Flute Ensemble
Julietta Cureonton, director
The Flute Ensemble at Shenandoah Conservatory is an integrated, collaborative and inspired ensemble that features undergraduate and graduate students. It can use all the instruments of the regular flute family, including piccolo, C flute, alto and bass flutes, as well as folk and nontraditional instruments such as the penny whistle.
The group plays music written specially for flute ensemble, as well as arrangements of music from as early as Gregorian Chant through the contemporary period and movie music. Members of the Flute Ensemble rehearse and perform using different combinations and can range from trios to the full flute ensemble. Repertoire is chosen to present interest, challenge, fun and the development of all aspects of the player.
Performance opportunities include concerts at on-campus venues such as Goodson Chapel – Recital Hall and Armstrong Concert Hall, as well as venues throughout the community. The transition from the start of the semester to performances later on is an inspiring journey.
Meet the Director
Known for her “bold and dramatically characterized playing” (Dallas Morning News), “great artistic sense” and “tone that draws in one’s ear with sounds and ideas that simply cannot be resisted,” (Philadelphia Inquirer) Julietta Curenton has established herself as an educator, soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Ms. Curenton is the newly appointed assistant professor of flute at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.
Curenton’s keen interest in the intersection of the classical, jazz and gospel genres won her the prestigious Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia Career Advancement Award. Additional awards include Premiere Prix at the Journées de les Harpes Competition in Arles, France, and prizes in the National Flute Association young artist competition, New York Flute Club young artist competition and Astral Artists’ national auditions.
Ms. Curenton has made several solo guest appearances with The National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Temple University Orchestra, The Kennedy Center Institute Orchestra and the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, and has participated in music festivals spanning the globe including the Shanghai Contemporary Music Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, Dallas Chamber Music Society, Mostly Mozart Festival of Lincoln Center, among others.
Ms. Curenton’s solo pursuits include commissioning women and African American composers to write new, innovative and accessible works for the flute some of which have been featured on New York’s WQXR Young Artists Showcase and Philadelphia’s WRTI’s Performance Studio. Curenton’s highly anticipated debut album “Harambee: The Power of Sisterhood” was released in 2021.
Curenton can also be heard on the groundbreaking Grammy-nominated jazz album of Miguel Zenon “Alma Adentro,” Esperanza Spalding’s Grammy Award-winning album “Twelve Little Spells” and the Smithsonian Folkways “Praise the Lord” album among her musical family.
Ms. Curenton is currently the solo principal player of the acclaimed Soulful Symphony, a Baltimore-based ensemble acclaimed for its performances of classical, jazz, gospel and popular music. Curenton has collaborated extensively with acclaimed groups such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Imani Winds, The Ritz Chamber Players, Baltimore Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony. Highlights of the 2020/21 season included a highly anticipated concerto for flute and orchestra written by Dr. James Lee, composition professor at Morgan State University. The concerto “Niiji Memories” was inspired by the black Native American tribe.
An alumna of The Academy — a ground-breaking educational program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and The Weill Music Institute — Curenton has performed across the globe in Carnegie Halls’ Weill Music Hall and Zankel Hall, Nagoya Aichi Arts Center, Fukuoka Symphony Hall, Kawasaki Muza Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Symphony Hall, and Shanghai Symphony Hall.
Ms. Curenton holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, studying with Jeanne Baxstresser and Carol Wincenc; a Master of Music from The Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Peter Lloyd and will earn her Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University in 2024. Ms. Curenton plays on a silver elite model Burkart Flute and is a proud Burkart Flutes & Piccolos artist.
Shenandoah Conservatory Invites
Experience the excitement of Shenandoah Conservatory’s music programs!
SHENANDOAH CONSERVATORY INVITES provides instrumental high school students multiple opportunities each year to make music with Shenandoah faculty, students and ensembles. Musicians playing string, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments will find events enabling intensive study with Shenandoah’s world-class faculty and the opportunity to make music alongside current conservatory students. Each of these events take place on Shenandoah’s beautiful Winchester campus.
Audition Information
Shenandoah Conservatory is committed to providing exceptional opportunities for our students aligned with preparation for 21st century careers in the arts. Visit the Ensemble & Production Auditions webpage for the most up-to-date information about auditioning for our music, theatre and dance ensembles and productions.