Amanda Baker, flute
Amanda Baker is an interpreter of new sounds seeking to lift the borders of the perceived sonic confines of flute music. Exploring new timbral possibilities for the flute, Amanda experiments with all members of the traditional flute family and additionally with Baroques flutes, ethnic flutes and conceptual flutes. Blending together electric and acoustic elements, Amanda incorporates intricate extended techniques into her playing to create seldom-heard sounds for the flute.
In 2002 Amanda co-founded the flute, viola, harp trio, janus. Through janus commissioning, she has made significant contributions to the body of repertoire for the trio having premiered over thirty new works written by composers such as Barbara White, Dan Trueman, Jason Treuting, Caleb Burhans, Anna Clyne, Cenk Ergun, Andrew McKenna-Lee and Ryan Brown. janus’ concerts have been held in experimental music spaces including Roulette, The Tank, The Stone and BAM Café in addition to traditional spaces including Symphony Space, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and The Cleveland Art Museum. In promoting the creation of new works for the trio, janus has collaborated with the composition departments of Princeton, Cornell, NYU and Colgate Universities. janus recently signed with New Amsterdam Records for a forthcoming CD set for release in the Fall of 2010.
Amanda is formerly a member of the United States Coast Guard Band with whom she has toured to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Benaroya Hall (Seattle), Ruth Eckerd Hall (St. Petersberg), Minato Mirai (Yokohama, Japan), and Boettcher Hall (Denver). She has performed in the state funerals of Presidents Ford and Reagan and the Inaugurations of President George W Bush and President Barack Obama.
Prior to her involvement with the Coast Guard Band, Amanda was the Principal flutist of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in Southern China. While in China, she learned how to get by with a pocket full of Chinese phrases and to practice indiscriminate culinary taste.
Amanda has played on the music series of the Newport Music Festival, Hop River Music Festival (CT), Minimum Security Concert Series, The Way to Go Out (Hanover, NH), Chamber Music Mystic (CT) and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she has given clinics and workshops at Northwestern University, Yale University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dartmouth College, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the National Flute Association Convention. She has been featured on WQXR (New York), WNPR (Connecticut Public Radio), WPR (Wisconsin Public Radio) and WGDR (Vermont Public Radio). She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 1998 and her Master’s in Music from Yale University in 2000. Her teachers include Walfrid Kujala, Richard Graef, Ransom Wilson, and Robert Dick.
