Festival Artists

Linda Chesis

Artistic Director
Flute

Linda Chesis, flutist and founder and artistic director of the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, has been hailed by critics on three continents as one of the most exciting and dynamic flutists of her generation. She has frequently collaborated with such renowned artists as Jessye Norman, Dawn Upshaw, James Levine and the late Jean-Pierre Rampal and has performed with orchestras and in solo recitals throughout the US, France, Great Britain, Germany Japan and Korea.

The top prize winner at the Paris and Barcelona International Competitions, and at the National Flute Association Competition, Ms. Chesis has been the recipient of many awards including a Solo Recitalist’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She has been the subject of numerous television and radio broadcasts, and her performances can be regularly heard on National Public Radio's Performance Today.

Ms. Chesis has been a guest artist at the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, Bravo! Colorado, An Appalachian Summer, and Music from Angel Fire, among others. She is a founding member of both the Chesis/Cutler flute and harp duo, the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble and often performs with flutists Carol Wincenc and Laura Gilbert as “The Three Flute Moms.”

Ms. Chesis is a member of the flute faculty and chair of the Woodwind Department at the Manhattan School of Music. She also serves on the faculties of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and New York University. She has offered master classes at universities, conservatories, and for flute associations across the globe. Her recordings can be heard on the EMI, Nonesuch, and Music Masters labels.