Minnesota Varsity: Where are They Now? - Joshua Weinberg

Where Are They Now? spotlights Minnesota Varsity Featured and Showcase Artists from 2011 to 2016.

Flutist Joshua Weinberg from Minneapolis was a 2011 Minnesota Varsity Showcase Artist. He recently got in touch with Classical MPR's Christine Sweet to share his latest news.

Joshua Weinberg, flute, 2011 Showcase Artist

Age: 23

Hometown: Minneapolis

I graduated from St. Olaf College in 2015 with my Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance. My senior year, I had the opportunity to perform as concerto soloist with both the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band. I was also First Prize winner in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition and performed at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Spring, 2015.

After graduation I moved to Minneapolis to pursue a career in music performance as a freelancer. This past year I have performed with several ensembles including Renegade, Zeitgeist, St. Peter Choral Arts Society, Encore Wind Ensemble, Grand Symphonic Winds, Spitting Image Collective, La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, among others. I am currently auditioning for local regional orchestras and several larger ensembles throughout the United States. Eventually I hope to go to graduate school to study flute performance and composition.

Being a part of the very first Minnesota Varsity has been such an honor and I still view performing at the Fitzgerald Theater as one of the highlights of my musical career. Although I sometimes cringe listening to my old recording of Kokopelli every time my mother requests it for Friday Favorites, I am so grateful for the opportunity to showcase the sensitivity and complexity of the solo unaccompanied flute, which is my favorite kind of flute repertoire.

Here are some recordings I made of other favorites from the unaccompanied flute literature:

• Les Folies D'Espagne — Marin-Marais
• Syrinx — Debussy