Boyd, Bonita

Bonita Boyd is an American flutist, currently an artist-faculty member of the Eastman School of Music since her appointment in 1976.
Born in Pittsburgh, Bonita Boyd grew up in Long Beach, California. Her early teachers included Maurice Sharp of the Cleveland Orchestra, Roger Stevens of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Joseph Mariano, principal flutist of the Rochester Philharmonic and legendary pedagogue of the Eastman School of Music. Boyd succeeded Mariano in both posts, becoming the youngest person in the United States to hold major academic and orchestral appointments at the age of 21.
In 1984, she resigned from the Rochester Philharmonic to devote herself to her growing solo career. Her extensive concert tours have since taken her throughout the world as a concert soloist and recitalist. She has premiered and recorded numerous works by Adler, Benson, Rosza, Sierra, Augusta Reed Thomas, Rands, Bernstein, Maslanka, Sessler, Liptak, and Beaser.
Her “Flute Music of Les Six” album was honored in the Stereo Review Album of the Year Awards, and her Paganini Caprice CD was on the final ballot for Grammy Nominations.