Episode 44: Competition Repertoire Guides with Jake Fridkis

Flute 360 | Episode 44: “Competition Repertoire Guides with Jake Fridkis” (57:22)

In today’s episode, Heidi talks with Jake Fridkis who is the principal flutist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. We talk about specific repertoire requirements for NFA and TFS competitions that are approaching. Repertoire includes Telemann’s Fantasie in A Major, Büsser’s Prélude et Scherzo, and Coleman’s Danza de la Mariposa! Finally, Jake gives some general tips to successfully prepare for a flute competition.   

Episode 44 – Main Points:

• 0:28 – William S. Haynes Co. Website
• 1:40 – Repertoire requirements for NFA & TFS competitions. See links below.
• 2:19 – General suggestions for competition preparation.
• 3:06 – “If I was looking at the piece...the first thing I’d be focused on is how can I get all of this stuff on the page into my performance?” – Jake
• 4:08 – “If you go into any flute competition trying to improve your flute playing, as your first goal, you can’t lose!” – Jake
• 5:17 – “You don’t have control over the outcome, so don’t try to control it.” – Jake
• 6:33 – Telemann’s Fantasie in A Major
• 6:52 – “For Telemann, you are the show!” – Jake  
• 10:14 – Jasmine Choi, James Galway, Emmanuel Pahud, Jean-Pierre Rampal
• 10:21 – Amy Porter’s DVD of Telemann’s 12 Fantasias
• 10:41 – Bärenreiter’s Publication, urtext edition
• 11:17 – Bach’s Partita in A minor for solo flute – BWV 1013
• 13:20 – Quantz’s “On Playing the Flute”
• 13:23 – Robert Donington’s “A Performer’s Guide to Baroque Music”
• 14:23 – Jed Wentz, flutist, conductor, and teacher
• 15:39 – Nicholas McGegan, conductor
• 16:57 – Kim Pineda, flutist and musicologist
• 18:08 – Early music experts
• 18:31 – Finger vibrato
• 19:06 – Summary of the Telemann
• 19:14 – Traverso flute– experiment with this instrument!
• 20:20 – Büsser’s Prélude et Scherzo
• 21:09 – Jake talks about the Prélude!
• 23:12 – “Be flexible with your dynamics.” – Jake
• 24:30 – “French music is all about flow. If you listen to Ravel and Debussy it’s this amazing wash of colors and sounds.” – Jake
• 24:49 – Melody at the 6/4 time signature
• 25:17 – Debussy’s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune”
• 26:22 – Ravel, composer
• 26:46 – Conservatoire de Paris
• 29:25 – “Those are real notes in real time.” – Heidi quoting Dr. Sarah McKoin
• 31:04 – Büsser’s Scherzo
• 32:58 – “Don’t be afraid to have fun; this is all happy, fun music!” – Jake
• 33:37 – Cadenza
• 35:04 – Film: Matrix (1999)
• 36:12 – “I practice fast things extremely slowly. It’s effective because I am working on my sound. Then, when I play fast, my air knows where to go.” – Jake
• 37:01 – NFA’s Professional Flute Choir Competition
• 38:34 – Valerie Coleman’s “Danza de la Mariposa”
• 39:10 – Valerie Coleman, flutist and composer
• 39:24 – “We can show our full range and what we can do with the flute.” – Jake
• 40:47 – Fanfare opening!
• 42:44 – Singing and playing as tone exercises.
• 44:53 – Extended Techniques: Flutter tonguing
• 46:54 – Butterfly House, Dallas, TX
• 48:14 – Listen to Valerie play!
• 48:30 – Listen to “butterfly” pieces for other instruments!
• 48:50 – Jake’s final competition suggestions.
• 49:32 – Eastern Music Festival’s Application
• 50:00 – David Cramer, flutist
• 53:31 – Jake’s YouTube Channel
• 54:40 – Jolivet’s Chant de Linos
• 55:08 – Conclusion
• 55:37 – Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 – upcoming FWSO concert!
• 55:48 – Pam Adams, FWSO flutist

Episode 44 – Resources Mentioned:

• Jake’s YouTube Channel
• Jake’s Instagram
• Jake’s Twitter
• NFA’s Professional Flute Choir Competition
• NFA’s Convention Performers Competition
• Texas Flute Society’s Myrna Brown Competition
• William S. Haynes Co. Flutes’ Instagram
• William S. Haynes Co. Flutes’ Twitter
• William S. Haynes Co. Flutes' Facebook
• Heidi Kay Begay's Website

Episode 44 – Sponsors:

• Gold Level: William S. Haynes Co. Website
• Silver Level: Contact Heidi for more details!
• Bronze Level: J&K Productions’ Website