Sherry Finzer

Sherry Finzer is an American flutist and composer. She is a national award-winning musician, and for her contributions to the genre of flute music, she was a semi-finalist for a Grammy award nomination in 2010, 2012 and 2013.[1] Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Sherry performs as a soloist, with her guitarist Darin Mahoney,[2] and other local, national and international musicians. She is known for her variety of musical styles, including new-age, Latin, flamenco, classical, pop and jazz, and she travels nationally and internationally to perform as a Guo Flute Performing Artist and Recording Artist for Heart Dance Records. She also owns the Heart Dance Records www.heartdancerecords.com label, RS Promotions www.rspromotionsus.com , and hosts the Heart Dance Radio show on Live 365 www.live365.com/heartdanceradio[3]

Life

Sherry was born in Syracuse, New York, on Aug 23, 1963 to Robert and Penny Powers. She moved to Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, New York in July 1976. Sherry attended Charles H. Roth High School and majored in music. She won many awards while at Roth, and participated in numerous All-County and Area All-State Festivals. After marrying Charles J. Finzer, Sherry resided in the Greece area of Rochester. They have two children, Nick and Tyler. Sherry and her family moved to the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix in July, 2005.[4]

Teaching

In addition to performing, Sherry also teaches privately at her studio, located in Phoenix, AZ. Many of her students partake in the Music Development Program assessments each year. http://www.musicdevelopmentprogram.org/

Music career

Classically, Sherry performed with the Brockport Symphony Orchestra[5] from 1986-1988, and with the Greece Symphony Orchestra[6] from 2003-2004. From 2000-2005, she performed with the Silver Tones Flute Choir, NRG! Flute Duo, Caprice Flute Trio, Trillium Flute Trio, Canatabile Flute Quartet, Central AZ Flute Ensemble, AZ Flute Society Alle Breve Flute Choir, and the National Flute Society Professional Flute Choir.

In other genres of music, she has performed with harpist VeeRonna Ragone, guitarists - Ric Flauding,[7] John Calvert,[8] Pete Gitlin,[9] Pedro Perez, and Drew Diego Bennett. In 2014 Sherry became a member of Fiona Joy's Blue Dream Ensemble[10] which tours internationally.

Her journey into the world of New Age music started in 2009 with her first album in her healing series, Sanctuary. She continued the series by adding Sanctuary II: Earth in 2011 and Sanctuary III: Beyond the Dream. Her collaboration with guitarist Darin Mahoney in 2013 brought about an album intended to help those going through a major illness, such as cancer, titled Transformation. Transformation won Album of the Year 2013 from One World Music in the UK. www.oneworldmusic.co.uk . The 2014 release of Sanctuary III: Beyond the Dream moved Sherry into the national and international spotlights by being selected as CD of the Month on the 25+ years long running NPR show, Echoes, www.echoes.org in January 2015. The album was nominated by the Zone Music Reporter Awards www.zonemusicreporter.com for Best Album – Acoustic 2014, as well as Best Album Acoustic 2014 by One World Music. www.oneworldmusic.co.uk Her video of Song for Rex, which was written for her grandson with Down Syndrome garnered attention with the DS community when hundreds of photos of children with DS were submitted to her for use in the video, which helped to bring awareness about the different levels and conditions of DS.

2015 has brought about collaborations with other well-known artists such as Native American flutist Mark Holland from Autumn’s Child. www.autumnschild.com , and GRAMMY Award Winning guitarist Paul Speer. www.paulspeer.com . Flute Flight, recorded with Mark Holland, will be released in June 2015. Sherry is also working with guitarist Darin Mahoney on a second duo album by the Finzer Mahoney Duo.

Sherry has studied with long-time teacher and mentor Glennda-Dove Pellito[11] in Rochester and has also taken lessons and masterclasses with Goran Marcusson,[12] Dr. Bradley Garner,[13] Nestor Torres,[14] Michel DeBost,[15] Mimi Stillman,[16] Brian Luce, Jill Felber,[17] Claudia Anderson[18] and Leone Buyse.[19]

Sherry started her own record label in 2006 called Heart Dance Records. www.heartdancerecords.com The label has continued to grow to 6 artists, including, Sherry Finzer www.sherryfinzer.com , Darin Mahoney www.darinmahoney.net , Scott Cossu www.scottcossu.com , VeeRonna Ragone www.vharp.com , John Calvert www.johncalvertmusic.net , and Jocelyn Obermeyer, and will be expanding over the next several years, as well as her affiliated music promotions company, RS Promotions www.rspromotionsus.com , which helps musicians with marketing and getting their music heard on radio stations around the world. Former Windham Hill Artist Scott Cossu www.scottcossu.com will be releasing his next album, Safe In Your Arms, under the Heart Dance Records label in the fall of 2015. Heart Dance Records also has a concert series, with the first show taking place in July 2015.

On Live365 you can listen to Sherry’s streaming radio show called Heart Dance Radio, which features a wide variety of artists who fall into the New Age genre category. www.live365.com/heartdanceradio

Sound

Sherry’s sound is influenced by the types of music she plays, by the artists she collaborates with, and by the instrument she uses. She uses various types of flutes to create her pieces, where the sounds of wind instruments are mixed with Gregorian chants, ethereal sounds, natural and other ethnic instruments to create a relaxing sound. In other performances, she mixes electronic sounds with ethnic sounds without breaking the peace and calm that characterize its parts. She has also used Eastern scales and melodies to evoke an air of mystery and intrigue. Reviewers have described her playing as “deeply haunting…calms and yet piques the senses,” and have compared her sound to “the rush of water in a desert gorge.” At other times, her playing evokes celestial images of "comets and asteroids zooming through space...with the music becoming a springboard for...playful fantasies.” Echoes Radio show host, John Diliberto, describes her music as “winged ambient chamber music exploring deep ambient terrain.”

Discography

Performances/Appearances

Solo
As a Guest Artist
As Finzer/Mahoney Duo
Former collaborations
Radio interviews

Awards

Flute competitions: 1st Place

Recording awards

Associations

References

  1. ↑ http://www.pearlflutes.com/162
  2. ↑ https://www.darinmahoney.net
  3. ↑ https://www.heartdancerecords.com
  4. ↑ http://www.ahwatukee.com/localnews/article_7da7fad0-770c-5982-abb4-d49d1ad63a7d.html
  5. ↑ http://www.brockportsymphony.org/
  6. ↑ http://www.greeceperformingarts.org/
  7. ↑ http://www.ricflauding.com
  8. ↑ https://www.reverbnation.com/johnclavert
  9. ↑ http://www.petegitlin.com
  10. ↑ http://www.fionajoyhawkins.com.au
  11. ↑ http://www.geneseo.edu/music/dove-pellito
  12. ↑ http://www.fluteconnection.net/contfl/marcusson.html
  13. ↑ http://www.fluteconnection.net/contfl/garner.html
  14. ↑ http://www.nestortorres.com/
  15. ↑ http://www.fluteconnection.net/contfl/Debost.html
  16. ↑ http://mimistillman.org/
  17. ↑ http://www.miyazawa.com/artists/miyazawas-artists/north-america/jill-felber/
  18. ↑ http://www.miyazawa.com/artists/miyazawas-artists/north-america/claudia-anderson/
  19. ↑ http://www.leonebuyse.com/
  20. ↑ <https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/transformation/id666604281>
  21. ↑ https://oneworldmusic.co.uk

External links

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