UCLA Flute Studio Goes Baroque

Benjamin Smolen has performed across the globe, from the United States to Europe, Russia, and Japan. He joined the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in 2011, where he holds the Valerie and Hans Imhof Principal Flute Chair, and was recently appointed Principal Flute of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is also Resident Flutist with the Los Angeles-based chamber ensemble Salastina. He has performed as guest Principal Flute with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Pasadena Symphony. He has given solo performances with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Gardner Webb Symphony Orchestra, Princeton University Orchestra, Charlotte Civic and Youth Orchestras, and twice on National Public Radio.

In addition to his work on stage, Benjamin is active in the Hollywood scoring industry and has recorded with composers including John Williams, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, John Powell, and Randy Newman. He can be heard on projects such as Star Wars Episodes VII – IX, Encanto, Avatar: The Way of Water, Nope, The Fabelmans, Toy Story 4, X-Men: Apocalypse, The BFG, Ghostbusters, Monsters University, Night at the Museum, and on Neil Young’s latest album, Storytone.

Benjamin has given recitals around the world, including performances as a featured guest at the Japan Flute Festival and the National Flute Association’s annual convention. He won First Prize at the Haynes International Flute Competition and James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and Second Prize at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. His flute and guitar ensemble Duo Musagete, with guitarist Jerome Mouffe, has performed highly acclaimed concerts in the United States and Europe, and they recently released their debut album, Bach to Beaser.

Benjamin has been a guest teaching artist at Chapman University, CSU-Long Beach, CSU-Fullerton, San Diego State University, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of California at Irvine, the Symphony Guild of Charlotte, the Long Beach Summer Flute Institute, and Jim Walker’s Beyond the Masterclass.

Benjamin completed his undergraduate studies in the Music and Slavic departments at Princeton University, during which time he also completed a Performance Diploma at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He earned a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance at the New England Conservatory and spent two summers as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. His teachers include Paula Robison, Michael Parloff, Elizabeth Rowe, Jennifer Dior, and Jayn Rosenfeld.

Benjamin is a William S. Haynes Artist and performs on a handmade, custom-crafted Haynes 14-karat gold flute.

Australian flutist Catherine Gregory, winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, enjoys a dynamic career as a soloist, ensemble player, and teaching artist. Her performances of music old and new have taken her across the globe from Alice Tully Hall in New York, to London’s Milton Court, Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie, and the Sydney Opera House.

Catherine, who first came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar, is a sought-after recitalist and chamber musician, with performances at Carnegie Hall, with the Chamber Music Societies of Lincoln Center and Philadelphia, Camerata Pacifica, Caramoor, Bay Chamber Festival, Við Djúpið Festival in Iceland and the Southern Cross Soloists. She has toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and has played numerous cycles as guest principal flute with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.  Catherine is a core-artist of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, serving as co-artistic director of the group from 2017-2020.

Catherine is deeply passionate about the power of music to forge direct and impactful connections with all communities. Catherine’s current project, Just Breathe, embodies her creative spirit as a commissioner of new music and artist citizen: it is both a performance of new commissions from leading composers such as Clarice Assad, Viet Cuong, Timo Andres and Juhi Bansal, as well as a series of interactive performance workshops for cancer patients, providers and caregivers that explore the intersection of breath and music.

Committed to nurturing the next generation of young artists, Catherine has established herself as an accomplished pedagogue, having served as visiting Flute Lecturer at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, and as the flute faculty member for the Decoda Chamber Music Festival and the Emerging Composers Intensive.

Catherine is a faculty member of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as a lecturer in music, music industry (artistic citizenship and community engagement), and is also the newly appointed director of the Gluck Fellowship Program, leading the UCLA Gluck Fellows in their music ensembles to engage, connect and share live chamber music performances at non-traditional venues all around the city of Los Angeles. Catherine also serves on the faculty of The Colburn School and has given masterclasses and led residencies at leading music schools internationally, from The Tianjin Juilliard School, to Curtis, to the Guildhall School in London. Catherine’s recent album together with pianist David Kaplan, entitled Vent, was released on the Bright Shiny Things label in September 2023.