I first heard of Jeffrey when we were both students at The Juilliard School. While I was a saxophone major at that time, I was also studying flute very seriously with Tom Nyfenger and becoming more enamored of the flute repertoire, pedagogy, recordings, and great performers on the instrument. The flute class at Juilliard was particularly inspiring during those years with Julius Baker and Sam Baron serving as the flute instructors. I frequently attended flute recitals and asked questions of the flute majors to learn more. The practice rooms at Juilliard were particularly hard to get into since the pianists & violinists seemed to live in them 24/7. While typically waiting for a room to open, I would often hear a flute player practicing in the same corner room of the 3rd floor who sounded fantastic. However, because of the shape of the room, you couldn’t see the person practicing by looking through the room’s window. One day I saw a tall, studious young fellow with black glasses carrying a briefcase exit the room. He was in a hurry so I never got a chance to talk to him. Who was that masked man? I came to find out that his name was Jeffrey Khaner. Five years later I heard that name again when he was awarded the principal flute position in the Cleveland Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Maurice Sharp. I’ve followed Jeffrey’s career from that moment on and had the honor of having him play a recital for my students several years ago at a university where I was teaching. He has grown to become a world-class artist and teacher and I am very honored to present his interview as the latest installment in the Woodwind Legacy Series.
About the Artist: Canadian-born flutist Jeffrey Khaner has been principal flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1990. Prior to that he was principal flute of the Cleveland Orchestra; co-principal of the Pittsburgh Orchestra; and principal of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra and Atlantic Symphony. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he studied with his principal mentor, the great Julius Baker. Following in the footsteps of Mr. Baker, Jeffrey serves as a professor of flute at the Curtis Institute (since 1985), The Juilliard School (since 2004), and Lynn University. In 1995, Sir George Solti selected him to be the principal flute in the World Orchestra for Peace and he also serves as principal flute of the All Star Orchestra under Gerard Schwartz. He has released seven solo recordings dedicated to American, British, Czech, French, German and Romantic flute music in addition to his recording of transcriptions of music by Brahms and Schumann. Jeffrey is a frequent guest at summer festivals around the world and leads a weeklong class every summer as part of The Curtis Institute’s Summerfest. In 2012, he launched the “Online Classical Flute School with Jeffrey Khaner” through ArtistWorks. A longtime Yamaha performing artist and clinician, please visit his website at: www.iflute.com.