Composer and flautist Valerie Coleman describes her lessons with the frighteningly tough, but inspiring US flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer...
Who was Doriot Anthony Dwyer?
Doriot Anthony Dwyer was one of the first female musicians in a major American symphony orchestra – she served as principal flautist in the Boston Symphony from 1952 until 1990. She also directed a flute seminar at the Tanglewood Institute.
A cantankerous personality
While at high school in Kentucky, I was lucky enough to win a full scholarship to Tanglewood. And I brought with me a suitcase full of music I’d been writing to the weekly workshop with Doriot. Doriot was… cantankerous.
She was an ambassador for tough love, and we were all terrified to perform for her. She would stand up and say, ‘OK, who wants to play for me today?’ And the room would go quiet. But this one day, I raised my hand and said, ‘I have a piece we’d love to play for you.’
Doriot Anthony Dwyer... a transformational teacher
Afterwards she was quiet, and then she said, ‘OK, let’s start at measure 8’. And she began to dive into my piece as if it were Beethoven. Interpretation, articulation, dynamics: that was our entire workshop, for three hours straight that day. That validation was transformational for me. All of a sudden, I felt like a composer.
It was thanks to Doriot that I went to Boston University to study flute performance and music composition. And while I was there, although I was studying under someone else, I would play for her and she’d give me free lessons.
Doriot Anthony Dwyer... tough, but an inspiring advocate
Doriot was a controversial figure – she spoke her mind and offended many people. She had to be tough, as a woman in a (still) male dominated industry. But in that moment she felt like a collaborator, someone who said ‘I believe in your music.’