BETH CHANDLER, Associate Professor
Beth Chandler, Associate Professor of Flute at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. A frequent guest artist and masterclass clinician, Dr. Chandler has performed and presented at universities and festivals throughout the United States, including engagements at the University of Houston, Tennessee Tech University, Ohio University, Connecticut College, Florida Flute Fair, Texas Flute Society, Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair, and the Staunton (VA) Music Festival. As a soloist, she has won numerous awards and honors, including the top prize of the 1999 Flute Talk Competition, for which she was featured on the cover and in an interview in the July/August 1999 issue of Flute Talk Magazine. She was also the winner of the 1999 Myrna Brown Artist Competition. Dr. Chandler has been a semifinalist in the Concert Artists Guild 2001 International Competition in New York City, 2000 National Flute Association (NFA) Piccolo Artist Competition, and the 1998 NFA Young Artist Competition, in addition to being a prizewinner in the NFA Orchestral Audition and Masterclass Performers Competitions. She has performed at the NFA Conventions in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Columbus, Phoenix, Orlando, Boston, and Los Angeles. She was also the 1998-99 Mary Louise Remy Endowed P.E.O. Scholar. As a Fulbright Scholar in 1993-94, Dr. Chandler studied with Trevor Wye in Kent, England as one of six students selected internationally. Solo performances have included concerto appearances with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, James Madison University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony. She has also appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Dr. Chandler was previously on the faculty of the University of Florida as Visiting Assistant Professor of Flute. She also has held positions as a teaching assistant at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, as well as faculty positions at the New England Conservatory Extension Division and the Boston Music Education Collaborative. Dr. Chandler has maintained active private studios in Cincinnati, Boston, Waco, and Austin, Texas, in addition to presenting masterclasses and workshops throughout the United States.
She is a member of the Montpelier Wind Quintet, the faculty woodwind quintet in-residence at James Madison University. The ensemble performs frequently both on and off campus, presents clinics in public education settings, and has been featured at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the Virginia Music Educators’ Association Conference, and in concert at the Kennedy Center.
She is an active member of the Flute Society of Washington, for which she served as Program Chair for the 2004 Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair. She currently serves as a member of the National Flute Association’s Board of Directors.
A native Texan, Dr. Chandler received a Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from Baylor University, a Master of Music with Academic Honors from New England Conservatory, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a cognate area in Arts Administration.
Her principal teachers include Bradley Garner, Jack Wellbaum (piccolo), Paula Robison, Trevor Wye, and Helen Ann Shanley.
She joined the JMU School of Music faculty in 2001.
Email: chand2be@jmu.edu
JMU Flute Choir
Beth Chandler, director
The James Madison University Flute Choir is one of the oldest flute choirs in the United States. Organized in the 1970s, this group has been a pioneering force among flute choirs, influencing other ensembles throughout the country and encouraging the composition of new music for flute choir through commissions and its formerly annual Flute Choir Composition Competition. Nearly all of the winning compositions have been published and are currently available. Membership in the JMU Flute Choir is by audition and includes both flute majors and non-music majors. The ensemble includes an assortment of flutes and piccolos. The JMU Flute Choir has performed in many cities on the East Coast, including Boston at the National Flute Association Convention in 1993, Baltimore at the Maryland Music Educators convention, Richmond at the Virginia Music Educators Convention, Newport News, Virginia, at the Hampton Roads Flute Fair, and in Washington, D.C. at the National Flute Association Convention in 2002, the Flute Society of Washington's Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair, and at the White House. The JMU Flute Choir toured England in the spring of 1999 and has released two compact discs, Sounds and Colors and Sounds and Colors II.
For more information, please contact Dr. Chandler at chand2be@jmu.edu.
