Marya Martin

Internationally acclaimed flutist Marya Martin has enjoyed a musical career of remarkable breadth and achievement, gracefully balancing the roles of chamber musician, festival director, soloist, teacher, and supporter of musical institutions. She has performed throughout the world in such halls as London’s Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and other venues in Paris, New Zealand, and Australia. A native of New Zealand, Ms. Martin came to the U.S. in 1976 on a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant to pursue a Masters degree with Thomas Nyfenger at Yale University, and shortly thereafter moved to Paris to study with master flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Nationale Superieur Conservatoire de Paris, also traveling to Lucerne, Switzerland for lessons with the legendary Sir James Galway. After becoming the only flutist ever to win top prizes in the Naumburg Competition, Munich International Competition, Jean-Pierre Rampal International Competition, Concert Artists Guild Competition, and Young Concert Artists International Competition– all within a two-year period – Ms. Martin returned to the U.S. in 1980 to make her New York debut and has since appeared as a soloist with major orchestras throughout the US and at leading summer music festivals and chamber music series. Ms. Martin is the founder and Artistic Director of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, a month-long festival involving 40 musicians from all over the world, now celebrating its 26th season. Reflecting her commitment to new music and widening the flute repertoire, she has commissioned and performed more than 22 new works, bringing many of them to the wider public through world premiere recordings. Her recent releases include world premiere recordings of Eric Ewazen’s Flute Concerto (New World) and works by Paul Moravec (Naxos) and Ned Rorem (New World). She has previously recorded for the Naxos, New World, Albany records, Arabesque, Musical Heritage Society, Orion, and Kiwi Pacific labels, among others. Dedicated to fostering the talents of young musicians, Ms. Martin has been a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music since 1996. She was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland in 2005, and has given master classes at leading conservatories and music departments throughout the U.S. and New Zealand. She has served on the Boards of Young Concert Artists and the Miller Institute at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, and frequently serves as a jurist in leading international competitions. Her most recent commissioning, performing, and recording project, Eight Visions, brings her lifelong advocacy of contemporary music into a new realm with the publication of this collection.

Manhattan School of Music faculty since 1996.