Rebecca Gilbert

Rebecca Gilbert

Instrument: Flute

With the RPO since: 1996

Favorite time of year in Rochester, and why... Spring...it is so profound and a just reward for surviving the long, gray winters.

Hometown: Lomira, Wisconsin

Drink or food you're most likely to order at Java's: Jasmine Dragon Pearl Hot Tea

When not performing with the RPO, you can find me... Hanging out on my porch watching the sunset over Highland Park or seeing a movie, Geva production or shopping or reading.

First music-related memory: My grandmother singing and playing piano for my sister and I when I was little.

I decided to be a professional musician when... it just kept working out. It helped that I finally won an audition.

Favorite travel destination: Anywhere in the Caribbean or Buenos Aires for great tango.

Influential teachers: Jeanne Baxtresser, Former Principal Flutist of the New York Philharmonic.

Favorite ice cream flavor: For the moment, pistachio

What are your other "hidden" talents: I love to dance tango and many other fun social dances.

Do you teach private students? Yes

What other orchestras have you performed with? Boston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Charleston (SC) Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic

Oddest RPO concert (or rehearsal) memory... Once the fire alarm at Eastman Theater went off during the first half of the concert. It was a false alarm, and for some reason, no one could figure out a way to turn it off. Well, it became so annoying that the conductor (Bob Bernhardt) decided to play an abbreviated second half. We were supposed to play Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony, but ended up playing only the last movement. Very odd indeed.

Favorite restaurant in town and why: I love Sinbad's on Park Avenue because the food is so fresh and healthy. Plus they have a special seasoning that I have become addicted to because I have eaten there so much!

What types of music do you like to listen to? Opera, jazz and a variety of gorgeous female pop artists like KD Lang, Annie Lennox, Cassandra Wilson

Do you have a pet? Yes! I have a gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback named “Nala” (after the female “lead” in the Lion King). She loves to chase squirrels and we go to Mt. Hope Cemetery almost every day where she races like the wind trying to catch them.

The RPO is essential to Rochester because ... Live classical music has the power to transcend the mundane and feeds the soul by demonstrating the power of collaborative effort. The music doesn't work unless we all work together.

My favorite part of working in the RPO is ... my colleagues. It is such a privilege to perform with such amazing artists.

If someone were visiting Rochester, what would you tell them to go see or do? Hear the RPO, go to Wegmans and shop at estate sales.

Biography

Since joining the RPO as Principal Flute in September 1996, Ms. Gilbert has illuminated the RPO’s classical and pops performances with her expressive and versatile playing. She also has performed as Acting Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony and Guest Assistant Principal Flute with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood. An active soloist/recitalist, Ms. Gilbert has performed with the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, Live from Hochstein, Skaneateles Festival, Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Charles Ives Center for the Arts Contemporary Music Festival and the Chautauqua Chamber Players. She is a regularly featured soloist with the RPO and has performed concerti with the St. Louis Symphony, the Charleston (SC) Symphony, Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra and the Penfield (NY) Symphony Orchestra.

A Wisconsin native, Ms. Gilbert began playing the flute at age nine and went on to attend the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning her master’s degree, and the Centre International de Formation Musicale in Nice, France. Ms. Gilbert teaches flute at Ithaca College and in her home studio and is a coach/mentor with the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.