Linda Wetherill has toured as soloist cultural ambassador, collaborating and premiering modern composers' works and researching traditional musics since her selection by U.S.I.S to be featured recitalist for the 40th anniversary celebration in Frankfurt of German-American peace. Hans Stuckenschmidt called her "a brilliant flutist." She was the first American to be honored as featured soloist at the World Peace Festival of Langollen, Wales; and presented the first public concerts for mixed audiences by a woman in Saudi Arabia during her tours of the Middle East. Linda was the first American flutist to tour and teach in Central China in 2002. In 2003, her solo CD of collected compositions was placed on a short list of "Top Solo Flute Recordings Of All Time" by Amazon.com.
Linda has raised the profile of concert flute repertoire to include the exotic compositions gathered during extensive travel through Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. FANFARE praises the CD "Sound and Repercussion", saying "Wetherill impresses as much by her musicianship, specifically a resistance to overemphasizing the exotic elements of these pieces, as by her technique and tonal resources.
She joined the faculty of Adelphi University, in New York, in 1994, where she bases for a busy international solo and chamber music career. Previously holding posts at the French National Conservatory, Philadelphia University of the Arts, Turkish Universities in Izmir, Ankara, and Istanbul, she has given master-classes for American, English and Spanish summer courses as well as in China, Egypt, France, Holland, India, and Pakistan. She has also been principal flutist with the orchestras of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Pierre Boulez' IRCAM Ensemble Intercontemporain of the world-famous Pompidou Centre in Paris. Mr. Boulez dubbed her "an instrumentalist without peer." Currently, Linda is flutist and executive director of NYC's Orchestra of Our Time.
Linda performed her Carnegie Recital debut as winner of East and West Artists International Competition, and was received by the NEW YORK TIMES as "a musician with something to say; her ability to organize and inflect the line was nothing short of seductive. Both in terms of technical mastery and expressive élan, she is really a marvelous player." Her performances in Istanbul, as co-founder of the International Festival of Contemporary Music there produced the response from MILLYET: "Linda Wetherill presented a wonderful flute evening in Istanbul; this relaxing and beautiful concert brought joy to everyone - from beginning to end." In 2004, Linda gave the closing recital for the International Society of Contemporary Music's annual festival, judged the Salzburg, Austrian competition for solo flute compositions, and gave Bach, Mozart and premiere concertos and recitals across the U.S.
In 2005, her premiere performances of South American compositions for the Mozarteum's "Aspekte Festival" received the following critical account: "The superb American flutist was without doubt the star; she played more than 2 hours without pause and showing no sign of fatigue with stunning virtuosity and profound and lively interpretations - a true wizard of the flute."
She has recently published her CD and anthology of International solos for bass and alto flute with the University of Southeast Missouri. Another CD of music with guitar by Denisov, Henze and others are finally processed for summer of 2006 release. In 2005 and 2006 she made her first visits to South America with recitals and master-classes in Argentina, including festivals and courses in Brazil.
"Who's Who in the World" has selected Ms Wetherill for this year's subject. The article appeared in the New York Times on January 1, 2006 edition.
Adjunct Professor of Voice, Jonathan Goodman, tenor, has been engaged by composer Steve Reich for worldwide performances of Reich's multi-media opera The Cave. He debuted at London's Barbican Theater in October '06, then at Lincoln Center in November. The Cave will be presented in Paris, Normandy and Caen, France in November '07.
