MUS 1-2-3-440, 2-3-4-545

Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Snizek

Preferred contact method:

ssnizek@uvic.ca

Welcome to the UVic Flute Studio! I am looking forward to working with each one of you as your flute instructor and artistic mentor at the UVic School of Music.

Required Materials 

All flute students are required to have the following:

1. 24 Petite Melodies by Marcel Moyse https://www.amazon.com/Moyse-24-Little-Melodic-Studies/dp/B00006M2QH

2. Taffanel and Gaubert “17 Daily Exercises” https://www.amazon.com/Exercises-Jounaliers-Mecanisme-Ejercicios-Mechanismo/dp/B01N9NVNEK/ref=pd_sbs_7?pd_rd_w=DGHqG&pf_rd_p=2419a049-62bf-452e-b0d0-ca5b7e35a7b4&pf_rd_r=G81XV0DSHVKYY7741W0Q&pd_rd_r=ec41c34c-e483-49f3-934f-b341d304ddcb&pd_rd_wg=zCnmM&pd_rd_i=B01N9NVNEK&psc=1

3. “Practice Book for the flute” by Trevor Wye (please be sure to get the Omnibus edition) https://www.amazon.com/Trevor-Wye-Practice-Flute-Omnibus/dp/1783054255

4. Phillipe Bernold’s “Technique de L’embouchure”  https://www.justflutes.com/shop/product/la-technique-dembouchure-philippe-bernold

5. Daily Exercises for the Flute by André Maquarre https://www.fluteworld.com/product/daily-exercises-3/

Optional (depending on individual student goals): Walfrid Kujala’s Orchestral Techniques for flute and piccolo: An Audition Guide:  http://www.progress-press.com/publications/orchestral-techniques-for-flute-and-piccolo

In addition, I will be making individually tailored recommendations, and students will be expected to purchase additional music as needed. Please note: we have an outstanding flute music collection in the main library. Many of the solo pieces you will be studying are available for free (!) and can simply be checked out from the library. I strongly encourage you to utilise our fine library collection!

Every undergraduate student will prepare a weekly etude, in addition to tonal study, technical work and repertoire. In addition, every student will perform at least four times (as a soloist or chamber musician) each term. These performances may take place in studio recitals, Friday music performances, Tuesday music performances, degree required solo recitals and/or masterclass performances.

Graduate students will be expected to complete a greater volume of significantly more advanced repertoire more quickly. The predominant focus of graduate lessons will naturally be on preparing degree-required recitals and individual professional endeavours. Focus in the lessons will shift following the completion of recitals towards professional or DMA auditions, orchestral repertoire, competitions and/or festival preparation.

Course objectives:

1. to develop and nurture each flute student’s tonal/technical control and skill as a flutist
2.  to develop and nurture musical expressiveness, using those aforementioned skills, to the highest individual degree
3.  to build performance confidence and ability based on experiential performance experiences (e.g., through studio recitals, Tuesday music, Friday music, graduation recitals)
4.  to support development of a physically and emotionally healthy and sustainable performance practice (i.e., building awareness of HOW to approach work in the practice room to increase productivity and personal satisfaction and avoid injury and/or burnout)

Health If any health-related concerns arise through the course of the year please immediately inform me, and I will extend the same courtesy to you. We will accommodate the situation as needed.

Advising If you require musical assistance or mentoring outside of your lesson time, please request (via email) an appointment (FTF or on zoom, depending on scheduling). If you require undergraduate course or degree advising, please make an appointment with Ms. Sarah Riecken (FA undergraduate adviser). If you are a graduate student and require advising, please consult with Dr. Snizek ssnizek@uvic.ca and/or the graduate advisor.

Communication Announcements will either be posted on the UVic flute blog: https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/flute/ or communicated through email. Please keep a close eye both on the blog and your email for important updates and details. Consistent and open lines of communication will significantly support your success.

Scheduling: Please note: Please note the lesson schedule will occasionally need to fluctuate to accommodate my own performance schedule. Maintaining my own artistic practice helps me stay current as a professional musician and teacher and therefore ultimately helps YOU. Thank you in advance for your flexibility.

Lesson expectations: Each lesson is 50 minutes in length. All students are expected to be punctual, ‘warmed up’ and fully prepared. Have all necessary materials ready: music, pencil w eraser, combined metronome/tuner, your lesson notebook. Please maintain detailed notes regarding assignments, and my suggestions and observations. I recommend compiling your summary notes immediately following the lesson (for optimal retention of information). Organisation is a key ingredient in musical development as well as academic success. Be sure to keep your notebook up to date to optimise your progress.

Course requirements:

1. Each undergraduate student will either complete a year-end jury or degree required recital (in second term). During first term we will work towards a successful jury or recital.
2. Each undergraduate student is required to develop growing mastery towards the technical exam (administered in February), while each graduate student is required to demonstrate progress on individually assigned orchestral excerpts (excerpts will be decided in consultation with student in the beginning of each term).
3. Individual lesson attendance is required, unless excused for medical or academic concession reasons (the most recent University policy regarding academic concessions is outlined in link below).

