National Flute Convention

YEAH!! Finally another blog post. I feel a lot comfortable typing my blog post on my own computer, plus I have access to my pictures. I have had internet this past week, but on another person's computer.

So, this post will be a recount of the quick trip down to Charlotte, NC for the National Flute Convention. It really was a quick trip. We headed out on Friday morning after a quick trip to the Pentagon and were back on Sunday afternoon. That Friday evening, we actually tried to find a darker spot in the city to watch the ISS pass overhead and see if there were any meteor showers that were going to show. We did see the ISS, but no meteors. :-( Saturday morning was an early morning after a late night. After getting dressed up in my business attire, you never know who you are going to meet, I headed out to the Charlotte Convention Center in downtown Charlotte. What a great city!! Once arriving, I went and registered as a one day individual and started studying the huge book that they gave me of all the events and music programs that were to be performed.

First on the agenda, listening to an old instructor of mine from camp. I met Claudia 10 years ago and we have stayed in contact throughout the years. I would encourage everyone to listen to a CD called ZAWA! Great CD and great performers. Unfortunately, Claudia had to go back to Colorado so we could not catch up for very long. The next event of the day was to explore the different exhibits that filled up a huge room downstairs. Powell Flutes, Haynes Flutes, Carolyn Nussbaum Company, and many other great music companies were there. I got to look and play on some very shiny and pricey flutes. ;-) My favorite! After wandering around for a while, it was time to head back upstairs to hear Cady Coleman speak.

While in Baltimore, I was thrilled when Col. Coleman told me she would be going to the convention. There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask in Baltimore, but knew that the chances of a 3rd flute player being in the crowd was slim. She spoke about her time on the ISS and the different people she was able to "play" with. She had a lesson from James Galway and played a tribute with Ian Anderson to Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin. She also spoke about the differences in playing on the ISS and when she got back to Earth. It was wonderful because again, it was space geek meet music geek for me! :-) After she spoke, she went down to the Powell booth, she plays a Powell flute, and signed things and took pictures. Two highlights were her remembering me from Baltimore, no, I do not stalk astronauts, chatting with her for a few minutes, her signing my own flute case, AND getting to play on the headjoint she took with her to the ISS. How cool is that last highlight?!?!?! Okay, that was more than two. . . Oops! ;-)

On the way back on Sunday, we stopped off and were able to meet my best friend who was driving back to AR from NC. We had not seen each other all summer, so it was a wonderful way to end an already great weekend. With that, I will close this post with a few pictures from that weekend. Hopefully, it will not take me so long next time to post. Hope everyone is doing well!

My flute with the headjoint that FLEW in SPACE!!!

Cady Coleman

Downtown Charlotte