on Twitter @TammyEvansYonce and at her website: www.tammyevansyonce.com.

 

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