Flutist looks forward to musical ‘Homecoming’ with La Crosse Wind Symphony

Flutist Genevieve Eichman grew up in Trempealeau before spreading her musical wings via Peabody Conservatory and the University of Paris-Sorbonne.

She returns to southwestern Wisconsin as the featured soloist in the La Crosse Wind Symphony concert on Feb. 2. “Homecoming” is the name of the concert on which Eichman will play Franz Doppler’s “Hungarian Pastorale Fantasie.”

Eichman says the work was arranged for wind symphony by the group’s conductor, Jeff Krauklis, who had previously arranged the work as Eichman’s high school band director.

“He originally thought he would just pull out that old arrangement again,” Eichman told WPR’s “Morning Edition.” But he actually rearranged it for the current instrumentation in the Wind Symphony.”

The following transcription has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Ezra Wall: Tell me about your early musical days growing up in Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

Genevieve Eichman: I started out with piano lessons, as many young people did, and picked up the flute in fifth grade. All the popular girls were playing the flute and I wanted to be popular.

But I’ve got a really great public radio story for you. Our music teacher at at Trempealeau Elementary had us sing a Christmas carol that had a melody I didn’t know. I started listening to public radio and I heard this melody in a symphonic piece. It turned out to be the fourth movement of the Brahms First Symphony. Back in those days, you could write a letter and request a piece be played at a future date on public radio. So I wrote in and requested the Brahms First Symphony. Later, I received a postcard in the mail telling me when my request would be played on the air. So I was a fan of Wisconsin Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio from a young age.

My world really changed in high school. The La Crosse Youth Symphony was auditioning students and I signed up. I found myself playing in the last chair. All the kids in the top chairs were studying with a teacher named Vicki Bigley, so I started taking lessons with her. And I would say the rest is history.

EW: Through your work as a soloist, a teacher and coach, and as a member of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, what musicians have you worked with that have been the most inspirational to you?

GE: Our conductor of the last 20 years, José-Luis Novo, has has taken the Annapolis Symphony to just incredible level of musicianship. We have players from Peabody Conservatory and all the military bands.

The orchestra went on a tour a couple summers ago and we took Pepe Romero with us to play one of the Rodrigo concertos, so that that was certainly a highlight. Being on the East Coast, we can attract a lot of good guest artists.

EW: You’re coming back to the La Crosse area as the soloist in the La Crosse Wind Symphony’s performance of Franz Doppler’s “Hungarian Pastorale Fantasie.” Doppler was a flutist, so what is it like playing a work written by a composer who actually plays your instrument?

GE: Doppler certainly chose wonderful keys to play in: D minor, for example. Very rich, and you can’t miss the Gypsy harmonic minor scales and arpeggios. Very, very evocative.

This piece has been really special to me. The conductor of the La Crosse Wind Symphony, Jeff Krauklis, was my band director. He was a new band director my senior year of high school and he was a young man at that time. It was his second year of teaching.

EW: The concert is called “Homecoming,” not just because you’re coming home to southwestern Wisconsin. But it also seems like a musical homecoming of sorts. This piece has been with you for a long time.

GE: It certainly does feel that way. And you know, I’ve taught it to a number of students over the years. I think I know it in a way that I haven’t known it before.

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