“James  Strauss, the visiting flutist from Brazil showed fluent mastery of his instrument. With the solo Partita in a minor BWV 1013. More was to come: things started to happen when the two artists arrived onstage to present their interpretation of the b minor sonata BWV1030. The melodic arches of the slow Largo movement emerged spacious & expressive from Strauss’s flute. The somewhat stolid Finale benefited beautifully from the pianist’s motoric skill.”

Keskisuomalainen Finland
Oxford Chamber Orchestra: A Night with James Strauss

“The concert was indeed “An Evening with James Strauss,” as he was featured in every piece save the first, the Prelude from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 by Villa-Lobos, played warmly by the OCO strings under the direction of  Ricardo Averbach. In the five works that Strauss played with the OCO, he proved himself in excellent control of technique, nuance, and color. The most impressive work of the evening, the Concerto for Violin, Cembalo, and Strings by Haydn transcribed for flute, piano, and strings, was elegant and highly polished. Pianist  Siok Lian Tan, impeccable in her performance in style, rhythmic control, and touch, followed Strauss’s every move. Averbach and the OCO strings were also locked in, catching each phrase. It was an excellent performance and was followed by several encores featuring Tan and Strauss together. The three works that followed the Concertstück, Tchaikovsky’s Lensky’s Aria from Eugene Onegin, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, and Dinicu’s Hora staccato, all transcribed and arranged by the soloist, again pointed to his technical and musical prowess, and earned him a standing ovation. His own set of variations on The Carnival of Venice played acappella, brought the audience to its feet once again.

The prestigious flutist James Strauss will offer a Transverse Flute Master Class in Totana.

The prestigious flautist James Strauss will offer a flute master class in Totana from November 12th to 14th. The course will take place at the Grupo Musical Totana Music School and offers several options: Active Student (€120), Listener (€30), and Group Class Listener: €50. Registration can be made via WhatsApp (644 01 61 05), at the Music School, or on the Grupo Musical website. Those interested in participating in this exciting Master Class should register as soon as possible, as spaces are limited. James Strauss, a “Cristiano Ronaldo” of Music In recent years, at our Music School, we have had a magnificent group of students learning to play the wonderful instrument, the flute. Behind this rare and numerous phenomenon in music schools in our Region of Murcia are two teachers, Cristina and Ana Belén. Cristina is a jewel as a solo instrumentalist, with a diploma from the CSMA (Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón), currently one of the best conservatories in the European Union. She has performed countless times as a soloist, in addition to touring with her “ADARA ENSEMBLE,” which also includes our international clarinetist from Totana, Cati Sara López, who resides in Vienna but travels the world demonstrating her expertise. Cristina also teaches at other local schools, such as Alhama, Cartagena, La Unión, Paretón, and others. She actively participates and is a board member of the Musical Association “CON FORZA,” which promotes concerts and the promotion of music and culture, collaborating with world-renowned musicians. One example is the concert held before the pandemic at the Cinema Velasco in Totana, directed by Ginés Martínez Vera, trumpeter, composer, arranger, director, and teacher, who recently received the Gold Medal at the Global Music Awards, along with six other silver medals, in California, USA. The article does not allow for the publication of her entire list of achievements. The second, Ana Belén, Totana’s daughter, also holds a degree from the Murcia Conservatory of Music. I’ve known her since she was a child, playing in the Totana Musical Group Band, the San Juan Band, and the Dolorosa Orchestra. I’ve watched her grow as a woman and as a musician, and the best part is that she continues to grow. In addition to teaching at the Totana Music School, she also teaches in Vélez Rubio and Torres de Cotillas. She has also performed numerous times with her “Dúo MyA,” as well as with other orchestras and bands in our region. This summer, during a course my daughter attended, I was fortunate enough to meet the great conductor James Strauss, a musician based in Vienna. He taught a two-day masterclass in Torre Pacheco that was special to me. As an amateur musician, I appreciated the greatness of this man, not only as an extraordinary musician, but also for the simplicity and closeness he demonstrated with his students. Believe me, this isn’t the usual trend for this type of solo instrumentalist. I won’t go into the history of this phenomenon, but I will say that he is currently one of the best solo flutists in Europe, if not the best, with a current contract as a “Universal Music Group Artist” and in negotiations, according to his manager, with Deutsche Grammophon. It’s almost nothing! A Cristiano Ronaldo of music. We are also fortunate that he is a personal friend of our friend Cati Sara, whom I mentioned earlier, and who certainly had something to do with this man’s choice of our city, between Cieza and Totana. With these ingredients, we are making a basket, within the group, that seems more than promising. Something is stirring in Totana music! José Miguel Martínez Soler, Coordinator of the course “James Strauss in Totana”

Virtuoso flutist James Strauss will perform with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra.

The Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra, a National Artistic Heritage, is pleased to present renowned Brazilian soloist James Strauss in a lavish concert conducted by the distinguished Venezuelan maestro Alfonso López Chollett, one of the most versatile and talented musicians of his generation, with notable appearances at prestigious international festivals. The concert is scheduled for this Thursday, May 5th, at 6 pm, in the José Félix Ribas Room of the Teresa Carreño Theater. The repertoire selected for this special gala will begin with the Overture “The Creatures of Prometheus” by Ludwig van Beethoven, in which mythological themes are treated with great beauty, followed by the Flute Concerto in E minor op.86 by the composer Franz Krommer and will end with Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” by Beethoven, a work considered by many to be the dawn of musical romanticism, as it breaks several schemes of the traditional classical symphony. The illustrious musician James Strauss spoke to us about the Flute Concerto: “This work is by a little-known Czech composer, Franz Krommer, a contemporary and rival of Beethoven. I was looking for the score of this concerto and discovered it in Karlsruhe, a small town in Germany. I found the manuscript in a library there. I edited and premiered it three years ago, and now I’m premiering it here. It’s a 45-minute work, very beautiful, and it’s a very interesting piece of repertoire; people will leave singing it.” For Strauss, this is his first time with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra and his first visit to the country. He expresses his satisfaction with the orchestra, which he describes as excellent and of the highest level. He adds enthusiastically that he is very pleased with the welcome he received from the Venezuelan people, who made him feel at home. “They are very friendly and attentive people. I’ve wanted to come for a long time and was very interested in getting to know the OSV, which is very good, and here I am.” He tells us that he comes from a family of musicians. His father played the violin and his mother the piano. He started playing the violin as a child, until one day, when he was eight, his father came home with a record by one of the world’s greatest flutists, the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Rampal. When he heard it for the first time, his eyes lit up, and he enthusiastically told his father: “I want to play the flute.” His father replied that playing the flute was very difficult, “In an orchestra there are only four, you have to be the best.” The boy was not discouraged and committed himself wholeheartedly to being the best. Ten years later, he was in Paris taking lessons with the same Jean-Pierre Rampal. Strauss is currently one of the greatest flute virtuosos in Latin America. His skill has been compared to that of greats such as Lang Lang and Jascha Heifetz. He has performed at the Chaletet in Paris; at Suntory Hall in Tokyo; at NIPAC in New Jersey; at Sala São Paulo in São Paulo; and at festivals in France, Brazil, the United States, Argentina, Iceland, and Israel. In January 2007, he performed in Cleveland, Ohio, with the Oxford Chamber Orchestra. Similarly, renowned composers René Gerber, Sofia Carlile, Dimitri Cervo, Daisuke Soga, Philip Glass, Glenn Roger Davis, Alexander Arutiunian, Marlos Nobre, and Gerardo Guevara have been commissioned to compose concertos especially for Strauss, who has served as principal of the Capriccioso Chamber Orchestra (Finland), the Sibiu Symphony Orchestra (Romania), the Paris Opéra Comique, the San José dos Campos Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), the Vera Cruz Symphony Orchestra of São Paulo, and the Loja Symphony Orchestra. Residents of the city are invited to enjoy a unique opportunity with this extraordinary concert, which will feature a wonderful performance by renowned soloist James Strauss, accompanied by the impeccable playing of the OSV. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, May 5th, at 6 p.m., in the José Félix Ribas Room of the Teresa Carreño Theater Cultural Complex. Admission is Bs 200. Tickets are available at the theater box office.

Inspired by the wind

His flute is a little treasure. Literally. It was handcrafted by Powell Flutes in 14-karat gold for the artist. Since then, this instrument has accompanied the renowned Brazilian flutist James Strauss in several cities, including Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and other important venues around the world. Next Wednesday, October 22, the Man of the Golden Flute, as he became known in his native country, will give a recital in the main hall of the Club de la Unión at 8 p.m. He will also be accompanied by Ecuadorian flutist Antonio Mazzini, a member of the Guayaquil Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and a student of Strauss. They had already given a similar recital the previous year and, on October 11, they performed at the Celebrity Center in Los Angeles, USA. The musicians met in 2013, when Strauss first visited the country to give master classes with the Symphony Orchestra, where Antonio excelled. Afterward, they continued with private lessons. “I’m very grateful because, thanks to him, many doors opened. He trusted me, as I could see from the first lessons, and we were able to establish a good teacher-student relationship,” says Antonio. They both visited Italy last year, where Mazzini performed at The Falaut Campus. He also participated in the 2nd Severino Gazzelloni International Flute Competition, where he won third place in his category. According to Strauss, it’s simply about offering other young musicians the support he received when he was starting his musical career. “When I was 15, many people in my country helped me go study abroad, and now I do the same with other young musicians. I think it’s like a circle,” he says. The flute Antonio uses today was Strauss’s first instrument, which he gave him as a gift. Among the lessons he learned from his teacher, Antonio highlights stage management and performance. “When performing a piece, you can’t just stand still on stage. You need to feel the music, make it flow not only through the instrument but also through your body, so that both merge and become one,” says Mazzini. The recital will feature compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wilhelm Ernst, Alexander Alyabiev, and Franz and Karl Doppler. Special guest appearances include violinist Iván Fabre and pianist Mangfred Mora Celi.