Flagler County musician Paige Dashner Long says she is "such a heavy metal girl."
No, really.
As a "lower flute specialist," Long performs on gigantic, metallic flutes that twist and tower over her like the exposed tubular veins of a Transformer.
Long plays the gargantuan, 8-foot-tall Kotato double contrabass flute (one of four in the world), the Kingma sub contrabass flute in G (one of three in the world) and other flutes.
Long will play those big flutes and others when the Florida Flute Orchestra performs at 3 p.m. Sunday at St. James Episcopal Church, 44 S. Halifax Drive, Ormond Beach. Admission is free. For more information, call 386-677-0872 or go online at contraflute.com.
Composed of professional flutists and directed by Long, the orchestra performs classical works, sacred songs, jazz, folk songs and show tunes. It has presented concerts throughout Central Florida, in Europe and for the National Flute Association's annual conventions.
"The ensemble performs with the most complete flute orchestration that is possible today," Long says.
Sunday's program will include Bach's Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29, Mozart's Allegro con spirito from Haffner Symphony No. 35 in D Major, as well as works by Charles Gounod, Zequinha Abreu, Alexander Molnar-Sujahada, Peter Martin, John Philip Sousa and others.
The concert also will include Brazilian and Irish music.
Percussionist Bob McCormick, a percussion professor at the University of South Florida, will accompany the orchestra on several pieces. He will perform on timpani, trap set, bongos and bodhran (Irish frame drum).
Photo provided by Paige Dashner Long
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