UNO’s Professor of Flute, Dr. Christine Beard traveled to Toronto, Ontario, Canada from June 18-20, 2017 to take part in the inaugural Toronto Summer in the City Flute Festival. Organized by flutist Christopher Lee (former principal flute of the Toronto Philharmonia), the festival featured 8 guest artists from the USA, Brazil, Peru, Italy and Canada. Christine performed a solo recital, collaborated in two chamber music concerts with guest artists, and taught piccolo lessons to students during the festival.

From July 3-8, 2017, Beard made her 3rd consecutive appearance as a guest artist at the International Flute Festival of Costa Rica organized by Gabriel Goñi. Celebrating it’s 10th season, this year’s festival boasted nearly 150 students from seven countries and 18 guest artists from 3 continents. Because the festival aligned with the country’s national arts festival, many of the flute festival’s guest artists (including Beard) were also featured in ensemble performances throughout the city: Christine participated in 3 performances as a member of the International Super Flutes, 2 performances by the piccolo ensemble, and the festival flute choir at venues including the National Cathedral and the arts festival’s main stage at Democracy Park. She also performed a solo recital at the University of Costa Rica which featured the Central American premieres of 2 piccolo works by American composers Dana Wilson and Herman Beeftink, and she taught a flute/piccolo masterclass to students attending the festival.