Clare Shore has been commissioned by a consortium of three USA flutists, Tammy Evans Yonce (Midwest), Cathie Apple (West Coast), and Misty Theisen (East Coast) to write a work for flute and piano.

Clare Shore, the second woman to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from The Juilliard School (1984), has received critical acclaim for her works, with reviewers from the New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and others hailing her works as “provocative” … “immensely dramatic” … “unpretentious” … “ingenious and evocative” … “intriguing” … “romantic to the core”. While at Juilliard Ms. Shore studied with David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, and Roger Sessions, and subsequently with Gunther Schuller. Since then, she has received numerous commissions, awards, and grants, including a 1995 Composer Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Flutist Tammy Evans Yonce, an Atlanta native, is Assistant Professor of Music at South Dakota State University where she teaches applied flute, woodwind pedagogy, and courses in musicology. She was previously on the faculty of Gainesville State College (GA), Newberry College (SC), and the University of South Carolina Aiken. An avid collaborative musician and recitalist, Dr. Yonce is an enthusiastic commissioner, performer, and teacher of new music.

Called by the Sacramento Bee a “fresh presence and welcome addition” to the Sacramento music scene, Dr. Cathie Apple is one of the founders of Citywater new music ensemble. She is a regular performer at the Music at Noon concert series, and plays with the Sacramento Baroque Soloists, Camerata Capistrano baroque ensemble, Celtic group Cahersiveen, and Kirtan band Radiant Friend. An avid supporter of new music, Cathie has commissioned and/or premiered many works for flute and various chamber ensembles, has collaborated with composers such as Nicholas Deyoe, Garrett Shatzer, Steve Mackey, Brent Chancellor, and Sunny Knable, and regularly performs on the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento. She also established a bi-monthly concert series featuring Citywater and guests performing recently-composed music.

Misty Theisen received degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi in Music Education (B.M.Ed.) and Flute Performance (M.M.) where she studied with Sharon Lebsack. While teaching across the southeastern United States and at Worth Abbey in West Sussex, England, she studied with internationally recognized soloists Sir James Galway, Paul Edmund Davies, and Wissam Boustany. Theisen has performed regularly with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, Meridian Symphony Orchestra, and the Sinfonia Gulf Coast. As a soloist with a large ensemble, she has performed Cimarosa’s Concerto in G, Doppler’s Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise, and Chaminade’s Concertino. Theisen won the state level of the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Artist Woodwind Competition in 2004 and proceeded to take honorable mention at the regional MTNA competition in Louisville, Kentucky. She currently teaches at Mars Hill University.