Another NFA has come and gone. It was a great week of hearing incredible performances, catching up with old friends, and play testing tons of instruments. My time was mostly focused on the work I was there to do as a vendor, but I also did dedicate myself to a really amazing group of humans. This year marks the first year that the LGBTQIA+ flute choir was an official group within the NFA. Imagine a group of world class musicians coming together to laugh, cry, and perform a concert that many said was the highlight of the convention. I have been lucky enough to be part of this group from the beginning as the first contrabass flute in the group. It has been amazing to get to share the stage with so many phenomenal players. This year, I had two wonderful colleagues in the contra section, Adrian McGrady and Nancy Nourse. We had a blast.
The experience of getting to work in a section with these two was so much fun. I am sure that we made quite a sight as Adrian and I are over 6 feet tall with contrabass flutes and Nancy stood more around 5’4” and was playing contra alto flute (see photo).
The three of us put out a great deal of sound and it isn’t often the low flutes get asked to play softer because we are overpowering the C flutes ( I include the bass flutes in this situation because they were also a wall of sound). It is kind of funny when I think about the humor inherent in this scenario. Before NFA, I ordered us rainbow bowties and altered them so we could put them on the contras because they should also be appropriately dressed for such a colorful concert. From the first note, this group was prepared and ready to go—you couldn’t ask for more. Pitch was amazing and the sensitivity in everyone’s playing was beyond what any flute choir director could ask for.
I also have to share that I was fan-girling just a bit. Nancy Nourse is a well-known small flute historian and specifically wrote research on the piccolo that I used for my own dissertation. She even joked that it was rather funny that she and I are piccolo specialists but somehow found our way into the low flute section, or as Adrian referred to us: the “heavy metal” section. Nancy was so humble and we chatted like we had been friends for years. I was quite honored to perform next to her and what a pleasure to get to know her better! We will definitely keep in touch and even talked about collaborating in the future.
The flute choir itself is so colorful and full of emotion. We all have our stories of coming out, relationship trauma, supportive and unsupportive families. Whatever the individual story, this group celebrates and heals together along with the many allies who also performed with us. Tears of healing and sadness and joy are frequent in this group and are welcome without judgement. It truly is a safe space and you can tell that when you look across the ensemble. After almost every piece, you would see a number of us wiping tears. I was not an exception, and even as I am reliving the experience writing this article, I find myself tearing up. So much emotion, such an emotional performance. We also found out while at the convention that this flute choir was invited to perform at World Pride 2025 in Washington, DC this spring. We have come so far in such a short period of time!
If you find yourself attending NFA in the future, do yourself a favor and make time for the LGBTQIA+ flute choir performance. You will not regret it. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel welcome and accepted for being you—so let your true colors shine through.