Kate Steinbeck has concentrated on the performance of chamber music throughout her career. She has won critical acclaim for her engaging and diverse performances, innate musicality and beauty of tone. Kate enjoys teaching and has served on the faculties of Clemson University, Mars Hill College, the San Francisco Community Music Center and music schools in southwestern Germany. She recently presented master classes at conservatories in French-speaking Belgium and Duke University.

She earned a degree in flute performance from Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) under the tutelage of William Hebert. After college she was awarded a Fulbright Grant for study and travel in Europe. While a Fulbright scholar, she was awarded a First Prize in chamber music from the Belgian Royal Conservatory in Liege and thereafter spent several years in Germany. Kate speaks French and German and loves to travel and experience other cultures.

In 1988 she returned to the US to pursue a Master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied with Tim Day. While a freelance flutist and teacher in the San Francisco area, Kate distinguished herself as a dynamic player of contemporary works and chamber music.

Since moving to Asheville in 1997, she has produced numerous chamber music concerts and tours across the US. Kate founded the Keowee Chamber Music Festival in 2001 and will co-direct this Carolina series during its eighth season in June 2008. She released her first CD, Light in the Corner, with percussionist Byron Hedgepeth in 2004. Kate Steinbeck plays exclusively on the modern wooden flute manufactured by the Abell Flute Company.

Photo: Yasmin Berkson, www.berksonphotography.com

Lea Kibler was a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as a soloist with that orchestra on both flute and piccolo. She has also toured with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra as principal flute. Active as a chamber musician, she has performed with such world famous artists as Szymon Goldberg, Richard Goode, Igor Kipnis and Thomas Nyfenger. Lea has appeared at the Spoleto Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the American Dance Festival. She has performed with Ensemble 21 and was founding director/performer of the Florida Chamber Virtuosi.

Lea received her Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music where she was a student of Thomas Nyfenger. She also studied extensively with the greatly esteemed British flutist Geoffrey Gilbert and attended the International Summer School in Ramsgate, England where she studied with William Bennett.

Lea is active as an arranger, clinician and solo performer, presenting numerous recitals and master classes. She taught at several colleges and universities in south Florida including the New World School of the Arts and the Conservatory at Lynn University. As a frequent performer at the National Flute Association conventions, she was a finalist in their Young Artist competition and played the American premiere of Jindrich Feld’s Sonatine for Flute and Harp.

She can be heard on the Florida Philharmonic’s recordings on the Harmonia Mundi and Naxos labels, as well as on recordings of Placido Domingo, Gloria Estefan and other Latin artists.

A native of North Carolina, Lea has chosen to return and make Asheville her home. She is listed on the North Carolina Touring Artist roster and is on the faculty of Clemson University.

Photo: Yasmin Berkson, www.berksonphotography.com