Robert Hugh Willoughby (June 6, 1921 – March 27, 2018Robert Willoughby, Legendary Flute Professor and Performer, Dies at 96
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flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

player and flute teacher. He played both

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and modern flute. He has been described by ''Flute'' magazine as the "American grandmaster of the flute". Willoughby taught for many years at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, where he was the first Robert Wheeler Professor of Performance. He taught for ten years at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

, and later at the

Longy School of Music of Bard College Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New En ...

. He received the Alumni Achievement Award from

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

and in 1996 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

National Flute Association The National Flute Association (NFA) is the largest flute organization in the world, with roughly 5,000 members from more than 50 countries. It is an association in the United States with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Members include soloists, ...

Students

Among his many students is the

jazz flute Jazz flute is the use of the flute in jazz music. While flutes were sometimes played in ragtime and early jazz ensembles, the flute became established as a jazz instrument in the 1950s. It is now widely used in ensembles and by soloists. The modern ...

player Paul Horn.

Selected discography

* The Oberlin Woodwind Quintet: Robert Willoughby, flute James Caldwell, oboe Lawrence McDonald, clarinet Robert Fries, french horn Kenneth Moore, bassoon Saturday, January 14, 1984 8:00 p.m. in Hamman Hall, Rice University Digital Scholarship Archive http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/76867

Personal life

He married author

Elaine Macmann Willoughby Elaine Macmann "Mac" Willoughby (March 22, 1926 – November 12, 2012) was an American educator and writer of children's books. Life Elaine Maybelle Macmann, known as "Mac", was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, and was the only child of Walter a ...

in 1957.

Publications

* "The Flute Practice Techniques", Conn-Selmer Keynotes, 1974.

References

Further reading and listening

* “Robert Willoughby – Seeking Variety” (interview with William Montgomery). ''Flute Talk'' (October 1984): 2-6. * “Robert Willoughby: Combining the Best of Schools” (interview with Kerry Walker). ''Flute Talk'' (December 1994): 8-10. * "From Mariano and Kincaid to Decades of Fine Teaching" (interview with Vanessa Mulvey and Vanessa Holroyd). ''Flute Talk'' (February 2001): 18-20 * Jictoria Jicha, "Robert Willoughby Combines the Wisdom of Three Masters". ''Flute Talk'' (November 2003): 4-11. * Leonard L. Garrison, "Happy Birthday, Bob: A Tribute to Robert Willoughby" ''The Flutist Quarterly'' XXVI (2, Winter 2001): 57-61 * Leonard L. Garrison, "90th Birthday Celebration for Robert Willoughby". ''Flute Talk'' 31 (4, December 2011): 12-13 * "A Conversation with Robert Willoughby" (interview with Patricia George). ''Flute Talk'' 31 (4, December 2011): 14-17 * Aralee Dorough, "Robert Willoughby: The Next Decade". ''The Flutist Quarterly'' XXXVII (4, Summer 2012): 30-33. * "Robert Willoughby, Noted Traverso Teacher, Feted at Oberlin". ''Early Music America'' 18 (3, Fall 2012): 39
"Robert Willoughby"
The Growing Bolder Radio Network (June 22, 2014) * Leela Breithaupt, Katherine Borst Jones, "Robert Willoughby 95 Lessons". ''Flute Talk'' ''36'' (September 2016): 24-27

External links

* https://www.flickr.com/photos/oberlin/6280583505/ * http://robertwilloughby.com/ * http://www.bostonrecords.com/robert-willoughby-1/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby, Robert Hugh 1921 births 2018 deaths American classical flautists Eastman School of Music alumni Oberlin College faculty Peabody Institute faculty Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty New England Conservatory alumni 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century American musicians United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II People from Grundy Center, Iowa 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists