Jim Walker, Master Teacher & Host
Few flutists today could be called living legends, yet Jim Walker is surely among those few. Jim counts among his successes careers as an orchestral flutist, concert artist, jazz flutist, recording artist for hundreds of motion picture soundtracks, ethnic flutist, author, and renowned educator. His tireless contributions to the flute community have raised the visibility of the flute as a medium of expression. He has performed to great acclaim with some of the greatest classical and non-classical artists of our time, including James Galway, Leonard Bernstein, Wayne Shorter, Dudley Moore, and Paul McCartney. His students now have successful careers themselves and are performing, teaching, and contributing to their communities in places the world over. Click here for Jim's full biography.

Cathy Karoly, Guest Masterclass Artist
Cathy Karoly was appointed Associate Principal Flute by Esa-Pekka Salonen in March 2009. She joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as second flutist in May 1996. In October 2000, she made her solo debut with former Music Director Salonen conducting the Philharmonic in Ibert’s Flute Concerto. She has been the first-prize recipient of numerous competitions, including the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition, the Flute Talk National Flute Competition, and the Chicago Flute Society Competition.

Before coming to Los Angeles, Karoly spent three seasons as principal flute of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida under music director Michael Tilson Thomas. She appeared as soloist with the NWS on several occasions, including the Mozart G-major Flute Concerto under José-Luis Garcia, the Bach Suite in B minor under Nicholas McGegan, the Nielsen Concerto under Alasdair Neale, and Lukas Foss’ Renaissance Concerto with Tilson Thomas conducting.

As a member of the award-winning Dorian Wind Quintet from 1994 to 1996, she appeared regularly on chamber music series throughout the United States. She has participated in numerous music festivals including Marlboro, Tanglewood, and the Spoleto Festival in Italy. She has been a featured performer at La Jolla ‘Summerfest’ since 1991.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Catherine Ransom Karoly received a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Carol Wincenc. Karoly graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Phi Beta Kappa honors and was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to England. Her other teachers include Trevor Wye, Mary Kay Fink, Robert Cole, and Susan Morris DeJong.

Heather Clark, Mock Audition Coordinator
Heather Clark has established herself as one of Los Angeles' most sought after flute players. Her orchestral resume includes present and past positions as Principal Flute with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. During the past fifteen years, Ms. Clark has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and numerous other Los Angeles regional orchestras.

Ms. Clark is also a regular in Hollywood's recording studios and can be heard on more than one hundred major motion picture soundtracks including Dreamgirls, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, and The Devil Wears Prada. In addition, she can be heard on recordings of Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Bette Midler. In 1994, Ms. Clark was awarded First Prize in the National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition.

A graduate of the University of Southern California, her teachers include Jim Walker, Roger Stevens, and Gary Woodward.

Jed Wentz, Traverso & Baroque Flute Specialist
Jed Wentz began his flute studies with Walter Mayhall in Youngstown, Ohio, and continued studying with James Walker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied modern and historical flutes at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Robert Willoughby and Michael Lynn, and received a Soloist's Diploma from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague after three years with Barthold Kuijken.

He has performed and recorded with groups such as Musica Antiqua Koln, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Capriccio Stravagante Paris and the Gabrielli Consort. In 1992 he founded Musica ad Rhenum, with whom he has recorded more than 20 CDs both as flutist and conductor. His recording of the complete flute sonatas of Locatelli was awarded the prize for the Best Recording of Italian Music 1995 by the Fondazione Cini Venetia.

Mr. Wentz teaches at the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, and lectures regularly on performance practice at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has published articles in Early Music, Concerto, and Tijdschrijft voor Oude Muziek. He is pursuing his doctorate through Leiden University, with his research centering on the relationship between 18th-century staging and tempo in the tragedie en musique.

Sarah Jackson, Guest Clinician
Sarah Jackson has held the position of Piccolo for the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2003.  Prior to this, in 1993, she joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (British Columbia, Canada) as Second Flute. Jackson then moved on to take the position of Assistant Principal Flute and Piccolo with the same orchestra. Ms. Jackson also taught flute and piccolo at the University of British Columbia, insisting that her students tackle the piccolo as well as the flute in their studies.  Sarah Jackson is a much sought after piccolo and flute teacher, and she attracts students from across North America. Sarah is also an active chamber musician, soloist, clinician, and freelance artist, and has played for numerous films, CD recordings, and TV and radio broadcasts.  In addition to orchestral playing and teaching, Sarah Jackson has frequently been engaged as soloist on both flute and piccolo in Japan, the Czech Republic, Canada, and the U.S.

Sarah received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Flute Performance from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In addition to taking private voice lessons, she specialized in flute and piccolo, studying with Camille Churchfield, Principal Flute with the Vancouver Symphony. Sarah attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec for Graduate Studies with Tim Hutchins, Principal Flute of the Montreal Symphony. While studying there, she auditioned for and won her first professional position as 2nd Flute with the Vancouver Symphony. She later won the position of Assistant Principal Flute and Piccolo with the VSO.

Sarah's upcoming performances include the National Flute Convention in Annaheim, CA (August 12-15, 2010), and the British Flute Society Convention in Manchester, England (August 19-22, 2010).