I went with a student last week to the Flute Center of New York, we had a wonderful time trying flutes. My student was looking to buy a “step-up/early professional” instrument in the range of $2000-$3000. Julian, the manager, was a wonderful help, because I discovered that is a bit of a black hole of a price range in the flute world. There’s lots available for less than that in terms of beginner instruments, but most flutes in the category we were looking for now retail for $4000 and up. The FCNY didn’t have a lot of instruments on consignment in our range, and previously I’ve had amazing luck with them in this regard. Julian said when they do get them in they go fast! But he showed us lots of new flutes. We tried the Powell Sonare, the Wm. S. Haynes signature model, and a Di Zhao, but my student quickly zeroed in on a handmade, silver-plated Altus. It had a beautiful sound and the mechanism was very smooth. I really loved the idea that she could upgrade to a solid silver or gold headjoint down the road when she is finished with school and earning a salary.
I took a few pictures while we were there, this is the biggest bag of plugs I’ve ever seen!
And I was so happy to see Robert Dick‘s Glissando Headjoint #85 on the shelf. Julian said it retails in the neighborhood of $1200, which is amazing considering what it does. It played beautifully, and the mechanism was so logical and effortless.
I know this has been a long time coming. Check out Nina Perlove and Robert Dick playing it on Youtube. Congratulations Robert Dick!