Education: B.M. in Flute Performance - Youngstown State University M.M. in Flute Performance - University of Akron M.A. in Ethnomusicology (in progress/ABD) D.M.A. in Flute Performance/Music Theory Minor - University of Arizona Biography: Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl graduated from the University of Arizona with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in classical flute performance, with a minor in music theory. Diverging from the norm in dissertation topics in a classical flute program, she chose to study the Native American flute, something that has become her life's work. Her doctoral dissertation focuses upon the Native American flute and is titled "The Native American Flute in the Southwestern United States: Past and Present." Dr. Joyce-Grendahl has lectured and performed all over the world on the topic of Native American music and culture. She has presented at National Flute Association conventions; at the Kei Kona Te Ha Me Te Wairua festival in Rotorua, New Zealand, in a series of masterclasses and workshops celebrating Maori, Scottish, and Native American cultures and musical traditions; and at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, to name just a few. She has also worked with Tim R. Crawford in publishing three editions of the book entitled, Flute Magic: An Introduction to the Native American Flute. On both the orchestral flute and the Native American flute, Dr. Joyce-Grendahl has performed and presented masterclasses throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico. A particularly memorable performance was a 1997 world premier in New York City of a composition for Native American flute and classical guitar. Dr. Joyce-Grendahl from Gina Genova commissioned the composition entitled I Draw the Rain: Hohokam Songs (1996). It is comprised of four movements based upon traditional texted melodies of the Tohono O'odham and the Akimel O'odham people, both of whom are descendants of the Hohokam ("the ones who have gone now"). According to the composer, Gina Genova, I Draw the Rain "seeks to present a pure form of the melodies from five traditional Native American songs from the Southwest, transcribed and arranged for flutes of varying registers with classical guitar accompaniment." Another memorable performance was at The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. In September 2000, Dr. Joyce-Grendahl, with Dr. Marijim Thoene - organ, gave a world-premier performance of a composition entitled Songs of Creation by Jay Vosk, a composer from Tucson, Arizona. Drs. Joyce-Grendahl and Thoene can be heard performing this work on a CD of organ music entitled Mystics and Spirits, available from Raven Compact Discs and the Organ Historical Society. In addition, Dr. Joyce-Grendahl consulted on Terrence Malick's new film, The New World, released in January 2006. The New World is an epic adventure set amid the encounter of European and Native American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607. The accomplished cast includes Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer, and Wes Studi, to name a few. Dr. Joyce-Grendahl, an ethnomusicologist whose area of expertise is Native American music and culture, consulted with the directors and producers with regard to the music and flutes used by the Native Americans of the southeastern United States, as well as providing guidance in flute-playing skills to the character of Pocahontas. Dr. Grendahl is also an active ethnomusicologist with an established national and international reputation in the field. Her areas of specialization include Native America, Appalachia (bluegrass and old-time musics), Norway, global popular musics, world aerophones, and Celtic music and culture. She specializes in playing the following instruments: Native American flute, Norwegian overtone flute, the Chinese dizi, Irish flute, Irish penny whistle, and bluegrass mandolin. She recently had an article published in the Advanced Placement Music Theory Guide entitled, "Listening to the Planet: Including the World Element in the Advanced Placement Music Theory Curriculum." Throughout her career, Dr. Joyce-Grendahl has participated in many master classes for the orchestral flute with various well-known flutists such as Martha Aarons, Jeanne Baxtresser, Judith Bentley, Kate Lukas, Peter Lloyd, and Trygve Peterson. Her primary teachers have been: Jeffrey Khaner (Philadelphia Orchestra; Curtis Institute of Music), Walter Mayhall (Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and Youngstown State University - retired), George Pope (Akron Symphony Orchestra, University of Akron, and Baldwin Wallace Conservatory), and Jean-Louis Kashy (Tucson Symphony and the University of Arizona - retired). In addition, she has studied the Native American flute with R. Carlos Nakai, world-renowned performer, educator, scholar, lecturer, and recording artist on the Canyon Records label. In
addition, Dr. Grendahl is the executive director of the International Native American
Flute Association, (www.inafa.org), an organization whose goal is to foster the
preservation, appreciation, and advancement of the Native American flute. This
organization distributes a quarterly publication, Voice of the Wind, for which
she writes, edits, and publishes. She also sits on the screening committee for
the GRAMMY Awards category for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
(NARAS) - Best Native American Music Recording. She is also an advisory board
member for the Native American Music Awards - the NAMMYs. In addition, Dr. Joyce-Grendahl
is the Programs Coordinator for the annual Hampton Roads Flute Faire and is on
the Flute Faire advisory board. |
International
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