Barth Curriculum Vitae revised fall 2023

MOLLY BARTH

Molly Barth is constantly in motion. This Grammy Award-winning flutist, professor and clinician moves effortlessly from concert hall to teaching studio to rehearsal room to orchestral section. Molly needs fuel for this fire.

Molly is fueled by visceral communication with listeners. This “ferociously talented” performer (The Oregonian) crosses from VA to CA, the UK to Korea. The halls may be large or small, the music may be old or new, but the performances are always concentrated, intense.

Molly is fueled by the smell of wet ink. Molly has premiered hundreds of pieces, finding the creation of new music uplifting and miraculous. As co-founder and former member of the ensembles Eighth Blackbird and Beta Collide, Molly toured the world, recorded a dozen albums, and—with Eighth Blackbird—won a Grammy Award.

Molly is fueled by the spark and closeness of chamber music. Molly is a co-founder of the Zohn Collective, a group of curious musicians who share a love of risk and exploration. They have collaborated with a puppet company and a cartoonist, have toured the US and México and record extensively.

Molly is fueled by her work as a teacher. Molly is Associate Flute Professor at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, and Molly guides her students to become comprehensive flutists. They leave Molly as skilled, flexible, bold musicians, able to think critically and speak to audiences. Molly took her inspiration primarily from her stellar teachers at Oberlin, the Cincinnati Conservatory, and Northwestern.

Molly is fueled by the natural world. Molly runs or bikes daily, and friends say that if she sees a mountain, she wants to climb it. Molly is driven to play in unconventional locations such as a lava field, a lighthouse, a gold-mining dredge, Crater Lake National Park, and a well-traveled pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville.

Molly is fueled by her desire to document her adventures as a performer. You can hear Molly’s blend of control and ferocity on these featured albums: Vento Appassionato, digging into 20th century solo flute repertoire; Thorn, focusing on the chamber music of David Lang; and Castillos de Viento, performing intimate music with guitar. Then see where it all began on her YouTube page: at her first solo public performance, in fifth grade, of “Memory” from the musical Cats.


Press quotations:

“…one of the world’s finest flutists.”
Brett Campbell, Eugene Weekly, October 4, 2018

“Flutist Molly Alicia Barth plays its melodies with the breadth of a clarinet and the metallic waver of a saxophone, as well as with more conventional flute tones, but always with rare control and precision.”
Nicholas Stevens, ClevelandClassical.com, October 10, 2018

"Barth is a rock-solid player who knows this music inside and out....Barth puts across all her selections with spirit and imagination. Even if you know Fukushima’s Mei (1962), your jaw will drop at 4:30 where she switches from a fortissimo high note to a pianissimo whistle tone. Such is her virtuosity that much of the writing sounds easier to play than it actually is."
Todd Gorman, American Record Guide, September/October 2018

“Anyone who’s missed regular doses of Barth’s exuberant virtuosity will welcome the fresh burst of activity presented on thorn.... The performances…strike just the right balance between nervous tension and technical security….thorn is a welcome addition to Lang’s discography and a happy opportunity for reacquaintance with Barth.”
Steve Smith, The Log Journal, May 13, 2017

“A specialist in flute and piccolo…Barth is a fabulous virtuoso on the high instrument, playing with technical panache while augmenting the written demands with her own embellishments. Truly "breathtaking" -- pun intended.”
John W. Barker, The Daily Page, January 22, 2011

"The Vivaldi concerto...is almost absurdly virtuosic, with incredibly long, fast-moving passages that whizzed by with literally almost no room for the soloist to breathe. Flautist Molly Barth, though, was on fire and in control the entire time."
Jessica Curtier, The Capital Times, January 22, 2011

"Aside from the incredibly agile work in the brisk outer movements, the central slow movement revealed a depth of expression rarely suspected in Vivaldi concertos....Ms. Barth at times seemed to dance along with the music, a modern day pied piper of compelling execution."
Greg Hettmansberger, Dane101 Blog, January 25, 2011

“One of the best things to happen to the UO — and to Oregon music — this year is the arrival of Molly Barth. One of the world’s greatest flutists…”
Brett Campbell, The Eugene Weekly, January 29, 2009

“Like a good jazz player, she improvised according to what she got from the other players….Barth was fabulous, again“
David Stabler, The Oregonian, October 19, 2008

“Barth’s sculpted lyricism was intensely moving….“
Tom Manoff, Register Guard, October 23, 2008

“Barth’s virtuosic ability created fluttering trills, sudden fortes, and soothing legato lines that were flat out remarkable.”
James Bash, Northwest Reverb, September 24, 2008

“Her high spirit was contagious, her legato like liquid and her ornaments glittering….“
James McQuillen, The Oregonian, July 14, 2007

“The ferociously talented flutist Molly Alicia Barth gave an electric performance… effortlessly leaping across registers and conveying both a sense of intense dialogue and barely contained anxiety in the many piercingly high passages.”
James McQuillen, The Oregonian, November 20, 2006

“…highly polished techniques and evident depth of feeling for a variety of contemporary styles, as well as a sartorial casualness and open manner”    
Allan Kozinn, New York Times, November 23, 1998

Read more about MOLLY BARTH at her Blair School of Music web page