Demarre McGill

Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as one of the premier flutists of his generation, celebrated for his lyrical expressiveness and technical prowess. Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, McGill has appeared as a soloist with renowned orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. His captivating performances have earned him critical acclaim and a distinguished place in the world of classical music.

Currently serving as the principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, McGill has previously held principal flute positions with the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2025-26 season, Demarre McGill appears in collaboration with Chamber Music San Francisco, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music of the Baroque, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a soloist, McGill appears with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, the Peninsula Symphony, Symphony Tacoma, the Olympia Symphony, and the Fresno Philharmonic.

As an educator, Demarre McGill is committed to inspiring and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He has coached and presented master classes in South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Quebec, and throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, the Orford Music Festival, Summerfest at the Curtis Institute of Music, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. Additionally, McGill spent seven years as the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has been an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music
Festival and School since 2017.

Demarre McGill is also a founding member of the Myriad Trio and a former member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. He is the co-founder of Art of Élan and is a regular participant in prestigious chamber music festivals such as Santa Fe, Marlboro, Seattle, and Stellenbosch. In 2014, McGill co-founded the McGill/McHale Trio with his brother clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale. Their debut CD, "Portraits," released in August 2017, has received rave reviews, as has "Winged Creatures," his recording with Anthony McGill and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

A champion for accessibility and relevance in classical music, Demarre McGill actively promotes the works of underrepresented composers and engages in projects that highlight diverse cultural perspectives. His media credits include appearances on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center, A&E Network's The Gifted Ones, NBC's Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, along with his brother Anthony, on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

Born in Chicago, Demarre McGill began studying the flute at age 7 and attended the Merit School of Music. In the years that followed, he studied with Susan Levitin. Demarre received his Bachelor's degree from The Curtis Institute of Music and a Master's degree from The Juilliard School.

Demarre McGill is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Stephen Clark

Recipient of the 2016 Sir James Galway Rising Star Award, 1st Prize winner of the 2018 IMKA Music Competition and 1st Prize winner of the 2018 Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition, Stephen Clark has given over a thousand performances across all 7 continents and made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2018. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Northern College of Music and in Switzerland with Sir James Galway. Stephen is the Flute Professor at Northwestern State University in Louisiana.
 
Regularly invited to perform at flute festivals across the globe, he has given solo recitals at the Conventions of the British Flute Society, the National Flute Association of America, the Sir James Galway Flute Festival in Switzerland as well as the Florida Flute Convention, Wisconsin Flute Festival, Mid-South Flute Festival, St. Louis Flute Society and Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions in the USA. He has been the Guest Artist at countless flute festivals, flute days and events in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Solo engagements have taken him to over 120 countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Finland, Canada, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Croatia, Thailand, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Egypt, China, Libya, Malta, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, Australia, Belgium, France, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Jordan, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Seychelles, Maldives, Malaysia, Brazil, Norway, Iceland, Korea, Peru, Vietnam, Greece, Slovenia and the U.S.A. He has performed as solo flute player alongside several popular music artists including Annie Lennox, Andrea Bocelli and pop band McFly. As an orchestral player, Stephen has held principal flute positions and performed as Guest principal flute with major symphony orchestras of the United Kingdom, United States, Portugal, Ireland and Vietnam. He has worked with many significant conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Neeme Järvi, Sir Simon Rattle, Jorma Panula and Sir Mark Elder.

In addition to his performing schedule, Stephen is invited frequently to give masterclasses around the world. In the Past 12 months Stephen has given masterclasses at the Universities of Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Alabama, Western Missouri, South Illinois Edwardsville, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Northern Colorado, Weatherford College Texas, West Virginia, Arkansas and the Cadek Conservatory. Stephen has been Sir James Galway’s teaching assistant since 2017

Stephen has recorded for Classic FM, Amadeus, Linn Records and for the Naxos label and broadcast live on Northern Ireland’s 7FM and BBC Radio 3. He has released 2 solo albums on the Voyage Record Label. In 2015, Stephen was accepted into the Recording Academy of America and is now a voting member in the Grammys. Stephen has appeared on screen as the flute player in both the BBC's period drama series "Desperate Romantics" and ITV's feature film "Miss Marple - The Secret of Chimneys". He is author of “The Flute Gym” - a manual for advanced flute players.

In 2023, Stephen was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Alabama. He is a Yamaha Artist and plays exclusively on a 14k gold handmade Yamaha flute.

Katherine Kemler

Katherine Kemler is the Charles and Mary Barré Alumni Professor of Flute at Louisiana State University, and flutist with the Timm Wind Quintet. She has been a regular visiting teacher at the Oxford Flute Summer School in England and the Académie Musicale Internationale de Colombes in France. She has been invited to perform and teach at the International Flute Seminar Bruges, Belgium for July 2020.

A graduate of Oberlin, she received her M. Mus. and D.M.A. degrees from S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook. Her major teachers include Samuel Baron, Robert Willoughby, and Mark Thomas. She has also studied in masterclasses with Marcel Moyse, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Julius Baker, William Bennett, Andras Adorjan, and Michel Debost.

Dr. Kemler has taught masterclasses and performed solo recitals at Ecuadorian Flute Festivals in Quito and Guayaquil, two international flute festivals in Guatemala, festivals in Puerto Rico, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, Panama, Dominican Republic, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Adelaide Conservatorium in Australia, the University of Western Australia and the Perth Music Academy. She performed with an LSU colleague at the IDRS Conference in Grenada, Spain in 2018. She has also taught and performed at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China and the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts. In addition, she has performed a solo recital in the Beijing Concert Hall and taught flute masterclasses at the Central Conservatory of Music there. She has performed at seventeen National Flute Association conventions in Denver, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York City, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City as well as at the British Flute Society National Convention in 2014. She was featured on the cover of Flute Talk Magazine in December of 2006 and also on the cover of the Flutist Quarterly, the official magazine of the NFA, in 2003.

Dr. Kemler has appeared as soloist with the British Chamber Orchestra in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with the Orchestra Medicea Laurenziana throughout Italy, including Florence, Naples, and Salerno. She has toured extensively as a soloist, with the Kemler/Benjamin flute/harp duo, and with the Timm Wind Quintet. She has appeared in China, England, Poland, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, France, Ecuador, Guatemala, Australia, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Spain, South Africa, and throughout the United States, and made solo broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and National Public Radio. She has recorded four CDs with Centaur Records, Inc., Virtuoso American Flute Works, Sky Loom, for flute and harp, Sonatina with LSU pianist Michael Gurt, and Lipstick, a CD of contemporary works. She has also recorded on the Orion and Opus One Labels.

Brianne Little

Tucker Uebersax