Luis D  

5

  5.0 (16)

Instruments: Piano, Voice, Saxophone, Flute, Recorder, Piccolo, Music
Styles: Classical, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Latin, Flamenco, Showtunes, Spirituals, Marching Band, Avant-garde

Luis D. is a riveting, up and coming flutist from New York City. He is a consummate stylist, enjoying a wide range of styles from the Baroque to new music. Even at a young age Luis showed promise. He was a student with the Young Artist Program at the Kaufman Center while he attended High School at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. World famous Tony Bennett, the President of the Sinatra School, ound Luis in the hall one day and called him a “cool cat”, and then helped him get the opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall with Alexander Markov, one of the top violin virtuoso's in the realm of classical music. Diaz has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, The Jay Sharp Theatre at the Julliard School of Music, and Kodak Hall at the Eastman School of Music. Luis has performed with the Inter-School Orchestra for numerous years, and has performed with the BAM Philharmonic, the Astoria Symphony Orchestra, “Pershing's Own” US Military Band, Little Orchestra Society and the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Orchestra. He completed his Masters degree in flute performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2018. Dr. Susan Rotholz, the principal flutist for the NY Pops is his current instructor along with Dr. Marie Kenote. He received his B.M. in Flute Performance from Nyack College School of Music in 2015, where he studied under the direction of Dr. Marie Herseth Kenote. Dr. Kenote is an NEC alumni and a member of the New York Philharmonic, where she was a substitute flutist for 20 years under the baton of Leonard Bernstein. In March 2014, Luis was one of only three students chosen to perform in a flute master class with virtuoso flute player, Sir James Galway. In 2013, Luis performed alongside his colleagues in Hong Kong, Beijing, and South Korea. In addition, Luis was the first-place winner in the 2013 New Jersey Flute Choir Competition. In 2012 he performed a Duo Flute Concerto with Andrea Rivera as winners of the Nyack College Concerto Competition. In 2016 he was invited to return to Asia for the 2016 Chamberfest Tour as the Artistic Director where he would oversee rehearsals, prepare programs, and perform chamber and solo repertoire in Hong Kong, Seoul, Macau, and Japan. He became interested in classical music when his elementary school class took monthly trips to the New York Philharmonic, and this is where he discovered his love for the flute as an instrument. “The flute always stood out to me because it was the highest and brightest voice,” he remembers. In elementary school, he began his flute studies through a scholarship program sponsored by the New York Philharmonic at the Lucy Moses School. Through the guidance of Dr. Valerie Holmes, his first flute teacher for 8 years, Luisbegan taking lessons in the fourth grade and then entered the Special Music School in the sixth grade.

For Beginner students I have them start with the recorder. The instrument allows for a smooth segue to the flute being that the student can see their fingers and the recorder does not require the same air speed and lung capacity that the flute does so the student can pace themselves. For intermediate or advanced students I will go through orchestral excerpts, etudes, or technical studies with them. I follow the same model with my adult students, if they are just starting out I will recommend beginning on recorder to solidify fingerings however the mental and physical capacity of an adult versus a young child are very different. In which case we would start on the flute and utilize book such as 'Melodious Etude Book', 'Berbiguer Etude Book', 'Paula Robison Flute Warmups Book', 'Taffanel & Gaubert' etcetc