Attendance policy

1. Unexcused missed lessons will not be made up.
2. If you know in advance you need to reschedule a lesson (for any reason) please arrange this directly with another willing student via email. After the change is confirmed with the other student, inform me by email ssnizek@uvic.ca (while cc’ing the other student).
3. If you must miss a lesson because of illness, please email me, with as much advance notice as possible, at the above address. Generally, I require 24 hrs. advance notice in order to reschedule a lesson, otherwise the lesson may be forfeited.

Master Class All students are expected to attend MC regardless of major stream. Flute MC now meets Wed 1130-1220. All flute students are expected to attend and fully participate in flute masterclass. The masterclass performance and guest clinician schedule is outlined in a separate document and is provided to all students in the first week of each term.

For all students: quality of participation, degree of attentiveness and musical preparedness will be the determining factors in the assessment of your master class participation.

Regarding Undergraduate Juries 

At the end of the school year, there will be a juried performance exam which essentially serves as your final exam in this course. The jury is 10 minutes for all undergraduate degree streams other than performance; all undergraduate performance stream students will perform for 15 minutes. Think of the jury as an opportunity to present samples of your studio work to other faculty. Students will perform selections (as time permits) from two contrasting works studied during the term (chosen in prior consultation with Dr. Snizek). At least one work will be with a collaborative pianist while the other can be unaccompanied. A juried performance exam missed for any reason other than a genuinely serious illness or unavoidable true emergency cannot be rescheduled.

Undergraduate Technical exam (administered during last lesson in February)

The following are required materials for the exam February 2025:

1. All major and minor scales, in 16^th notes, in standard articulations: 2t 2s; 2s2t; 2s2s; all t, all s, 3s1t, 1t3s. Scales must be memorised and performed at a speed selected in prior consultation with each individual student in September.
2. All major and minor arpeggios in 16^th notes in the standard articulations of 2t 2s; 2s2t; 2s2s; all t, all s, 3s1t, 1t3s (memorised and at individual speed, as determined above).
3. T and G exercise #4 (memorised and at individual speed as determined above).

For aspiring performance majors:

• T & G exercise # 12, 14 and 15 in all articulation patterns listed (individual speed again determined as above).

Private lesson mark rubric:

50% of mark (all students):

Weekly private lesson, including reading reflections (please see below) AND weekly master class: This part of your mark assesses your degree of weekly preparedness, as well as attendance, respectful attentiveness, receptivity to instruction and punctuality.

 25% of mark:

1. For Undergraduates: Your progress towards the technical exam, as evident in regular technical “check-ins” during lessons.  All undergraduate students will be assessed by their improvement in fluency, accuracy, tonal consistency and speed.
2. For Graduate students: Quality of work towards a special topic or project, as determined by prior consultation.

AND 25% of mark: Musical quality of your solo performances (which may include Tues/Fri music, studio recitals and/or masterclasses).

IPS for performance majors: Participation in IPS is expected for all undergraduate performance majors (please note: IPS is currently not required for graduate students). Please consult Brightspace for current IPS policies (attendance, marking, course expectations, etc).

Readings and Reflections Two short written reflections (between 250 and 300 words) on required readings are expected as part of this course. Please choose from the relevant lists below.

You may complete your reflections in any order that works best for you. First summary is due by 31 January; second is due by 15 March. Early submissions (anytime during second term) are welcomed. Late assignments will not be accepted.

This assignment is intended to heighten your awareness of performance issues. Each student should experiment, applying their readings to their own personal practice. To that end, please provide three specific examples of how you applied information (i.e., sourced from a given reading). This assignment requires forethought and active experimentation in the practice room.

Important: Please submit your reflections via email with “Student Name: 2025 Reading Summary #X” in subject line.  

Readings for Spring term 2025 Please choose two readings from below.

For first year students: 

1. The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green
2. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
3. Playing (Less) Hurt by Janet Horvath
4. Body Mapping for Flutists by Lea Parsons

For second year students:

1. The Creativity Habit by Twyla Tharp
2. The Proper Flutist by Trevor Wye or Music and the Flute by Thomas Nyfenger
3. Casals and the Art of Interpretation by David Blum
4. Mastering Creative Anxiety by Eric Maisel OR Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

For third year students:

1. Kincaidiana by John Krell
2. The Notation is Not the Music by Barthold Kuijken
3. Making your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving your Artistic Goals by Eric Maisel
4. The Early Flute by Rachel Brown

For fourth year students:

1. Six Weeks to Finals by Sharon Sparrow
2. Arrau on Music Performance by Joseph Horowitz
3. The Proper Flutist by Trevor Wye or Flute by James Galway
4. On the Art of Playing the Flute by Quantz

For graduate students: Please choose any two readings that are new to you from the above list.

