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Flute Professor Showcased On New Recording
Clemson University music professor and flutist Lea Kibler has released a new CD titled, “The Back of Beyond… Music Inspired by the Appalachian Mountains.”
I’ve tried to present music that reflects the history, traditions, and natural beauty of the Appalachian Mountains,” said Kibler. “It is classical music by American Composers, but influenced by the songs, ballads and stories heard in the mountains for hundreds of years.”
Several selections have been recorded for the first time. Of interest to South Carolinians are three short pieces by Pulitzer prize winner Ernst Bacon, who taught at Converse College in the 1940s and was fond of hiking the Southern Appalachians. Also featured is music by his student Carlisle Floyd, born in Latta, SC, who became an important composer of American opera.
Georgian Sidney Lanier, a well known poet and writer of the Civil War era, was also an accomplished flutist and his virtuoso piece, “Wind Song,” is included. Music by Robert Beaser, John Corigliano, and John Jason Niles as well as traditional tunes and improvisation round out the disc.
Performing on the CD are Irina Viritch, piano, Steven Walter, guitar, and Valerie Von 
Pechy Whitcup, harp. “The Back of Beyond” was recorded in Brooks Center for the Performing Arts and engineered by Bruce Whisler, director of the department’s audio engineering program.
Acclaimed by critics, Kibler is a graduate of the Yale University School of Music and has performed as member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra. She has toured as the principle flutist of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and has appeared at the Spoleto Festival, the American Dance Festival, and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival. Her family roots are in North Carolina and Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
“The Back of Beyond” was supported by Clemson University’s Friends of the Brooks Center and the Department of Performing Arts, as well as the Asheville Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council.
The CD can be purchased through CDBaby.com or directly from Lea Kibler in the Department of Performing Arts. E-mail her at lsagese@clemson.edu. Ten percent of the sales will benefit Appalachian environmental concerns.
