SOLO for solo flute

Howard Hersh (1940) is an American composer, based in Northern California, recognized for a musical language that blends rigorous structure with lyrical expression. His work often bridges the gap between the academic avant-garde and a more accessible, gestural style.
Born in Santa Monica, California, he began his musical life studying piano in Los Angeles before pursuing his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in composition at Stanford University. Hersh was a pivotal figure in the institutionalization of new music in California. He served as the Director of the New Music Ensemble at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he was instrumental in premiering works by landmark composers like John Cage and Morton Feldman.
While his early career was marked by the complexity of the mid-century avant-garde, his mature style, documented in catalogs like Schirmer/AMP, is noted for its clarity, rhythmic vitality, and melodic "breath."
His output includes works commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition and the National Endowment for the Arts. Beyond his solo flute repertoire, he is widely known for his chamber music and larger-scale works like the opera The Floating World and his concerto for alto saxophone.
Hersh is frequently cited in performance guides as a composer who treats instruments as human voices, prioritizing the physical and emotional experience of the performer as much as the structural integrity of the score.