New Sheridon Stokes Film

 Dear Flute Lovers,

Recently the great Hollywood soundtrack flutist and teacher Sheridon Stokes passed away, and I posted about a superb audio podcast that had some thrilling recordings of his work with John Williams and other famous composers. As the result of that blog post, composer Christopher Caliendo reached out to me with a newly compiled film of Sheridon Stokes. The two men had known each other  and worked together for thirty years and had grown to be friends. The footage was taken six years ago, when Sheridon was 84 years old.

 The interview and discussion covers some great modern flute history and pedagogy. Thankyou to Christopher for offering the film a debut here on this blog!

Sheridon's best advice? "Never play a phrase of music the same way twice."

Here is: Sheridon Stokes WEB TV interview: Beyond the Flute (video)

If you wish to view a particular topic, the timestamps are below and if you click on them the video will start  at that topic over on youtube.

1. Interview segment with a demonstration of all his ethnic flutes used in recordings (pan pipes etc) at 6:42

2. Interview segment at 17:34: famous solos such as the penny whistle in Titanic filmscore

3. Interview segment at 25:17: Performance anxiety; being aware

4. Shakuhachi effects 26:30

5. Glissando special effects 29:05

6. Trills as a special effect 31:44

7. The opening from the Mission Impossible TV show score: 33:24

8. Can what you do in the studio (improv-wise) be acquired? 35:46

9. Vibrato 37:44

10. "Mei" by Fukushima 41:31

11. The composer Takemitsu 44:39

12. Flute and Electronic Devices  (Echoplex, Ring Modulater, Tone Divider) 45:39

13. Briefly: Inflections in Jazz 48:46

14. Bass Recorder in the movies 51:25

15. Book: Special Effects for Flute: 52:41 Key Vibrato, QuarterTone Trill, Hollow Tone, Strongest Multiphonics, Special Accents, (book is no longer at Fluteworld)

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Some of the Hollywood history that Sheridon talks about is shown in some excellent still photos in this biography video too:

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Christopher Caliendo writes:

 Sheridon Stokes was a UCLA faculty member for decades when I first met him as an MBA student studying under the Henry Mancini Film Award.

During the 1990’s Sheridan performed in many of my ensembles, CD recordings, and Hollywood soundtracks. Performing with him was in itself, a master class. He taught me to listen, to never play the same melody the same, to alter my sound, and to constantly reinvent my performance.

In 2017 I created the 2t Academy with the mission of coaching classical musicians in business skills. The Academy’s online faculty which included Sheridon Stokes,  aims to transform a musician’s career and lead them to success as well as promote a healthier work-life balance. Academy members have access to our WEB TV series which features one-hour documentary interviews with outstanding flutists who have gained significant prestige and notoriety. The WEB TV series delves deep into the choices the featured musicians made after graduating college that culminated and helped shape their unique success. 

Upcoming Documentaries that will be featured include interviews with:  Carol Wincenc, Nicola Mazzanti, Nestor Torres, Brian Luce , Amy Porter, and many others. 

We would like to offer Jennifer Cluff’s viewers the opportunity to be the first to access Sheridon’s documentary. Thankyou for keeping his legacy alive.

For those of your viewers, Jennifer, who wish to take advantage of it, I'm having a sheetmusic sale of my own compositions. Just click on these links to learn about a lifetime Two for One Sale if you register (a how to video is here) at my website when purchasing the arrangements in the instrumentation of your choice.

All the best,

Christopher Caliendo 

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