21st century
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th century
21st century
Solo repertoire
Piccolo
Alto flute
Bass flute
Lias Stephen
Adler, Samuel
Albert, Adrienne
Amlin, Martin
Arnauts, Dimitri
Bacri, Nicolas
Baksa, Robert
Balter, Marcos
Beal, Jeff
Bilotta, John
Borisova-Ollas, Victoria
Bullard, Janice Maille
Bunch, Kenji
Carter, Elliott
Chamberlain, Nicole
Chyrzynski, Marcel
Clarke, Ian
Coleman, Valerie
Connesson, Guillaume
Costa Roldán, Eduardo
Cueto, Daniel
Dalbavie, Marc-André
Daugherty, Michael
Dehnhard, Tilmann
Desenne, Paul
Dorff, Daniel
Egger, Fabian Johannes
Eggert, Kenneth
Firšt, Nenad
Furrer, Beat
Garrop, Stacy
Ghidoni, Armando
Gibb, Charles
Hailstork, Adolphus
Harberg, Amanda
Hersh, Howard
Hoover, Katherine
Igudesman, Aleksey
Ittzés, Gergely
Kernis, Aaron Jay
Khoury, Houstaf
Kukal, Ondřej
León, Tania
Lias, Stephen
Liebermann, Lowell
Lindberg, Christian
Linthicum-Blackhorse, William
Louke, Phyllis Avidan
Magalif, Eugene
Mitchell, Jonathan
Monroe, Ervin
Mower, Mike
Mucha, Geraldine
Mulleman, Tim
Ornstein, Maarten
Pann, Carter
Panufnik, Roxanna
Pärt, Arvo
Pattillo, Greg
Penman, Katrina
Petrič, Ivo
Price, William
Pritsker, Gene
Pucihar, Blaž
Ran, Shulamit
Rea, Stephanie
Rotaru, Doina
Rozman, Anže
Schocker, Gary
Schwantner, Joseph
Sciarrino, Salvatore
Seif, Sami
Serebrier, José
Skipworth, Lachlan
Sollberger, Harvey
Somma, Victor
Uébayashi, Yuko
Vasks, Pēteris
Widmann, Jörg
Witt, Carl
Woolf, Randall
Yi, Chen
Flight of Fancy for flute solo
Flight of Fancy for flute solo
Stephen Lias: Flight of Fancy for flute solo was written in 2006. The piece is dedicated to Elizabeth McNutt, a renowned specialist in contemporary flute music and a faculty member at the University of North Texas.
It is a single-movement work that functions as a "concert etude". As the title suggests, the music mimics the "fancy" (capricious) movements of a bird or flying machine. It utilizes rapid-fire articulated passages, wide-interval leaps, and sudden shifts in register. While it avoids extreme avant-garde "noise" (like heavy multiphonics), it requires virtuosic control of air and articulation. It features driving asymmetrical meters and jazz-influenced rhythmic syncopations.
In 2006, Lias was beginning to solidify his reputation as an "Adventurer-Composer." While he later became famous for his "Music in the Parks" series (writing music in National Parks), Flight of Fancy represents his earlier interest in kinetics and movement.
At the time, Lias was serving as a Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. This environment allowed him to collaborate closely with high-level performers like McNutt to push the technical boundaries of solo woodwind instruments.
Kristyn Son (flute), live performance, October 20, 2014, at the Voertman Hall, Denton, TX
Flight of Fancy
Lias Stephen
Stephen Lias (1966) is an American composer, educator, and adventurer best known for his "wilderness" music and his role as the founder of the Composing in the Wilderness program. His work is characterized by a high degree of kinetic energy, rhythmic drive, and a deep connection to the natural world.
Born in Denver, Colorado, Lias was raised in an environment that fostered both musical interest and a love for the outdoors.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Music Education at Messiah College (Pennsylvania), a Master of Music degree from the Stephen F. Austin State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the Louisiana State University, where he studied with Dinos Constantinides.
His doctoral research and early career focused on the integration of theatrical and multimedia elements into traditional concert music, which eventually evolved into his "Adventure-Composer" persona.
He has served as an Artist-in-Residence at numerous National Parks, including Denali, Glacier Bay, Rocky Mountain, and Bering Land Bridge. These residencies resulted in a series of works, such as The Timberline Suite and Gates of the Arctic, that use GPS coordinates and environmental data as structural elements. In 2012, he founded this unique program in Alaska, which takes composers into remote backcountry locations to find inspiration for new works. The program has become a prestigious international gateway for "eco-acoustic" music.