Flute Society Festival to Include Artists from Around State

The mid-winter festival of the Illinois Flute Society will take place on the Illinois State University campus Sunday, Jan. 25, and will feature a master class and concert by Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal flute Mathieu Dufour.

Registration for the festival and master class is $25.  Admission to attend only Dufour's 1:30 p.m. concert in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall is $15.

The festival is attended by flutists from the junior high level to professionals.  University flute professors from Bradley, Eastern Illinois, University of Illinois, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Illinois State - festival coordinator Kimberly Risinger - will be presenting classes and performing.

Dufour has been principal flute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1999.  Before coming to Chicago, he was principal flute solo of the Paris National Opera Orchestra for three years and principal flute of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse for three years prior to that.  After six years of study at the National Regional Conservatory in his hometown of Paris, France, Dufour was awarded the school's gold medal by unanimous vote.  He was 14.  He subsequently studied and was awarded first prize at the National Conservatory of Music in Lyon.

Dufour frequently appears as soloist in recitals and concerts around the world. He made his Carnegie Hall and Lucerne Festival debuts as soloist with the Chicago Symphony in 2002.  He also has performed under conductors Pierre Boulez and Christoph Eschenbach.  Dufour is in demand as a coach and teacher and has led master classes in Canada, Japan, Europe and the United States.  He is a member of the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and he serves on the faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago.