Jennifer Father - C Flute

I have lived in Fairfax for two years, but my musical journey has taken me through many

places. I grew up in very a small town along the NY/Quebec border that was better

known for dairy farms than music. I am married to George, and we have a 13-year-old

son and 9-year-old daughter. As a family, we love to travel and are always up for the

next adventure, whether it’s hiking in Alaska, kayaking in Lake Michigan, or taking a

private pizza-making lesson in Rome. I’ve visited 20 countries and am currently on a

quest to visit all 50 states by age 50—with just three states remaining.

I began formal music training at age 10, starting with piano and then adding flute a few

months later when I joined my school’s fifth-grade beginning band. I had already been

pestering my older cousins to let me play their instruments whenever I visited, so by the

time I started band, I could already make a sound. I studied both piano and flute through

high school and went on to earn a Bachelor of Music Education from The Crane School

of Music at SUNY Potsdam and a Master of Music in Flute Performance from Central

Michigan University. My amazing flute teachers/mentors have included Jill Rubio,

Kenneth Andrews, Jennifer Kennard, Joanna Cowan White, and Douglas Worthen.

Although flute became my primary instrument, piano remained important to me. I

accompanied classmates’ juries and performances, studied piano with piano

performance majors, and even took organ lessons in graduate school.

My musical career has been eclectic. I began as a flute maker at Powell Flutes near

Boston, where I built more than 200 flutes and became Straubinger Certified. After

moving to Alaska, I cross-trained in woodwind repair, studying with the “Horn Doctor,”

John Kagerer. I later opened my own flute specialty repair business, Father’s Woodwind

Services, which I operated in Nebraska and Texas before eventually changing careers

and joining my mother and brother in their work.

Music, however, has remained a constant through all those moves. In Boston, I

substituted with the Air Force Band of Liberty on several tours, including my favorite, a

Fall tour through Maine. In Alaska, I directed the Arctic Wind Junior Flute Choir,

performed with the Anchorage Opera Orchestra and was a founding member of the flute

quartet, Fireweed Flutes. One of my favorite Alaska experiences was when my duo

partner, Laura Koenig, and I collaborated with an astronomer to create a visual display

at a planetarium as we performed flute duets from the 1980s. In Nebraska, I performed

in a flute quartet with UNO professor Christine Erlander Beard and two of her former

students; performing a Widor piccolo quartet arrangement in a beautiful glass shrine

was particularly memorable. I also served as co-principal of Omaha Symphonic Winds,

taught private flute and piano students, and was adjunct instructor of flute at Iowa

Western Community College.

Some of my most unexpected musical adventures happened in Germany, where I

conducted my village’s youth band. My German was admittedly not very good, but the

students were wonderfully patient with me. Directing the group as the opening act for

the Sicking High Rock Fest was one of the most fun musical experiences I’ve had. My

village also had an adult band that celebrated their 90th anniversary with a concert that

took place just three days before my due date for my daughter. I declined to perform in

that concert, but we decided my husband would since he composed a piece in

celebration of the band’s milestone. As luck would have it, I went into labor right as the

concert started, and he made it back just in time for her birth! 

This is my third season with the Woodbridge Flute Choir. I had previously played with

the Heartland Flute Choir in Omaha and knew I wanted to continue playing in a flute

choir after moving to Virginia. Interestingly, because I lived in Omaha twice, I was able

to play in Heartland’s 10th and 20th anniversary seasons—even with two moves in

between! Now I find myself celebrating Woodbridge’s 30th anniversary.

I contacted Debbie before moving to Virginia and scheduled an audition. During an

extensive three-week cross-country trip with my kids, I decided my flute was better off

traveling separately. Fortunately, we were eventually reunited, and I joined WFC just in

time for their first rehearsal of the year.

What I love most about WFC is the combination of musical challenge and sense of

community. After so many years of moving from place to place, I like being able to make

community connections and learn from, laugh with, and make music with such a

talented group of musicians.

I’m excited to be part of WFC’s 30th anniversary and look forward to another fantastic

season.