Ellen Burr is a masterful flutist who explores new directions in music. Her enthusiasm, coupled with over forty years of experience and a multi-faceted career, has won her worldwide acclaim in performance, teaching, improvisation, and composition.
Since 1975, Ellen has soloed with orchestras throughout the United States, and premiered many new works by contemporary composers. She performs regularly with the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra; Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra; Breeze Smith; and her husband, Steve Burr, in Rarebirds.
Ellen has been a featured performer at numerous local and global music festivals as well as concert series. She was a guest artist at California State University, Dominguez Hills Creative Alarm Inventions, the International Society of Improvising Musicians (ISIM) conference, Capital University Now Festival, Ohio State University, Creative Music Foundation 40th Anniversary Workshop, Poto Music and Art Festival, University of Mary Washington, Wichita State University's Contemporary Music Festival, the Vancouver Jazz Festival, and the Las Vegas New Music Festival.
Drawing inspiration from the Fluxus movement, Ellen performs and composes for films, television, radio shows, chamber music, dance, theater, and opera. Her compositions have been played throughout the United States and Europe. She is a member of ASCAP, American Composers Forum, Music Teachers' Association of California, and the National Flute Association.
Ellen is featured on more than 20 albums spanning 21 years, including styles as diverse as Celtic folk and experimental classical. Where Am I From, Where Am I Going is her 2013 release of improvisations with Michael Unruh on bass clarinet. Duos, an album of her compositions and improvisations, was released in 2006. Both albums have received airplay and reviews from around the world. Ellen is a multiple grant recipient, having received two Subito grants from the American Composers Forum and a Composer in Residence grant from Meet the Composer.
Students worldwide benefit from Ellen's distinctive teaching style. She encourages respect for technique coupled with exploration and discovery. In addition to her busy private teaching practice in Los Angeles, she has been coaching and adjudicating student competitions and chamber music since 2004, and conducting student and professional groups since 1986.
Ellen served as Visiting Flute Instructor for the 2012 spring semester at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California; and served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Wichita State University for the 2010-2011 school year. A clinician since 1990, Ellen has taught workshops and master classes at colleges, universities, schools, festivals, and conventions throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. She has presented at National Flute Association conventions, the British Flute Society convention, Emporia State University, Saddleback College, LA Harbor College, Bethany College, California State Summer School for the Arts, and San Francisco Waldorf High School.
She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance from Wichita State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in music composition from California Institute of the Arts. In addition, she was awarded the coveted Certificat de Stage after studying with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Académie Internationale d'Eté in France.
Ellen has been a contributing editor to Flute Talk magazine and a new music reviewer for the Australian online magazine Flute Focus. She writes and publishes compositions and method books under her own EClectic Buzz label.
