Terri, the Master Flute Player
Is one a flutist or flautist? Flutist is the older word. It really doesn't matter which word is used. Both words mean one who plays the flute.
Saturday, April 24, is a very special day. Our oldest granddaughter, Terri Austin Sanchez, will be playing her flute at her SMU graduation recital. Her Grams, parents, and sister will be in the audience feeling very proud and excited for her accomplishments.
I wanted to write something special in tribute to Terri, celebrating this remarkable day. I asked Terri to write and tell me of her journey, how she got started playing the flute and what it means to her. Here's what she sent me:
I’ve always loved music. Perhaps it was my mom singing to me as a child, the choir music at church, my father’s love of bands like Chicago, or maybe just Disney movies, but music is in my blood. I loved to sing and I participated in church choirs, the Waco Girls Choir and Texas Girls Choir, but I was never really picked for the big solos and no teacher ever really singled me out as having “talent.” I didn’t really sense things “clicking” until it was time to choose an instrument from middle school band.
I wanted to play the saxophone but had no inclination for it, and was more or less forced to take home a flute based on one enthusiastic band director’s excitement for the sound I made when I simply took a breath and blew on the headjoint. “Just try it,” my mother and Ms. Ledesma (the band director) urged. I took my flute home and went into my room. I set the case on my dresser and opened it up. I looked at the three pieces of the flute, still wrapped in plastic, and I will never forget what happened next. Not usually one to talk to myself, it surprised even me when I said out loud to the flute on my dresser, “I have a feeling you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together!”
Because of the passion and enthusiasm of Ms. Ledesma, and later the encouragement from my high school band director, Mr. Salazar, I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment when performing on my flute. My junior year, I decided not to be a lawyer and to study music in college. Helen Blackburn, principal flutist of the Dallas Opera, "discovered" me during a master class she gave at my high school and promptly gave me a scholarship to Floot Fire, a wonderful music camp in Dallas. Because of Floot Fire, I met the woman whom today I call my fairy godmother, Claire Johnson.
Claire's nurturing guidance prompted me to attend Southern Methodist University, where she was finishing 30 years there as a flute professor.
After she retired, I auditioned at the University of Colorado in Boulder because Alexa Still, one of my favorite recording artists, was the flute professor there. I moved to Colorado! I was doing pretty well on my flute at that point, but part of me was still searching for something more. Every summer, I would go back to Floot Fire and teach, happy to give back some of the gifts that had been given to me there.
During the summer of 2003, while teaching at Floot Fire (in Texas), I met Gabriel Sanchez. I was immediately drawn to his magical performances at the piano. At that point, I had no idea why, but I knew he was different. I knew that he had that special something I had been looking for. Fortunately for me, we also liked and then loved each other very much. Now we're married!
Ever since meeting Gabriel, my musicianship skills have sky rocketed. I had the information I needed to play the flute, but he gave me a window into a musical world I never even knew existed. To this day, I am still only at the beginning of what he has to offer as a teacher.
Over the past few years, with the help of my husband, I have had the privilege to do very well in flute competitions. The prize I am most proud of is not 2nd prize for the National Flute Association Young Artist competition, but actually the extra prize I received at the same competition called, "Best Performance of a Newly Commissioned Work."
The funny thing is, the night before the semi-finals in New York, I was in tears trying to figure out how to play this bizarre piece (called Gargoyles). Gabriel told me to calm down and took me to dinner. There at the table on a scratch piece of paper, he wrote down a "Top 10 List of Things to Remember While Performing Gargoyles." Well, because of that list, I won the prize for that piece!
I am so excited, because in a couple of weeks, I will have earned a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University. I have really appreciated my time there with my teacher, Kara Kirkendoll Welch (flutist in the Dallas Symphony) and also the opportunity I had to take lessons with Debbie Baron (piccoloist for the Dallas Symphony). Because of them both, my flute tone quality and versatility have improved dramatically.
Next semester, I will begin my Doctor of Musical Arts studies at the University of North Texas, studying with Professor Terri Sundberg, and work towards earning my doctorate and applying for university/college teaching jobs. I am also looking forward to all my future performances with my husband and teacher, Gabriel.
We are so very proud of Terri and wish to congratulate her on such a great accomplishment of getting her Masters degree from SMU. She has shown commitment, perseverance, dedication, and the ability to overcome tremendous odds that sometimes threatened to derail her.
So, is she a flautist? Is she a flutist? What she is, is a fabulous flute player and a wonderful granddaughter. Congratulations, Terri. We love you! Grams and Papaw
