Marianne Gedigian is professor of flute at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She previously served as professor of flute at The University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music where she holds a Butler Endowed Professorship in Flute and is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor. 

Ms. Gedigian performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over a decade, including several seasons as acting principal flute under Seiji Ozawa. As principal flute with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and acting principal flute with the Boston Pops, Ms. Gedigian has performed on dozens of recordings with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras, Evening at Pops public television broadcasts as well as the nationally broadcast Fourth of July specials.

Flute Fair is scheduled for Saturday, April 13th, 2024

What is Flute Fair? This is the GPFS flagship event that includes an internationally celebrated guest artist recital typically on Friday night, open to the community, and followed by a Saturday full of workshops by local pros, masterclasses, competitions, a seminar by our guest artist, and of course flutes, music, and gear for sale! Flute Fair is your chance to spend a weekend enjoying "all things and all people flute." 

In the past, as example, our special guest artists have included Lorna McGee (2008), PROJECT TRIO (2009), Marianne Gedigian (2011), Jim Walker (2013), Ian Clarke (2014), Jasmine Choi (2015), Peter Sheridan (2017), Julien Beaudiment (2018), Trudy Kane (2019),  Valerie Coleman (2021), Gareth McLearnon (2022), Zart Domborian-Eby (2023), Marianne Gedigian (2024).

Cost? Sponsored by the Greater Portland Flute Society and sponsors, access to all Flute Fair Day activities are FREE for GPFS Members! Non-members can attend for a low fee of $25 or $15 for non-member students, similar to the cost of membership. Learn more about the benefits of membership - Membership. When the annual event includes the Guest Artist Recital on the prior evening to Flute Fair, admission to the recital is typically $10 for members and $15 for non-members.

What else does Flute Fair have to offer? At Flute Fair, you have the rare opportunity to find all of the flutes and flute items you've been wanting—and then some! Conveniently see and play the many options for test flutes and headjoints, both new and used. There are flute accessories galore such as music stands, flute stands, tuners, metronomes, flute swabs, cleaning cloths, gig bags, etc. You can even have your flute checked by an expert repair person! How about flute music? We've got you covered. Need a flute gift? There are also flute T-shirts, flute notepads, flute pencils, flute coffee mugs, flute jewelry, and other flute items available for sale.

We also encourage you to visit our GPFS Commercial Members webpage for easy access to their offerings. Check the above links for specific information on vendors, workshops, performances and scheduling as it becomes available.

Flute Fair includes: 

• Workshops on various flute-related topics in the morning.
• Performances by GPFS members.
• A Masterclass taught by our Special Guest Artist.
• A Young Artist’s Competition for junior and senior high school students.
• Vendors in our exhibit hall selling flutes and flute-related merchandise.
• Opportunities to get to know others in your flute community

What kind of merchandise?

Flutes in all price ranges from student flutes to professional flutes and everything inbetween, including used instruments. In the market for a piccolo or low flute? We’ve got you covered at Flute Fair! Flute Fair is also a wonderful opportunity to learn about different brands and models, and play-test a variety of flutes side by side and possibly find a flute that’s just right for you! Most major flute manufacturers are represented, including Altus, Burkart, JL Smith, Jupiter, Haynes, Miyazawa, Muramatsu, Pearl Flutes, and Sankyo.  Flute headjoints from many of the flute manufacturers, as well as companies that only make flute headjoints, that you can try. There are many reasons you might want just a headjoint: you like your flute, but want to improve the way it sounds; if you can’t afford to upgrade the quality of your flute, it is a less expensive way to improve the way your flute sounds.  Flute accessories for sale, such as music stands, flute stands, tuners, metronomes, flute swabs, cleaning cloths, gig bags, etc. There will be flute t-shirts, flute notepads, flute pencils, flute coffee mugs, flute jewelry and other flute items to buy. And of course music!