Sherry Finzer - Flutist - Heart Dance Records

The photo of Sherry with angel wings on the cover of her latest release is certainly appropriate, since the music contained within could well be described as “heavenly.” Entitled “Sanctuary ll: Earth” it marks the second in her series of new age relaxation music. I had the pleasure of reviewing the first release, “Sanctuary” here in Music and Media Focus, and I’m happy to spread the word about her latest offering. While there are some things in common with the original recording, there are also some differences. Sherry is well known for her talent and versatility on the flute and she plays a variety of them, both in her live performances with a number of different ensembles, as well as on her recordings. However on this album, it is the alto flute in particular that is heard on all the tracks.

The ambience of this CD is very meditative, almost Zen-like in its simplicity and spaciousness, and forgoes the rhythmic and ethnic elements that made occasional appearances on her previous release. The goal of the album is to provide a gentle soundtrack for relaxation, meditation, and yoga. In Sherry’s words: “This CD reaches deep into the soul to bring about an emotional release and healing.” With song titles like “Earth,” “Tranquil Waters,” “Woodlands,” “Dawn’s First Light,” and “Redwoods” it’s clear that the music is inspired by and reflects the beauty of the natural world.

Opening with the title song, Sherry is accompanied by Darin Mahoney on acoustic guitar played through a delay effect, which allows the notes to hang suspended in space momentarily before trailing off into the distance like echoes through a canyon. Long lingering flute phrases float gracefully over and in between the spaces. A music video of this song paired with beautiful nature photography can be seen at Sherry’s website. As the title of the second track, “Dream Flight” implies, the feeling of flying in a dream was the inspiration for this piece, which is the longest on the album at over nine and a half minutes. Taking wings over a subtle synthesizer soundscape, Sherry’s flute glides and soars on drifting musical air currents. Throughout the album I was aware of how delicate and supportive the accompanying instrumentation was, never drawing your attention away from the flute’s sweet song.

Spirits having flown, the sound of a babbling brook brings the listener back to earth as track three, “Tranquil Waters” begins to flow. The aforementioned understated keyboards provide a languid liquid undercurrent to the track which feature the alto flute enhanced with ethereal echo and reverb. Sounds of birds and crickets greet us as we depart the waters for “Woodlands” on the fourth track. A subdued electronic background blends interestingly as Sherry is joined once again by Darin Mahoney on acoustic guitar. The interplay is sublime and for me, conjured a picture of shafts of light filtering through the leaves onto lush ferns and moss on the forest floor.

“Dawn’s First Light” illuminates a more minimalistic yet expansive musical vision that is sculpted of equal parts space and sound… a peaceful portrayal of the early morning sky beginning to lighten as the rays of the sun, ascend over the horizon. Bringing the album to an appropriately majestic ending is “Redwoods,” which was composed and performed by Ric Flauding for Sherry’s Desert Journey CD, and has been specially remixed for “Sanctuary ll: Earth.”  It was a perfect artistic decision to save this one for last in that it has the most melodic and textural content, and features a bit more instrumental interplay with keyboard strings and choirs, acoustic guitar, and flute, exhibiting a sense of grandeur befitting its name.

Whether performing or recording as a solo artist on her own Phoenix-based Heart Dance Record label or playing with her two groups: Radiant Sky and dulce Vas, Sherry paints from an eclectic musical palette. In addition to being a Pearl Flute Performing Artist, and Grammy nominee, she travels nationally and internationally, to perform at diverse venues. They say that good things come in threes, so I’ll be looking forward to soul-soothing sounds of “Sanctuary lll” in the hopefully not too distant future.

I will be continuing the tale of my flute adventures, but wanted to add this to the mix.

I often get asked why I recorded my "Sanctuary" CD, so I wanted to share that story with you.

When I first moved to Phoenix I recorded my first solo CD, titled "Desert Journey". I was experiencing a new journey at the time. Having moved from Rochester, NY, without knowing a soul except for my husband and younger son Tyler, it was like starting a new life. A new life in the desert.

Besides my flute playing I have always believed in taking care of your body, exercising and staying in good shape. I taught and still do teach at the YMCA, as well as other fitness clubs in the area. A few years back I held a fundraiser at the Y with my group Radiant Sky for the Strong Kids Program. Some members came to hear the concert, and bought some of my CD's.

There was one member named Nancy, who I haven't seen now in awhile, so I hope she is doing well. She had purchased my Desert Journey CD, and told me that her hands shake all the time, whenever she is trying to do something with her hands, like put makeup on. She said when she listened to my music, the shaking would stop. Somehow it calmed her. I now saw my music as a healing tool, so I wanted to try to create a CD with my own music and ideas. With the help of John Herrera of Clamsville Studios, we were able to create a new age, ambient CD for relaxing and meditating. "Sanctuary" has received great reviews from around the world, and was a semi-finalist for the 2009 GRAMMY'S for Best New Age Album.

I am nearing the end of recording for my second new age CD, which I hope to be released in October of this year. Editing and mixing is going on this week, and my photo shoot this weekend for the cover. The title still has yet to be decided, but I am still collecting people's ideas, and will be giving a free CD to the person who comes up with the title that I select. I am hoping that this next CD will continue my mission to help people heal, and enjoy this beautiful world!

Again….junior high….do people actually have good things can be said about those years? It is a weird phase for most of us and it is usually painful to look back at those pictures and think about some of the things we did, or said. I was fortunate enough to have a few sympathetic teachers who would stand up for me and punish those that tortured me.

