Celebration of the flute

SANDPOINT — For the weekend, fingers will flutter in Sandpoint during the second North Idaho Flute Festival. 

The three-day event hosted by the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint will include mentorship, performance, and a competition for honors including a guest invitation to play with North Idaho Philharmonia. 

According to Gosia Szemelak, a principal flutist with North Idaho Philharmonia and instructor of the festival’s master class, the weekend will give developing players an opportunity to study the attributes of experts. 

“Having exposure to other people playing an instrument is very important,” said Szemelak. “If you don't know how it's supposed to sound, then you're kind of blind in the darkness.” 

Szemelak, who hails from Poland, fell for the flute after witnessing a performance at a music school in her home country. 

“I still have the picture in front of my face of a girl playing a silver flute,” said Szemelak. “I had no idea what she was doing, and I was very curious about it.” 

After pursuing an education in music and achieving a master’s degree in flute performance, Szemelak became an instructor and now teaches aspiring instrumentalists. 

“There are a lot of different elements that have to be very well balanced to master the instrument,” Szemelak said. 

Posture, breathing, finger technique, and embouchure — the position of the lips and tongue — must all align to produce a musician’s desired tone. 

In addition to the elements of technique, Szemelak sees multi-instrumentalism as a key stepping stone in musical literacy. 

“I try to tell all my students to start with piano or take piano together with flute,” she said. Szemelak often uses a piano during lessons to help instruct students and described the instrument as “a very good base.” 

In Poland, all students take piano lessons before selecting their instrument. Szemelak herself played the piano for three years before taking up her principal instrument. 

“Even though I’ve played flute for so many years, I have a piano keyboard in front of my eyes,” she said. “Having knowledge of the piano helps with every single instrument afterward.”

According to Szemelak, though, the most vital characteristic of a developing musician goes beyond piano knowledge or instrument technique. 

“The most important thing is when you become your own teacher,” she said. “You have to find what you want and then try to try to achieve it.” 

“I can give you tips, but you need to want it, too,” she added. “I see some students that play because their parents want them to, and then there are students that are really fascinated by the instrument.”  

“They are the ones who usually succeed,” Szemelak said. 

After Friday’s master class, young musicians will demonstrate their skills in a Saturday competition and receive feedback from visiting judge and flutist Rhonda Bradetich. Saturday evening, Bradetich, Szemelak, and guitarist Paul Grove will take the stage in the conservatory’s Little Carnegie Hall. 

Above all, the event aims to provide flutists with an opportunity to perform in a region with more infrastructure for contemporary music than classical. 

“Contemporary music is nice — I listen to contemporary music,” said Szemelak. “With classical music, there are so many things going on, and it really touches different parts of your soul.” 

Szemelak recalled a symphony by Austrian composer Anton Bruckner she's studying for a North Idaho Philharmonia performance. 

“There are so many things going on, it’s so complex,” she said. “Every single time I listen to it, I hear different things. And I've listened to it probably 100 times now.” 

“That's what classical music is about.”