Salt Lake rare venue for local flutist

Flutist Laurel Ann Maurer, one of Salt Lake City's most talented and versatile artists, will be playing her first local recital in a number of years on Friday evening in Dumke Recital Hall on the University of Utah campus.

An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Maurer performs throughout the United States and Europe, but her local appearances are rare. She explains it by saying that she doesn't believe a musician should overexpose herself in her own city.

But when the Utah Flute Association, which is sponsoring the recital, asked her to play, she didn't hesitate to accept. "The last time I performed for the flute association was in 1998. Since then, I've given many recitals in many cities, but not here."

Maurer said that the Utah Flute Association brings several renowned and respected flutists from around the country to Salt Lake City. "They also try to highlight local people, and this year they asked me."

For her recital, Maurer decided to put together a new program that offers variety and doesn't include any of the most famous works written for the instrument. "It's going to be a little different. I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to play. The program will be a mixture of new and old works for me."

The program will be divided into absolute and programmatic music. "The first half will be pure music, while the second has two large works, both of which have a story behind them."

Maurer will open her recital with Mozart's delightful Rondo in D major, after which she'll play Philippe Gaubert's "Fantasy," Ramiro Cortes' "Elegy" and Bohuslav Martinu's First Sonata. "There's a variety of nationalities present in the first half. All of the pieces are very personable and work nicely together."

Meyer Kupferman's "Strata" for unaccompanied flute and Katherine Hoover's "Medieval Suite" make up the second half.

"Strata" is a work that's close to Maurer's heart. "I got to know Meyer when I lived in New York, and I worked with him quite extensively. And Meyer was friends with Samuel Baron, who was one of my teachers."

Kupferman wrote the piece in memory of Baron, who died in 1997. "It's an amazing piece that deals with friendship and loss. It's quite emotional," Maurer said, adding that the last time she played it was, ironically, at Kupferman's memorial concert in 2003.