MELISSA GENSLER, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
(September 8, 2009)

Is there a musician who inspires you to learn music and motivates you to become better? Whose music seems to speak to you, or whose sheer virtuosity and talent amazes you? Many musicians have this "musical role model" they admire, and mine is flutist Rhonda Larson.
I first saw Rhonda perform by chance when I was in high school. She was a guest artist giving a concert at Western Kentucky University, and I had no idea who she was when I decided to go. At the time, I was undecided as to whether or not I wanted to major in music. After I saw her perform, I remember standing for the final ovation completely dumbfounded: I knew that moment that I needed to play the flute for the rest of my life. Her energy, creativity, and pure joy for music-making were evident in each note she played,
and I was awestruck. How did she sound like that? How could I sound like that?!

For years afterward, I studied her compositions, memorized her recordings; I even met her once, starry-eyed and lost for words. I could only dream of seeing her perform again, and me playing the flute for her was completely unconceivable. And, of course, the only master classes she taught took place in Italy, of all places…!

Then the unbelievable happened: with financial assistance from Western's Music Department and Potter College, I realized I could actually afford a trip to Italy to go to her master class! She'd changed my life once, and this time, I knew it would happen.

All the sudden, I found myself in Casperia, a tiny medieval village perched on a mountainside. I'm sitting on a high terrace overlooking rolling hills dotted with olive trees and wild grapes, and Rhonda is three feet away, welcoming me and the nine other flutists to Italy. She is so down-to-earth, so real, none of that stuffy arrogance present in many other professional flutists. Throughout the week, she made an effort to get to know each of us on a personal level, not just musically, which made the master classes much more
meaningful and individualized.

As much as I had studied her recordings, they paled in comparison to being right beside her as she played, feeling the room reverberate from her sound and watching her proud posture as she played. "Play the flute as if it is a noble act! It IS a noble act!" she would tell us. She had a deep spiritual connection with the flute and music, and it was contagious.
In master class, she taught me to play the music as I hear it, not how it is "supposed" to be played. This completely liberated me, no longer bound by the "rules" of music, and I
found my playing to be more soulful and coming from within me.

One of the most profound experiences was playing one of her virtuosic solo flute compositions for her in master class. I had it memorized, but the performance was not perfect.
After I finished, she applauded, appreciative that I had prepared one of her pieces. Then, she asked if we could play it together? I was completely blown away. Is this even happening?! Here I was, in Italy, playing the flute, and Rhonda Larson is asking if I want to play with her…! As we both had it memorized, we stood facing each other, eyes
locked. Playing with Rhonda was extremely emotional, and I felt like I had come full circle in this stage of my flute career.

Returning home, I carried with me only photographs and recordings that prove that I was there, and in a way it seems unreal, like it happened to someone else. I have learned
to hear and play music with a completely different outlook, with more soulfulness and inspiration. And that is the most precious souvenir of all.

Melissa Gensler