Alexa Still credits fellow flutist Jeanne Baxtresser for introducing her to the music of Venezuelan-born composer and conductor Efrai´n Amaya. On Syzygy, Still’s second release on the Oberlin Music label, she joins fellow Oberlin Conservatory faculty members and students on six pieces written by Amaya between 1997 and 2014. Former principal flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Still joined the Oberlin faculty in 2011. She remains an avid performer in recitals throughout the world, including the Australian and US premieres of Matthew Hindson’s ‘House Music’- a piece she also premiered on a 2015 Oberlin Music recording. Syzygy, which takes its name from a movement in the recording’s opening piece, means “working together toward a common goal.” On pieces for flute and piano, flute and cello, and two flutes, Still works effortlessly with her Oberlin collaborators. Joining her are longtime piano professor Robert Shannon, cello professor Darrett Adkins, and two former standout students in Still’s flute studio: Aram Mun and Tasiaeafe Hiner.
