After being delayed by 2 years due to COVID, sixteen current and former UNO flute students traveled to Chicago, IL to join over 3,000 other flutists for the 50th anniversary National Flute Association Convention held in Chicago, IL from August 11-14, 2022. In 2019, the UNO flute studio was selected as one of 12 ensembles world-wide to premiere a new NFA commission by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Julia Wolfe. After finally premiering Julia Wolfe’s “Oxygen” at UNO in March under the baton of UNO’s Dr. Josh Kearney, 15 of UNO’s flute students joined the 144-member mass flute choir conducted by Ransom Wilson to perform “Oxygen” on the NFA’s Friday night gala concert with the composer present.

Twenty-five members of UNO’s award-winning Heartland Flute Choir also traveled to Chicago to perform a feature concert at the NFA Convention, for which Dr. Kearney again served as a guest conductor in an eclectic program including music by Kelly Via and Alexandra Molnar-Suhujada. UNO’s Paige Michaud (senior flute performance major) was the featured soloist on Hugo Alvarez’s ”Herdsmaiden’s Dance,” and the HFC brought the house down with their closer, a thrilling performance of “La Bruja Llorna” by Reuben Flores. For more information about the NFA and their annual convention, visit nfaonline.org. To watch videos from the HFC’s performance at the 2022 NFA, visit the HFC’s page on Facebook.