Barrère, Georges
Barrère, Georges
Barrère, Georges, outstanding French-born American flutist and pedagogue; b. Bordeaux, Oct. 31, 1876; d. Kingston, N.Y., June 14, 1944. He was a student of Joseph-Henri Altès and Paul Taffanel at the Paris Cons. (1889–95), graduating with a premier prix. In 1895 he organized the Société Moderne des Instruments à Vent in Paris, with which he presented more than 80 new compositions; he also was first prize flutist in the Colonne orch. and the Opéra orch. (1897–1905). He then emigrated to the U.S. in 1905, becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1937. From 1905 to 1928 he was first flutist in the N.Y. Sym. Orch.; he also organized the Barreré Ensemble of Wind Instruments in 1910, which became the Barreré Little Sym. in 1914; also founded the Trio de Lutèce in 1914 and the Barrère-Britt-Salzedo Trio in 1932. He taught at N.Y.’s Inst. of Musical Art (1905–30) and Juilliard School of Music (from 1931). Barreré gave premieres of several scores, including Varèse’s Density 21.5 (N.Y., Feb. 16, 1936). He also composed.
Bibliography
G. Barreré, G. B. (N.Y., 1929); The Platinum Flute and G. B. (N.Y., 1935).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire