Martha Councell-Vargas
Flutist - Chamber Musician - Integrative Artist
“delightful…captivating soul and expression…”
— Flutist Quarterly
“Cooks from the very outset…Cover of the Year.”
— American Record Guide
“Played with power and assurance…an outstanding performance.”
— New York Concert Review
“…fun, energetic. The playing is excellent and the tone colors are truly enchanting.”
— The Flute View
“Musically profound…powerfully rhythmic…seductive…vivid…”
— Gramophone Magazine
About
“Musically profound” flutist Martha Councell-Vargas enjoys an adventurous career as a soloist, chamber musician, and multi-media artist, having performed in Europe, China, across the Americas, and throughout the United States. A specialist in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, she has performed as a soloist with the Orquesta Nacional de Ecuador (Quito), as a guest artist for the Festival Internacional de Flautistas in Lima, Peru, and as a recitalist in Panamá City, Tegucigalpa, Bogotá, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. She has performed across the United States on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, as a featured soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
A recent development of her artistic expression is the production of live, multi-media performances, involving video art projection, costuming, and choreography. Her live production, The Illustrated Flute Project, took standard works from the classical flute repertoire and illuminated them with collaborative choreography, video art, and lighting design. Her original multi-media film, Winged Messenger, features the flute works of Mexican and US composers, an artistic exploration of the concept of flight and its power to transcend borders. Work from her most recent production, Visible Voice, was supported by funding from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, and selected for performance at the National Flute Association Convention in 2019.
Her debut CD, Gran Danzón (2013), features the works of North, Central, and South American composers, and garnered acclaim for a performance that “cooks from the very outset” (American Record Guide). Her follow-up release, Fantasía (2015), features the unaccompanied flute music of Latin American and US composers. A “seductive, vivid…” performance, Fantasía was praised for its “infinite nuances of shape and texture” (Gramophone Magazine).
Councell-Vargas is a Burkart artist, performing on the unique combination of a Lillian Burkart handmade sterling silver flute with a Tobias Mancke mopane wood head joint. She records exclusively on the Blue Griffin label.
Press & Interviews
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“When Martha Councell-Vargas stepped onto the Western Michigan University campus for the first time a little over a year ago, she knew she was in the right place”
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“Flutist Martha Councell-Vargas wanted the CD cover of “Gran Danzón” to reflect its repertoire of non-standard, classical music pieces”
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“In an interview with Cara Lieurance, Councell-Vargas and Schubkegel talk about the extra-musical work that went into this one-of-a-kind program“
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“Martha Councell-Vargas returns for her second CD on the Blue Griffin label with a varied programme of music for solo flute by composers spanning the American continents”
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“Filled with rhythmic vitality and momentum-building intensity, this is one of EP’s signature pieces and was played with power and assurance. It was an outstanding performance”
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“Another gifted American flute player … The CD contains four works that combine European classical forms with dance rhythms from the Americas and the Caribbean.”
Gallery
Videos
Teaching
Martha Councell-Vargas was honored to receive the Excellence in Teaching Award (Western Michigan University 2021) for an innovative, collaborative project with US and South American students, and for her work to expand the standard flute repertoire to include works by historically under-represented composers. Her students are prize-winners in European and South American competitions, have performed for festivals in Canada, Ecuador, Peru, and Italy, and have gone on to succeed as solo, orchestral and chamber musicians, and as music educators.
She is honored and humbled by past generations of great teachers who have contributed to this noble vocation, and devoted to carrying on the profound legacy and tradition passed down to her through her beloved teachers, to whom she is eternally indebted: Leone Buyse (Rice University), Michel Debost (Oberlin Conservatory), and Gro Sandvik (University of Iowa), Mary Stolper, Nadine Asin, Ali Ryerson, and Greig Shearer. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Flute at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.