Amy Porter
Professor of Flute
akporter@umich.edu
734-764-7591
Office: 3047 Moore
Flutist Amy Porter captivates audiences with her stunning virtuosity combined with heartfelt lyricism and interpretive sensitivity. Acclaimed by The New York Times as "a particularly strong performer, technically robust and musically forceful," and echoed by American Record Guide as "a charismatic and highly skilled performer," she has established herself as one of the leading artists of today through her innovative solo concerts and notable collaborations with the world's top composers.
Popular among flutists around the world, Porter has appeared with orchestras across the United States and abroad, and has been acclaimed for her compelling and energetic performances. Currently, reviewers rave about her moving interpretation of Michael Daugherty's "Trail of Tears" Concerto writing, "as played by the charismatic soloist Amy Porter (with whom Daugherty collaborated in writing 'Trail of Tears'), no instrument could conceivably sound more lively or richly expressive." (Mississippi News). Regarding her Carnegie Hall performance, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote, "Amy Porter played with graceful poise."
Porter has appeared notably at New York's Carnegie Hall, Taipei's National Theater Concert Hall, Muramatsu Hall in Osaka, Japan, and in recital on National Public Radio. She was highlighted on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center and featured on the magazine covers of Flute Talk Magazine in the U.S., The Flute Magazine in Japan and Muramatsu Flute Magazine in Japan.
Porter is much sought after for her teaching and master classes based on her versatility as a musician. She is a well-published professor at the University of Michigan, having produced a broad array of media including DVD study guides, CDs, and sheet music arrangements. She held the position of associate principal flute in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for eight years before becoming professor of flute at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor. She is the founder and past president of the non-profit Southeast Michigan Flute Association. She is founder of the popular workshop, "Amy Porter's Anatomy of Sound" with professor of theatre (movement) Jerald Schwiebert and internationally renowned guests. She also is the master teacher for the MPULSE Summer Institute for advanced high school students at U-M.
She was awarded the 2006 Henry Russel Award from the University of Michigan for distinguished scholarship and conspicuous ability as a teacher. This is only the third time since 1926 that this award has been given to a professor in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the first time ever awarded to a performing artist.
Porter came to international attention when she took top prizes at the Paris/Ville d'Avray International Flute Competition in France as well as the Kobe International Flute Competition in Japan. The jury awarded her the prize for Best Performance of the Commissioned Work. Since then she has performed internationally as soloist with the Kobe Chamber Orchestra in Japan, The Evergreen Symphony in Taiwan and the New York Symphonic Ensemble tours of Asia. In the U.S. she has appeared as soloist notably with The American Composers Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Delaware Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, Elgin Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic, and Tupelo Symphony. She has appeared regularly as concerto soloist at the National Flute Association conventions and was a headline artist and lecturer at the 2012 British Flute Society Convention in Manchester.
Amy Porter has recorded on the CBS Masterworks, Boston Records, Equilibrium and ACA Digital labels. Recent CD releases include
- American Art featuring music for flute and piano by Burton, Beaser, Daugherty and Caliendo with pianist Christopher Harding
- Passacaglia, Music for Solo Flute featuring solo flute compositions by Roszá, Dohnányi, Hindemith and Karg-Elert
- Joel Puckett's The Shadow of Sirius Concerto for Flute and Orchestra with the University of Michigan Symphony Band
- The premiere recording of William Bolcom's Lyric Concerto for Flute and Orchestra with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
- Porter Ambrose King; Music for Flute and Oboe collaborating with oboist Nancy Ambrose King performing music by Dring, Ginastera, Damase, Delibes, and Bozza.
In 2012 Amy Porter premiered her two-DVD set Anatomy of Sound: a Workshop with Amy Porter about her annual adult workshop held every summer in Ann Arbor. It is a comprehensive study guide for all musicians to use as a teaching tool for instrumental sound production. Also in 2012, she arranged and published the Etudes of Cyrill Rose for flute, originally written for clarinet. In 2010, Carl Fischer Publishing produced and released Amy Porter's latest DVD The ABC's of Flute Playing for the Absolute Beginner with Larry Clark, vice president, editor-in-chief from Carl Fischer Music. It is a comprehensive beginning study guide to playing the flute with information about breathing, embouchure, hand position, air direction, and caring for the instrument. In 2009, Theodore Presser Publishing Company began distributing Amy Porter's two DVDs, Telemann 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute Without Bass: A Study Guide with Amy Porter" and Karg-Elert 30 Caprices: A Study Guide with Amy Porter. The Karg-Elert DVD has been translated into Japanese and both DVDs are now available world wide. In 2006 she published her arrangement of Six Songs for Flute and Piano by Benjamin Godard for Little Piper Publishing.
Porter has given masterclasses in Sweden, France, Slovenia, Brazil, Luxembourg, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as in major cities throughout the U.S. She has served as resident guest artist for the Jeanne Baxtresser International Masterclass at Juilliard, has taught and performed at the Aria International Summer Academy, Marrowstone Music Festival, was a coach for The Youth Orchestra of the Americas Tour in Costa Rica, the Summer Academy in Courchevel, France and the World Festival of Amateur Orchestras in Nagoya, Japan.
A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Porter is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York where she received a full scholarship for her degrees as well as fellowships to Tanglewood and The Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Her teachers at Juilliard were Samuel Baron and Jeanne Baxtresser.
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