Rehearsals will be held on Monday evenings from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Musicians are expected to arrive and be prepared to rehearse 15 minutes prior to start time.
WINTER QUARTER 2026 DETAILS
Rehearsals
Winter Quarter Dates
Mondays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
1/5, 1/12, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9
There is no rehearsal on 1/19 for MLK Day
or on 2/16 for Presidents’ Day.
Rehearsal Location
Drop Off/ Pick Up
Odle Middle School
Plan on prompt drop off and pick up to
502 143rd Ave NE
avoid congestion.
Bellevue, WA 98007
Retreat Location
Time & Date
Lake Washington High School
Saturday, January 24
12033 NE 80th St
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Kirkland, WA 98033
Concert
Time & Date
Meydenbauer Center Theatre
Saturday, March 14 @ 3:00 pm
11100 NE 6th St
Call time TBD.
Bellevue, WA 98004
Student Checklist
Bring a music stand
Bring a pencil
Print your sheet music prior to first rehearsal (using link at top of this page) and bring with you to rehearsal
Arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of rehearsal to ensure you are in your chair and ready to play at the start of rehearsal
Have fun!
ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR LAST REHEARSAL BEFORE THE CONCERT
If a Flute Choir student misses the final Monday rehearsal before a concert, their participation in the upcoming concert will be contingent on a music test. They will be required to submit a video of their performance of excerpts (details provided by the conductor) no later than Wednesday at midnight. The conductor will then make a decision whether the student can participate in the upcoming concert. This decision will be communicated by Thursday.
Flute Choir is an advanced intermediate ensemble for flutes. This BYSO ensemble consists of flutists who were placed at the Sinfonia level after auditioning. Because orchestras need only a few flutes at a time, some of these students may take turns playing in Sinfonia during the year while also practicing and performing in the Flute Choir ensemble. The typical Flute Choir student has had some private instruction and school ensemble experience and is developing solid technical skills and musical understanding.
Flute Choir students develop orchestral playing skills in an enriching and unique chamber group setting, learning to produce rhythmic accuracy and clear dynamic contrasts while maintaining appropriate blend, balance and intonation. Since there are usually only one or two players per part in Flute Choir, these flutists gain valuable independence in playing. Past works performed include Castérède’s Flûtes Joyeuses, Adler’s Madrigals for Six Flutes, and the folksong Scarborough Fair.
Recent Flute Choir Performance
Conductor: Dr. Merrie Siegel Parmley
Dr. Merrie Siegel Parmley holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Rice University. She won the New York Flute Club’s Young Artist Competition at age 19 and since then has performed with the Houston Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Spokane Symphony, and Mozart Society of Philadelphia, among others. Learn more.
Thank you so much for sharing your talents with so many people on the Eastside on our Flute Tour. You brought cheer, goodwill and brightened many people’s holidays season!
A special thank you to our amazing parent volunteers — this wouldn’t be possible without your commitment and hard work.
I wish you all a joyous holiday season and all things wonderful in 2026.
(Please be sure to check your email for flute tour pictures and videos and then part assignments and music in the new year).
Keep on flutin’ over the break 🙂
Dr. Merrie
Good Evening, AMAZING Flutists and Families —
What a fantastic day today, filled with STELLAR music-making by all of you INCREDIBLE flutists!!!! TUTTI BRAVI!!!!!!
Have a delish Turkey Day (or however you choose to celebrate 🙂 and please remember that we do have rehearsal on Monday, December 1 for our Holiday Flute Tour, with a National Flute Association informational session at 5:30 about an upcoming performance opportunity!!
Enjoy the time with your family and take good care.
~Dr. Merrie
See you at our Holiday Flute Tour rehearsal on December 1! Please make sure to put your music in the following order, write in the following indications and of course practice your parts!
Jingle Bell Rock – watch/mark accidentals.
Let it Snow – watch/mark accidentals.
Sleigh Ride – IN 2! Please practice it that way. No repeats. Please cross them out.
Silent Night – Please make sure to lift at every breath mark. Ritardando led by Flute 4, two from the end.
A Renaissance Noel: I. Good King Wenceslas – Begins in a quick 4 then changes to 2. Ritardando led by Flute 3, 3rd bar before the end. III. Pat a Pan – In 2. Parts are very independent; please learn your part and play with confidence!
We Need a Little Christmas – In a comfortable 2.
Carol of the Bells – Very quick; please see tempo marking! Flute 4s (basses and those doubling 4): very pointy and precise tongue at the beginning and throughout. Molto retardando 2 bars from the end.
Christmas and Hannukah: Haeun and Kayla – Please play the descant part on each; possibly on picc. Please bring your piccolos to rehearsal and we’ll experiment 🙂 1. Oh, Come All Ye Faithful – no repeats. 2. Joy to the World – no repeats. 3. Oh Hannukah –no repeats. 5. I Have a Little Dreidel – YES, we WILL repeat. 9. Jingle Bells – no repeats. 12. We Wish You a Merry Christmas – NO repeats but please add a huuuuuuge ritardano 4 from the end (not 2, as marked). Since it’s our last number, we want to be dramatic 🙂
Please be sure to also keep Boyce, Shenandoah and Take Five in your folders; we might add those on the Holiday Tour.
INFO/MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THIS SEASON
This Fall, we’ll be essentially preparing 3 concerts: Benaroya (on stage), Lobby Music (before the concert at Benaroya) and our Holiday Caroling Tour. I cannot wait to get started rehearsing all of this exciting music!
Since we will have so many pieces that we’ll need to have at our disposal at all rehearsals, please be sure to purchase the music organizer below, or something similar. Please note that these are different than the conventional plastic sleeves that many students already own: these have plastic to hold the music in place, around the edges only, so musicians can still make markings directly on the music without having to remove it, saving us all valuable rehearsal time.
If you are new to Flute Choir or Flute Orchestra this season: Please note that each flutist will need a tuner and a contact microphone for rehearsal. I have embedded links to some reasonably-priced options, but feel free to purchase anything similar. For both, the cost is @ $39 and can be used over the span of your flutist’s career. (No need to purchase if you already have them.) These tools are vital to our work both during ensemble rehearsal and for individual practice. And while many of us (myself included) rely on a tuner app on our phones, phones are not equipped with the necessary input to connect a contact microphone.
In addition, I highly recommend that you invest in a portable music stand that is sturdier than the wire ones. We spend a considerable amount of rehearsal time wrestling with those when they can’t be either raised or lowered (we play both seated and standing), when the music falls off and/or they’re knocked over. There are many sturdy and portable models available on amazon.com (I did a search for “sturdy, portable music stand”) and they appear to be in the $25-$30 range. Again, this is an investment for throughout your flutist’s career. The link above is an example of a $27 stand where the top part of the stand is solid so that the music won’t fall through, but there are many other ones that are similar.
Music downloads and part assignments will be ready shortly; families will be notified via email. Be sure that your flutist has all of their music printed out and ready to go, as BYSO staff nor I have music at rehearsal. In addition, if you’re assigned to an auxiliary instrument (alto, bass or piccolo) you’ll also be notified by Natalie, our Operations Manager, as to what the next steps will be.
I look forward to an amazing Fall Season of music-making with your talented and amazing flutists!
