{"id":24421,"date":"2023-01-07T05:30:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T10:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=24421"},"modified":"2022-12-08T09:07:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T14:07:31","slug":"kate-steinbeck-and-pan-harmonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/07\/kate-steinbeck-and-pan-harmonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Steinbeck and Pan Harmonia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Kate Steinbeck doesn\u2019t remember a time when she didn\u2019t<\/i> want to play the flute. \u201cI think I was haunted by it as a child,\u201d she says. When she was in junior high school, the band director told students, \u201cDon’t play the flute; there are too many flute players.\u201d So she chose the trumpet. \u201cBut then,\u201d she laughs, \u201cin the parking lot at the music store, I realized, \u2018I don’t want<\/i> to play trumpet!\u2019\u201d Soon afterward, she decided on the flute. And the decision stuck.<\/p>\n

Some years ago, Steinbeck made another decision: rather than play a metallic flute \u2013 the kind most readily associated with classical and chamber music \u2013 she chose a wooden one. Quoting the maker of the world-class instrument, Steinbeck likens the difference between the two as the difference between Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe red wine being the wooden flute,\u201d she emphasizes. \u201cThere’s a beautiful density to the sound, the high register is not shrill, and it has more overtones.\u201d But Steinbeck has been playing the wooden flute for so many years that to her, it\u2019s just a flute. \u201cSo I ask the audience, \u2018What do you<\/i> think?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

By all accounts, they like it. For more than two decades since moving to Western North Carolina, Steinbeck has been a popular fixture of the chamber music scene. And that\u2019s all the more impressive because she started from scratch. \u201cI was challenged by what I saw here in the genre,\u201d she explains. \u201cI thought, \u2018If I\u2019m going to thrive here as an artist, I\u2019m going to have to create my own situation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinbeck and a partner launched an ensemble, Keowee Chamber Music, and in 2001 they launched an annual music festival. Keowee Chamber Music Festival gained nonprofit status in 2004, but from the beginning it had altruistic goals. \u201cWhat’s really important to me is that everybody has access to [this music] if they are at all curious and want to come out,\u201d Steinbeck says.<\/p>\n

The organization was re-branded as Pan Harmonia in 2011; the name change reflected Steinbeck\u2019s playful demeanor that informs her approach to music and life. \u201cI solicited my audience for suggestions, and somebody said, \u2018What about something to do with Pan?\u201d Referencing the flute-playing satyr of Greek mythology made sense, but as a name, it felt incomplete.<\/p>\n

Steinbeck\u2019s son was 13 at the time, and he suggested Pan Harmonia. \u201cThose are two gods,\u201d she points out. Harmonia is the daughter of Ares, Greek god of war, and Aphrodite is the goddess of love. \u201cPretty crazy parentage,\u201d Steinbeck observes. \u201cSo I went with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even today, Steinbeck endeavors to make performances accessible to as many people as possible. \u201cDuring the pandemic, it was such a dire, dark time,\u201d she says. \u201cI talked to the universe and said, \u2018If we get through this, I really want to make this free-access for people.\u2019\u201d She instituted a pay-what-you-can model for her performances. Noting that Pan Harmonia really had that policy all along, she says that \u201cWe just didn\u2019t advertise it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Steinbeck\u2019s musical collaborations with pianist Dewitt Tipton go back years. \u201cHe\u2019s a sublime musician,\u201d she says. \u201cOne thing I particularly appreciate about him is that he has a lot of experience with singers.\u201d Steinbeck explains that the musical pacing of a flutist is quite similar to that of a vocalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cKate and I have a bond,\u00a0both musically and personally,\u201d Tipton says. \u201cIt seemed the right time to have her share her enormous gift with our wonderful community.\u201d The December 4 Friends of Music program featuring Steinbeck and Tipton revisited works the duo has played in the past.
\n\u201cWe’re playing some Bach,\u201d Steinbeck says. \u201cAnd we’re playing a piece by French composer Albert Roussel called Joueurs de fl\u00fbte<\/i>, which means \u2018flute player.\u2019\u201d Steinbeck says that whenever possible, she endeavors to include works by lesser-known composers who deserve a wider hearing. \u201cI\u2019ll probably play a solo, too,\u201d she adds with a mischievous chuckle. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t told Dewitt that yet!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Friends of Music concert\/recital program was launched in 2014. While it\u2019s hosted by the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness, the series is outside the church\u2019s budget; it\u2019s funded by music-loving parishioners and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDewitt has created a nice series this year,\u201d Steinbeck says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m very touched to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kate Steinbeck doesn\u2019t remember a time when she didn\u2019t want to play the flute. \u201cI think I was haunted by it as a child,\u201d she says. When she was in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,41],"tags":[5008],"class_list":["post-24421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classical","category-interview","tag-kate-steinbeck","cat-17-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24424,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421\/revisions\/24424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}