We had moved to a house on a fairly heavily trafficked street, so there were not many houses, or other kids my age living near us. Starting at a new school was absolutely horrifying. The bus ride alone was so stressful….sometimes I wonder how I made it through. Being the new kid is not easy. Some of the kids on the bus would not move over to let me sit with them. Sometimes they would pull my flute case from my hands and throw it around to other students on the bus. Once I made it to school, there was still a whole day which I needed to get through….kids saying horrible things to me, jamming my locker so I couldn’t open it, tripping me in the halls, etc.

The kids in band were not so bad. The band director was glad to have my talent in the band. I was quickly put into first chair after auditions. He suggested to my parents that I study with one of the top flute instructors in the Rochester area, Glennda Dove. Glennda was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and also studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Royal Academy of Music. I started lessons with her sometime that school year. From then on I always entered every Solofest Competition in the winter and spring, always made the All-County and Area All-State Bands and/or Orchestras.

At Charles H. Roth High School, Howard Rowe, my band director, was a big supporter and was always looking for opportunities for me to play. I played in the High School musicals, including Carousel, Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, and West Side Story. I attended band camps in Nashville and at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. I was being groomed for college all the way. My parents paid for half of the new flute Glennda suggested I purchase, since I needed something more professional – the purchase was a Prima Sankyo. I worked to pay off the balance. I loved my new flute. I practiced and practiced and practiced…..flute was pretty much my life.

In the winter of my senior year of high school, I went through the college auditions. I had prepared the Mozart Concerto in G, and Debussy’s Syrinx for those auditions. My dream was to go to the Eastman School of Music, which was located in Rochester, NY. As I mentioned earlier, I was extremely shy and introverted back then. I didn’t want to go far from home, from my parents and my boyfriend - now husband, Chuck. The experience I had gained working a part-time job during my senior year had left me feeling like I had missed socializing and getting to know people during my previous years. I was enjoying making new friends.

Glennda had told me to not get my hopes up, that the college professor’s usually already know who they want to accept for students even before the auditions. I didn’t really think too much about it, because I really wanted to get in there. My parents drove me to auditions at the New England Conservatory of Music, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Ithaca College. I remember driving through snow storms and slushy roads to get to each audition. I remember feeling car sick, and sick from the nerves of going through those auditions. I remember anxiously and nervously waiting to get the letter in the mail with the results of all that time and hard work. My biggest fear came true. I was not accepted at Eastman, which was the only place I really wanted to go. I was accepted at Cincinnati and Ithaca, and was first alternate at New England.

Glennda was pushing me to go to Cincinnati, but I chose instead to go to Ithaca, because it was closer to home. Glennda was not too happy with my choice, and thought I would get better instruction in Cincinnati, but there was an even larger decision I made a few months later was going to disappoint many people.

It wasn’t until many years later that I realized how much pain and disappointment I caused to so many people. My friends and teachers had always commented that they would be coming to hear me play at Carnegie Hall someday. I had had enough of the stress, competition and isolation, and made the decision to not go to college or music school. It crushed my parents after all of their years of support. I couldn’t even face Glennda after that. But I wanted a change, it was time to do something different….I wanted to hang out with friends, and to eventually get married and raise a family, so I abandoned my life as an aspiring flutist in June of 1981.

Was it the right decision? Who knows. Maybe I would have had a nervous breakdown at school, maybe I would have been miserable and dropped out, maybe I would have found a whole new circle of friends....what if, what if, what if? One can drive themselves crazy wondering. You know the mantra- everything happens for a reason. As they say, you are where you are because that is where you are supposed to be. All I know is that I couldn’t be happier with the way things have come about in the 30 years since that decision…..I believe that opportunities will appear when the time is right.

I was born in Syracuse, NY in August of 1963. My first few years of life was spent between Baldwinsillve and Brewerton, NY. When I was about to start kindergarten, I was enrolled in the Brewerton Elementary School. All very boring and factual I know….but this is where my love of music started.....

I had originally planned on this next blog entry to be the first of several chapters of my life and how I arrived to the place I currently am at with my flute career, but after having just spent the last three days of my life in Greer, AZ, I feel that I need to share my experience with you, and the people of Greer.

I am writing this for all of you talented flutists out there that might not be in that 1-2% (is it that much?) of the top flutists that play in a professional orchestra, or teach at a well-known college or conservatory. The chances of us actually “making it” as an orchestral musician are pretty slim for the majority of us. But there are so many talented flutists out there that don’t win a position in a major orchestra or symphony. Many of us have spent years in school, or studying. We have talent, but what do we do with it?

Some of us flutists play with a local orchestra or symphony because we love to play. Or we join a local flute choir, because we love to play. Or maybe we form a trio or quartet. If we are lucky we find a great guitarist or harpist to play with, but then what? Playing for fun is great, but for years I would hear people in the business world telling me to find a way to make money doing what I love to do. I had a lot of self- doubt that I could actually do it, and am sure many of you reading this might feel the same way, so you will decide to just “play for fun”, or “play for a hobby”, which is all absolutely wonderful! Playing music in any capacity is always wonderful. But I would like to tell you my story and to tell you that any of you can do what I have done if you have the desire to do it!

I now have 4 tracks recorded for my new ambient flute CD. So we are on track for our fall release. Working on planning the photo shoot for the cover...this should be good!