A couple of weekends ago, the Greater Indianapolis Flute Club (GIFC) hosted a masterclass with Thomas Robertello at University of Indianapolis.  I took notes that day and thought I would share some of them with you.  I realized as I was typing up my notes that some of it would make more sense if you had been there, so please ask me if something isn’t clear! Student #1: Burton Sonatina With this student, he worked a lot on letting the emotion of the piece show through and taking risks with the music.  “If your options are more grandiose, there’s an option for failure.”  Basically he was saying that he doesn’t go to a performance to hear someone play something perfectly but without any feeling.  If you really go for it, you might get out of your comfort zone and possibly make a mistake, but at the same time you will really speak to the audience. Use a “deeper, chewier” vibrato for this piece and use a “ha” sound instead of the tongue to start the note in the forte sections. Student #2: J.S. Bach Sonata in E-flat Major, BWV 1031 1st Movement: Pay close attention to the style of accompaniment, which is very light;