Biography and more

AraleeDorough.com

Flute Masterclasses and Workshops, Information on Orchestral Playing

Biography and more

My standard biography

"Aralee Dorough is Principal Flutist of the Houston Symphony. She received her Bachelors degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1983 as a student of Robert Willoughby. She continued her studies with Thomas Nyfenger at the Yale School of Music until winning the position of 2nd flute with the Houston Symphony in 1985. In 1991 she became the orchestra's principal flutist.

Aralee appears regularly as a soloist with the orchestra. Recently she performed the Mozart Concerto in G with Music Director Hans Graf. In 1993 she recorded the same concerto with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony for the IMP label. She performed the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Flute Moon, commissioned by the Houston Symphony, in a concert broadcast on PBS. She has appeared with harpist Marisa Robles and baroque specialist Nicholas McGegan.

Aralee has toured extensively throughout Europe and Japan, and performed at Chicago's prestigious Ravinia Festival, as a member of the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, often in collaboration with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano.

Aralee is on the faculty of the Festival-Institute at Round Top and the Texas Music Festival."

Equipment info

I play a Powell flute--Cooper scale, .014 wall, made in 1980, with a Drelinger silver headjoint. (I have used this set-up for about 17 years.)

In recital I sometimes perform on Drelinger's "UpRite" headjoint, which converts the flute into a vertical flute. I have made a recording of Beethoven and Mozart which demonstrates the UpRite.

Things I find important in flute playing...

You can never stop listening for pitch. Hear and adjust every note, even when playing alone. When playing with other instruments, take the attitude that adjusting is YOUR job. Pitch on the flute is pretty bendable--be thankful!

A colorful sound projects well, without forcing. When working on tone you should strive for a clear tone, free of air noise, yet one that is rich in overtones. To develop a good tone you first have to have the concept in your mind. It helps to listen to as much good playing as you can when you are learning.

You have to decide where the phrase is going. Where is the peak? Every phrase should have shape, created by dynamic shading, sometimes large, sometimes subtle ("micro-dynamics"). Indeed, almost every note should be either going somewhere or coming from somewhere. Rarely would you want several notes in a row to have equal importance (i.e. the same dynamic.) To make these decisions, you might need to study the score and identify the harmonies. I like the meter of a passage to be very obvious dynamically. A downbeat should sound like a downbeat, a pick-up like a pick-up, unless there is a reason.

Vibrato: strive to produce a free, loose vibrato, and then learn to use it with control, and sparingly. It's a really good exercise to play a phrase without ANY vibrato, but use the dynamic shaping to make it as musical as possible. Another good exercise is to play the phrase and make sure EVERY NOTE has vibrato, with a smooth legato connection between each note. Careless vibrato can obscure the line, but well-executed vibrato can enhance every aspect of the delivery. It's ironic that making classical music sound spontaneous, original and alive takes careful planning and control of all the small details.

Non-musicians would probably be surprised to know that classical music, played well, has much rhythmic freedom. This rubato, though often subtle, further enhances phrase shape and expressiveness.

To cope with nerves/stage fright it helps me to tap into a feeling of "joy". I've gotten some helpful techniques from a book called "Mental Toughness Training for Athletes" by Loehr. It also helps when I focus on my breathing techniques and stance, and all the physical tricks which make it easier to play.

A little bit about my career path...

I come from a musical family. My father is a jazz musician and is the composer and musical director of Schoolhouse Rock. (bobdorough.com)

My husband, oboist Colin Gatwood, and I recently produced a CD with my dad, which features his jazz arrangements for flute, oboe and jazz combo. It is called The Houston Branch.

I started on piano at age 6, flute at age 9, through the school band program. It took me a week to even get a sound out! But before I knew it, I was in the band. I enjoyed playing, but didn't work at it until high school. I was more serious about art and science.

I got interested in orchestral music, not because of the flute, but because of falling in love with certain pieces of music. The first was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Later, Bernstein's West Side Story, and then more Stravinsky, Bartok, and Ravel. I am happy playing in an orchestra because I still love hearing that 20th century repertoire. My favorite composers to play are Brahms and Dvorak.

I've been fortunate to have great teachers, starting with Nadine Asin in NYC when I was still in high school. Robert Willoughby, my teacher at Oberlin, is one of the world's greatest teachers, patient and persistent. He is a stickler for intonation and for musical and stylistic details, like knowing where a phrase is going, what notes are important, and why! Tom Nyfenger was an inspiring teacher, a genius who could play anything by ear, on the flute OR the piano. He coached me for the Houston Symphony 2nd flute audition. In recent years I have learned so many great things about breathing, sound and articulation from Keith Underwood, things that have helped me play better and more easily, and have helped me become a more effective teacher. An problem with tendinitis my sophomore year of college forced me to learn a great deal about playing health, and I am actually grateful for the experience. Alexander Technique lessons got me over that crisis.

Working with music director Christoph Eschenbach for 11 years has been very influential. He always encouraged us to play with imagination and conviction.