Carol Wincenc

Carol Wincenc is among the most accomplished U.S. flutists, premiering many new works by American composers and mentoring many younger players as an educator.

Wincenc ("Win-sense") was born in Buffalo, New York, on June 29, 1949. Her father was a conductor and a professor, and her mother was a pianist. Her father gave her violin lessons beginning at age four, but after she switched to the flute at nine, she began to make rapid progress. As a teen, Wincenc studied with flute virtuoso <a href="spotify:artist:6JAyl09NXKwm5MRcKw2ouD">Severino Gazzelloni</a>. She did her undergraduate work at the Oberlin Conservatory, studying with Robert Willoughby and at the Manhattan School of Music. She went on for a master's degree at the Juilliard School; her teacher there was Arthur Lora. Wincenc performed with various ensembles and then joined the <a href="spotify:artist:0QjKu8W5tafMCDKKw3xHYT">St. Paul Chamber Orchestra</a> in Minnesota in the 1970s. When she took first prize at the 1978 Naumburg Competition, she launched a solo career. She performed widely and made many recordings for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Musical+Heritage+Society%22">Musical Heritage Society</a> LP subscription service. Wincenc taught at Rice University and has been on the faculty at the Juilliard School since 1988.

Wincenc released an album of Mozart's flute quartets with the <a href="spotify:artist:4IBl8k6ZsBagsI5zRjyXH7">Emerson String Quartet</a> on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Deutsche+Grammophon%22">Deutsche Grammophon</a> label in 1991. In 1994, she gave the world premiere of <a href="spotify:artist:4vcYbZ99sbqJHZWEsONSrb">Christopher Rouse</a>'s Flute Concerto. The following year, she issued the album Joan Tower: Black Topaz on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22New+World+Records%22">New World Records</a>, and since then, much of her recording and performing career has been devoted to contemporary music. She has premiered works by top composers, including <a href="spotify:artist:77BJhANzSfAPPqbwj9MOH1">Tobias Picker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0qsLni2812ukG5i1O0ff4c">Peter Schickele</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5PIshNx38qyLggwpqRhRRI">Henryk Górecki</a> (the Concerto-Cantata). In 2004, Wincenc performed the work Passover Offering on a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Naxos%22">Naxos</a> recording of compositions by Yehudi Wyner; the album earned a Grammy award nomination. She earned a lifetime achievement medal from the National Society of Arts and Letters in 2014. In 2022, Wincenc released the album Air in Motion: Pierre Jalbert on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Orchid+Classics%22">Orchid Classics</a> label. ~ James Manheim, Rovi