Patricia George

2023 Lifetime Achievement Award

Patricia George is a performer, professor, co-author, and writer. Her Flute Talk column, “The Teacher’s Studio,” was often the first thing a reader turned to because they would inevitably discover a tidbit or concept that could be immediately incorporated into their teaching or practice. A former student shares, “Not everyone who is a great performer has the ability to pass on their ideas in such simple ways. Not everyone can hand someone ‘a bag of tricks’ that will enable them to become a better musician and performer. I will never forget all of the catch phrases of strong-weak, syncopation equals separation, loop or less, dots equal silence, and many others.”

After attending the Texas Tech University band camp as a 10-year-old, George was largely self-taught until she studied with Frances Blaisdell at the National Music Camp. Blaisdell guided her in building a strong foundation based on the concepts of Georges Barrère and William Kincaid. At the Eastman School of Music (BM, MM, Performer’s Certificate in Flute) George continued her studies with Joseph Mariano, who encouraged summer study with William Kincaid and Julius Baker. While at Eastman, she was selected to join the Eastman Philharmonia for a three-and-a-half-month tour of Europe, the Middle East, Poland, and Russia. Working with conductors Howard Hanson and Frederick Fennell influenced her musical ideas.

George began teaching in the ninth grade. This experience was the beginning of her love and passion for pedagogy. She continued to teach in the Eastman Preparatory Department and later developed studios in Washington, D.C., and Quincy, IL, where she started Quincy Flute Week, a weeklong class for young flutists. She began to write performance packets for her university students and Flute Week participants that became the core curriculum for the pedagogical series she co-authored with Phyllis Avidan Louke. In 1983 George became the flute professor at Idaho State University (Faculty Achievement Award, 1995), and later at Brigham Young University–Idaho. She also performed chamber music with the Amadeus Trio (flute, cello, piano) and Trio Terra Nova (flute, bassoon, piano) throughout the Intermountain West, including performances for Utah Public Radio. She spent 13 summers playing principal flute in the Sun Valley Summer Symphony followed by 19 summers as flute professor and principal flute at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

George lives in Appleton, WI, where she is senior contributing editor of The Instrumentalist magazine and continues to write “The Teacher’s Studio” column. She also teaches lessons and classes on Zoom.

Read Patricia George's The Flutist Quarterly tribute here.