A
REAL
LIFE
DRAMA
February 12 — March 9
The Magic Flutist
Musica Viva and the Michigan Flute Festival host
a very special guest: Jean Pierre Rampal.
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egendary flutist Jean Pierre
Rampal — once called the
"grand boulevardier of the
golden flute" — will grace the
stage of Temple Beth El as part
of Musica Viva's 10th anniver-
sary season 8 p.m. Monday, Feb.
24. The concert, titled "Jean
Pierre Rampal With the Fifth
Annual Michigan Flute Festival
— A Celebration!" marks Ram-
pal's first appearance with Mu-
sica Viva, a local nonprofit
arts organization.
Rampal, a pioneer and
innovator in the flute
world, brings not just im-
peccable technique but an
artist's soul to his work.
He almost singlehanded-
ly led the flute from a
purely orchestral instru-
ment to a solo concert in-
strument, paving the way
for other flute soloists like
James Galway and Euge-
nia Zukerman. Today, he
is one of the world's most
recorded musical artists.
The Marseilles-born
Rampal first studied flute
with his father, a princi-
pal flutist with the local
symphony and a flute pro-
fessor. Rampal was in his
third year of medical
school — mostly to please
his parents — and playing
his flute mostly as a hob-
by, when Nazi occupation forces
consigned him to a labor camp.
He went underground in
Paris, where he was given sanc-
tuary by a member of the French
Resistance. Rampal's rescuer
happened to be the director of the
Paris National Conservatory.
The rest is musical history.
Hiding out in the musical con-
servatory, the flute became
Rampal's salvation during those
desperate days of the Nazi occu-
pation. "In the end, the flute be-
came my destiny. It became the
reason for my life," said Rampal.
"Rampal is detouring from his
American tour to give us the priv-
ilege of being an exclusive guest
artist of the Musica Viva festi-
val," said Ginka Gerova-Ortega,
Bulgarian-born founder and
years. They will perform selec-
tions for two flutes and piano by
J.C.F. Bach, Mozart, Kuhlau,
Doppler and Verdi-Hughes. The
Verdi-Hughes piece, based on
Verdi's opera Un Balo , "is haunt-
ingly beautiful," said Gerova-Or-
tega.
"What is unique and out-
standing about Rampal," said
Gerova-Ortega, "what is the se-
cret of the eternal youthfulness
of Jean Pierre Rampal, is
his ability to somehow
manage to suspend time
and blur all boundaries of
defining himself, his audi-
ence and his music. What's
nice about Rampal is that
he is so visibly happy when
he plays, and he elevates
the audience each and
every time." ❑
Jean Pierre Rampal:
"In the end, the flute
became my
destiny."
artistic director of Musica Viva,
and herself a world-renowned
flutist. "In addition, we are going
to give him the great surprise of
celebrating his 75th birthday on
stage."
Rampal will perform with
Claudi Arimany, Spain's leading
virtuoso flutist and John Ritter,
Rampal's pianist for over 20
It's really an experience. Imagine 500 amateur and professional
flutists in the audience, standing up and performing in concert.
This is the scenario each year as Musica Viva holds its annual
Michigan Flute Festival. Now in its fifth year, this year's con-
cert will take place 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Temple Beth El as
part of the "Celebration" concert with Jean Pierre Rampal as guest
artist.
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The festival participants will perform with the Michigan Flute
Orchestra, which is headquartered in West Bloomfield under the
direction of Israeli born Shaul Ben Mayer, flutist and member of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
The flock of local flutists will play a piece chosen by Musica Viva
artistic director Ginka Gerova-Ortega and her colleagues. Sheet
music will be available at the festival, said Gerova-Ortega. "AIL
flutists are invited to participate for the grand finale," she added.,
"Just bring your flute." U
Musica Viva is a nonprofit arts
organization with a dual purpose —
to provide the community with
performances by world-class
performers and to create a stage for
outstanding Michigan talent.
"We want to entertain, educate and
develop new audiences by
presenting a variety of concerts
from around the world," says Ginka
Gerova-Ortega, founder and artistic
director of Musica Viva. "We are
bringing the community unique art
forms from around the world,
including flamenco, tango, jazz,
Afro-Cuban jazz and World Music."
Since 1987, Musica Viva has
presented over 7,000 Michigan
artists and over 250 international
guest artists in several series of
concerts, festivals and world
premieres. Guest artists have
included guitar virtuosi Juan
Serrano and Manuel Barruesco,
flamenco star La Conja,
Metropolitan Opera soloists Ara
Berberian and Yalin Zhang, the
Guitar Trio of Paris and the Leipsig
String Quartet.
Tickets for the Musica Viva
concert "Jean Pierre Rarnpal
With the Fifth Annual Michi-
gan Flute Festival — A Cele-
bration!" are $20 prepaid ($25
at the door) and $50 for patron
tickets, which include a re-
ception with Jean Pierre Ram-
pal. Tickets are available at
Flute World, (810) 855-0410,
and Ticketmaster, (810) 645-
6666.