Purcell Flute Studios

Kathleen Purcellʼs Flute Studios offer a rare combination of virtuoso flute playing and patient, analytical instruction.

As a performer, Kathleen Purcell is noted for her exquisite tone and impassioned interpretations of virtuoso flute music. Professor Robert Cole, former Assistant Principal Flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and past president of the National Flute Association, calls her “an exciting solo performer,” and Leopold Stokowskiʼs associate conductor Maurice Dubonnet says she is “a premium artist.”

Professor Richard Hahn, former Milwaukee Symphony flutist and past president of the National Flute Association, says this about her teaching: “Ms. Purcellʼs approach to the musical aspects of performance is well intermeshed with her analytical abilities in the technical aspects of flute playing. Most important is her consistent ability to enable her students to feel really good about themselves within a realistic appraisal of their musical development. The success of this approach has been demonstrated by these same studentsʼ continued interest and enthusiasm in their musical experiences.” She takes students of all ages and levels, and welcomes beginners, who often end up holding principal positions in youth symphonies and honor bands.

Kathleen Purcell began playing piano and composing at the age of four. At seven she was performing publicly, singing and playing baritone ukelele. At eight, she began the flute, and three years later was Principal Flutist with the Cadet Orchestra of the National Music Camp at Interlochen. At the age of twelve she was running a successful private studio, and at thirteen was Piccoloist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maurice Dubonnet. By sixteen she had completed Advanced Music Theory at the University of Alaska, and by the age of seventeen was Principal Flutist with both the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maurice Dubonnet, and the Alaska Festival Orchestra, under the baton of famed choral and orchestral conductor Robert Shaw. The following year, she was again Principal Flutist with the Alaska Festival Orchestra, conducted by Richard Woitach of the Metropolitan Opera.

After touring Europe as Principal Flutist and Soloist with the United States Honor Band, Ms. Purcell continued her studies with Professor Richard Hahn at the University of Idaho School of Music, where she won numerous competitions and awards, developed a new system of music notation, and assisted Professor Hahn in the construction of historical flutes. During this time she was Principal Flutist with the Washington Idaho Orchestra and the Idaho Bicentennial Orchestra, with which she toured the United States en route to Kennedy Center as part of the official United States Bicentennial Celebration. In addition to playing with the University of Idaho Faculty Quintet and teaching at their Summer Music Camp, she coached with Samuel Baron and participated in master classes with Julius Baker and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Ms. Purcell then received her Master of Music degree in Flute Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where, as the Teaching Assistant of Professor Robert Cole, she conceived and developed a new course on flute performance.

Since moving to the Bay Area, she has been in demand as a teacher, clinician, adjudicator, and performer.

If you would like information about booking Ms. Purcell for concerts or private lessons, please call 831- 423-5046.