Robert Dick (flutist)

Robert Dick was born and raised in New York City. He began playing the flute in the fourth grade, after hearing the piccolo on the radio in the Top 40 hit “Rockin’ Robin". His primary teachers were Henry Zlotnik, James Pappoutsakis, Julius Baker and Thomas Nyfenger.[5]

As a teenager, Dick wanted to become an orchestral flutist, and played first flute in the Senior Orchestra at the High School of Music and Art[6] and also the New York All-City High School Orchestra. “Studies with him (Julius Baker) were geared toward becoming an orchestral player, and that was my dream at the time. But as I grew out of that dream, I realized that my training really hadn’t provided a look at music from the inside, which is what I needed—particularly the idea that music is generated from hearing within and recognizing what you are hearing.”[7] He became a soloist and composer.

At Yale College, Dick earned a BA degree,[5] and met Robert Morris, a composer and theorist, who mentored him as he wrote his first compositions. While at Yale, Dick wrote his first book: THE OTHER FLUTE: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques,[8] and then earned his master's degree in composition, studying with Morris as well as electronic music with Bulant Arel and Jacob Druckman.[5]

While attending Yale's graduate school, Dick composed “Afterlight,” a flute piece that used multiphonics as its basis.[9] “Afterlight” received a BMI Oliver Daniel Prize.[10]

After leaving school in Spring 1973, Dick lived in New Haven, Connecticut until September 1977, when he moved to Buffalo, New York to join the contemporary music group, the Creative Associates. Dick was a member of the group until June 1980.[11] While in New Haven, he wrote his second book Tone Development through Extended Technique and began to develop himself as an improviser and composer.

Dick spent six months in Paris from July - December 1978 working at I.R.C.A.M. (Institute of Research and Coordination, Acoustics and Music) developing his idea for a new flute mechanism. The first prototype was made by Albert Cooper in London in 1984. This design remains unfinished.[6]

From Fall 1980 until Spring 1992, Dick lived in New York City, developing his compositions, improvisations and wrote Circular Breathing for the Flutist.[12] In this period, he self-published The Revised Edition of THE OTHER FLUTE: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Technique and his later books, compositions and instructional recordings through his Multiple Breath Music Company.[13] In 1986, he left the role of concert soloist in contemporary music to perform his own music and the music of composer-performer collaborators exclusively. Dick performed a recital of his own works as part of the New York Philharmonic’s Horizons 84 Festival at Avery Fisher Hall in 1984.[14]

In May 1992, he moved to Switzerland for ten years, continuing his career as a composer-performer. He returned to the US in 2002, as Visiting assistant professor of Flute at the University of Iowa. In July 2003, he returned to New York City.[5] Since July 2013, Dick has been dividing his time between New York City and Kassel, Germany, where his children Sebastian (born 2006) and Leonie (born 2008) live with their mother, composer-pianist Ursel Schlicht.

Dick's recitals today primarily consist of his compositions and improvisations, occasionally incorporating the influences of Paul Hindemith, Georg Philipp Telemann and Jimi Hendrix into his repertoire.[15]

As an instructor, Dick created a method and practice of teaching for flutists that he documented in his books: Tone Development through Extended Techniques, and Circular Breathing for the Flutist and the two volumes of FLYING LESSONS: Six Contemporary Concert Etudes.[1] He teaches masters classes at hundreds of international universities.[15]

Dick is the inventor of the Glissando Headjoint, a trademarked telescoping flute mouthpiece which allows the flutist to slide and extend notes.[16]

As a composer, Dick's work has been recognized by a Koussevitzky Foundation Commission, a Guggenheim Fellowship and two NEA Composers Fellowships, among many grants and commissions. Dick has composed a new work for the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. He has recorded over 20 albums and appeared as a guest on many other recordings.[5]

• Official website
• Robert Dick at New York University site
• Robert Dick corner
• 'Ep. 100: Robert Dick, revolutionary composer and flutist' Interview by Tigran Arakelyan
• 'Ep. 43: Robert Dick, flutist and composer' Interview by Tigran Arakelyan