World Flute Society comes to UWEC this weekend

EAU CLAIRE — With a combination of sounds from across the globe, Eau Claire sees the return of the World Flute Society convention this weekend.

Branching into many different traditions and styles, Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl, executive director of the World Flute Society, said it is a celebration of the various flutes across the world.

From now and until Sunday at noon, vendors take up the lobby of the Haas Fine Arts Center on the UW-Eau Claire campus. At 7 p.m tonight and Saturday, the convention has also been hosting concerts which they have invited the community to come enjoy. Tickets for these concerts are $15 and are available at the door.

In regards to their organization members, vendors and the appeal of the flute, Joyce-Grendahl said, “A lot of the makers are Native American flute makers, and the thing about that flute is that anybody can play it. You don't have to have any musical background, it is that easy to play and it is really appealing — people really like the sound.”

But on top of that, she said people coming to visit have traveled even greater distances, with participants hailing from Netherlands, Japan, France, Australia and more. For her, coming to Eau Claire to help with the convention is nearly an 11 and a half hour drive from South Dakota.

When the World Flute Society was looking for a home, Joyce-Grendahl said it was thanks to locals like Grammy Award Nominee Peter Phippen and former UW-Eau Claire music professor Tim Lane that the event started coming to Eau Claire back in 2008.

“We like Eau Claire because it is an artistic community,” said Joyce-Grendahl. “You have a lot of events here: Country Jam, Rock Fest… Eau Claire is loaded with artistic people, and they are very welcoming and supportive.”

This year also marks the return of their convention, as the last time that the World Flute Society came to Eau Claire was back in 2018.

“It’s been a long time, but it started flowing,” said Joyce-Grendahl. “It is nice to be back in person, and everybody is happy to see each other, because we have a lot of repeat people who come back. They are seeing old friends and making new friends.”

Joanne Lazzaro, a flutist and musical artist who flew in from Los Angeles, said flutes fascinate her in how every culture has its own flute. After coming to the convention in 2016 and 2018, she now returns to teach one of the many master classes that people signed up for through the week.

“I’m seeing people that I literally haven’t seen for years,” she said. “It has been really great to see people again. What I like particularly about this conference, is that they bring in flutes of all different styles and cultures, because some flute festivals focus on just Native American flutes, just Irish flutes, just Asian flutes or just Peruvian flutes. This conference covers all of them.”

While their organization has not necessarily been an organization that looks at classical silver flutes, Joyce-Grendahl said they have not shied away from highlighting various styles through their convention. At their evening performances, she said they will even see beatboxing flute playing and electric flute playing.

With performances from award winning musicians around the world and a passionate community, Joyce-Grendahl said their hope is to share something that is unique for the community as the convention returns to the area.

“It's so diverse and so interesting, and that’s what we want,” she said. “We want them to experience something that they wouldn’t normally hear.”