Practice 

I suggest your daily practice be proportioned as follows:

25% tone (mindfully seek to carry out every practice session SLOWLY, CALMLY AND WITH INCLUSIVE AWARENESS: we will thoroughly explore these ideas in masterclass)

25% technique

25% etudes

25% repertoire

Attending concerts, performing, listening to recordings, reading relevant texts and physical exercise/stretching (yoga is especially useful, as is swimming and running!) are all important activities. These should be considered a regular part of your ‘out of the practice room’ artistic practice. In addition to studio recitals, all flute students are expected to attend their professors’ and student flutist’s degree-required solo recitals.

Materials 

I will be making individually tailored recommendations and students will be expected to purchase music as determined by instructor. Every undergraduate will prepare a weekly etude, in addition to tonal study, technical work and repertoire. Given time constraints I will not be able to hear all assigned technical work, however students should carry out this aspect in good faith (I will hear short representative sections from assigned materials). Graduate students will be expected to complete a greater volume of more advanced repertoire more quickly and are expected to independently maintain their own regimen of tonal and technical basics.

All undergraduate students will cover all genres (early music, classical, Romantic/French salon, twentieth/twenty-first century and avant-garde music). Graduate students may focus on particular styles as determined by individual consultation and specific learning needs of the student.

Piccolo, Alto and Bass playing are all encouraged. We are fortunate to have a superb new Burkhart professional piccolo, and a beautiful alto flute in addition to a “bass flute.” Any of these may be borrowed with instructor permission and a completed form (which can be obtained from Claire at front office). Students who require auxiliary instruments for school ensembles will have priority.

Occasionally we will have online masterclass guests. Please note the following important information regarding online conduct for all students: The University of Victoria is committed to promoting critical academic discourse while providing a respectful and supportive learning environment. All members of the university community have the right to this experience and the responsibility to help create such an environment. The University will not tolerate racism, sexualized violence, or any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment. Please be advised that, by logging into UVic’s learning systems and interacting with online resources, you are engaging in a University activity. All interactions within this environment are subject to the University expectations and policies. Any concerns about student conduct may be reviewed and responded to in accordance with the appropriate University policy. Please report concerns about online student conduct: onlineconduct@uvic.ca

Studio policies

1. I do not photocopy music or lend music from my personal library. As with any academic course, all students are expected to secure their own materials. You may also borrow materials from the MacPherson library. We have an outstanding and unusually comprehensive flute music collection! I can also request the library purchase new items if they do not happen to have an item we need. However, it is also important to develop your own music library for your own eventual professional life.
2. Performances represent the work we do together in the studio, as well as your own individual practice. Therefore, when we both feel a work is ready to be performed, I will suggest a concert venue/opportunity and/or a recording project to be posted online.
3. I will approve concert requests after I have heard the material successfully and confidently presented in a polished manner as it is to be presented publicly (i.e., in its entirety). Performance permission slips will not be signed in anticipation of later work. Please plan ahead.
4. Please consult with me before scheduling degree-required solo recitals.
5. I have significant sensitivities to many artificial scents. Please avoid scented products (perfume, hairspray, strongly scented shampoo, bodywash, soap etc.) for all in-person flute classes. Please note that most professional ensembles have a “no scent” policy, so it is wise to adopt a “no-scent” approach now in your professional training.

I am looking forward to a very productive and enjoyable musical journey with you! Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to our new studio members!

Supportive information and links

Regarding undergraduate marking at UVic:

https://www.uvic.ca/calendar/future/undergrad/index.php#/policies?group=Undergraduate%20Academic%20Regulations

Regarding graduate marking at UVIc: https://www.uvic.ca/calendar/future/grad/index.php#/policy/B13jeiMdE?bc=true&bcCurrent=07%20-%20Grading&bcGroup=Faculty%20Academic%20Regulations&bcItemType=policies

For UVic academic calendar:

https://www.uvic.ca/calendar/future/undergrad/index.php#/home

For UVic’s undergraduate academic policy https://www.uvic.ca/calendar/future/undergrad/index.php#/policies

For UVic’s graduate student academic policy: https://www.uvic.ca/calendar/future/grad/index.php#/policies?group=Faculty%20Academic%20Regulations

Please also note the policy regarding academic concessions: https://www.uvic.ca/registrar/students/appeals/acad-concession/index.php

For information on academic supports (available to all Uvic students):  https://www.uvic.ca/orientation/new-student-handbook/academic-support/index.php

Please see below link for important Wellness and Safety information:

https://www.uvic.ca/residence/parents-guardians/wellness-and-safety/index.php

Counselling Services – Counselling Services can help you make the most of your university experience. They offer free (!), professional, confidential, inclusive support to currently registered UVic students.

https://www.uvic.ca/student-wellness/index.php

Health Services – University Health Services (UHS) provides a full-service primary health clinic for students, and coordinates healthy student and campus initiatives.

https://www.uvic.ca/services/health/

Centre for Accessible Learning – The CAL staff are available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals and arrange appropriate learning accommodations. The sooner you let them know your needs, the quicker they can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course.

https://www.uvic.ca/services/cal/.

Elders’ Voices – The Office of Indigenous Academic and Community Engagement (IACE) has the privilege of assembling a group of Elders from local communities to guide students, staff, faculty and administration in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. https://www.uvic.ca/services/indigenous/students/programming/elders/index.php