We are highlighting the works of Low Flutes Composers at the Festival with three concerts featuring their works.
Amanda Harberg
Composer/pianist/educator Amanda Harberg’s music has been presented at major venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Verizon Hall, and Symphony Center. Her writing for a wide range of instruments weaves classical Western tradition with contemporary influences to create a distinctively personal style which “conveys a thoroughly original sense of happiness in music,” according to Cleveland Classical. “She invigorates the brain and touches the soul,” says composer John Corigliano. “I love her work.”
In 2021, Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the premiere of her Piccolo Concerto with soloist Erica Peel and the Philadelphia Orchestra, calling it “an extraordinary addition to the limited repertoire.” A widely commissioned composer, her music is published by the Theodore Presser Co. and by AH Publications. It has been recognized by a Fulbright Hays Fellowship, Juilliard’s Peter Mennin Prize, two New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowships, a New York State Council on the Arts fellowship, a MacDowell Colony summer residency, and nine NFA Newly Published Music awards. Her woodwind concerti have been performed on Gala Concerts at 2022 ClarinetFest® and the 2021 NFA Convention. Her Concerto for Viola and Orchestra was recorded on Naxos American Classics to critical acclaim, and has been played all over the world. Harberg’s recital music is frequently required repertoire at competitions on regional and national levels. Her music has become particularly beloved and bestselling in the woodwind world, and the website of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has called her “a hero to the flute and piccolo community.”
Daniel Dorff
Daniel Dorff’s woodwind music has entered the repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded worldwide. Over 50 flutists have shared performances of his Sonata (Three Lakes) to YouTube, where there are also over 50 performances each of his In A Deep Funkand Nocturnes for the Nativity. Dorff has written 7 commissions for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s education department, and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Kinder Konzert series has presented his music over 200 times.
Highlights of 2025 included premieres of the magnum opus Cosmic Menagerie for Two Bass Clarinets; the premiere and commercial recording release of Blue Jacaranda for Two Flutes and Piano; 5 commercial albums released including Big Sky, Snow Angel, Serenade for Flute and Harp, Blue Jacaranda, Flash!, Perennials, Concertino for Flute, Desert Dusk, and Sonata (Spirit of the Hudson); performances of Dorff’s music at annual conventions of the National Flute Association and International Clarinet Association; and new publications of recent chamber works.
Dorff’s music has been presented by Young Audiences (over 1000 opera performances in schools), the Atlanta Opera (60 performances), Baltimore Symphony (32 performances), Pittsburgh Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Aspen Music Festival, Chicago Symphony Radiothon, clarinetists of the Chicago Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic, pianists Jeremy Denk and Marc-André Hamelin, and many of the world’s leading flutists. His orchestral music has been premiered by maestros including Alan Gilbert, Delta David Gier, and Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Alyssa Mena
Alyssa Mercedes Mena is a Cuban-American flutist, composer, and educator based in Miami, Florida. With a dynamic career spanning performance, teaching, and composition, she is a vibrant presence in the music scenes of both Miami and New York City. Alyssa performs regularly with various orchestral and chamber ensembles, including collaborations with the Nu Deco Ensemble, Palm Beach Symphony, South Florida Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, Symphony of the Americas, New World Symphony, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, among others.
As a composer, Alyssa draws inspiration from her Cuban heritage, weaving themes of identity, culture, and connection into her works. Her solo alto flute piece Hasta La Raíz (Down to the Roots) premiered at the 2022 National Flute Association Convention, was published by Coleman Page Publishing in 2024, and won the 2025 NFA Newly Published Music Competition in the solo flute category. In 2025, she premiered Lo Que Encuentras (What You Find) for flute and marimba and received commissions for several new works, including Hermanas (Sisters)—an alto and bass flute duet for Trevor James Low Flute Artists Rose Bishop and Heather Neuenschwander—and El Ajiaco, a woodwind quintet co-commissioned by Quinteto Sol and Sugar Hill Salon. Most recently, she was co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and Pro-Star Group to compose a trio for flute, oboe, and piano for the Symphony’s chamber series Through Her Window. Through her compositions, Alyssa aims to unite diverse audiences through music that reflects shared experiences and cultural expression.
Katrina Emtage
Katrina Emtage was born in Kenya but had her first musical training in Sydney. Starting the flute in the school fife and drum band at age 11 she quickly progressed, winning several competitions including being a finalist in the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s prestigious Instrumental and Vocal Competition at the age of 19. The award of a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee scholarship allowed her to continue her studies in Vienna, where she worked as a freelance musician for 13 years. During this time she completed an MA at the Vienna Academy of Music, studying with the principal flute of the Vienna Philharmonic, Wolfgang Schulz, and attended masterclasses with many other well-known flute players including Aurele Nicolet, William Bennett and Robert Dick. She has toured extensively in Europe, the USA, Australia and Asia with orchestras and chamber groups, both as soloist and as an ensemble member. With the contemporary music ensemble Klangforum Wien she played at many of the most prestigious festivals in Europe, including Darmstadt and the Salzburg Festival, and played in a production of Pierrot Lunaire at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. She currently teaches the flute at the Cork School of Music and the County Cork School of Music and pursues a keen interest in Irish traditional music, pottery and sailing.
International Low Flutes Festival 