Profile
"My teaching philosophy goes beyond foundational work, moving towards a holistic approach of developing the total artist. Career building and innovation are emphasized within my studio, which welcomes those who demonstrate virtuosity, grit, creativity, and a determination to make a place for oneself in the world by breaking the mold." - Valerie Coleman-Page
Valerie Coleman-Page is an internationally acclaimed, Grammy® nominated visionary who commands a multi-faceted career as both flutist and composer. Recently named Performance Today's 2020 Classical Woman of the year, she is the flutist of the contemporary ensemble, Umama Womama, an alumna of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program (formerly known as CMS Two), laureate of Concert Artists Guild competition, and the creator/former flutist of the ensemble Imani Winds.
Throughout her early career, her flute teachers, Julius Baker (New York Philharmonic), Doriot Anthony Dwyer Dwyer (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Leone Buyse (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Mark Sparks (Baltimore and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras), Kathleen Karr (Louisville Orchestra), and Judith Mendenhall (American Ballet Theatre) all played a critical role in Coleman’s development as a hybrid artist through orchestral study. It was Doriot Dwyer who bestowed upon her the honor of being the inaugural Michelle E. Sahm award, which allowed her to attend the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), and proved to be pivotal in shaping her career. She would later be featured at BUTI as a guest artist for multiple seasons.
Valerie is a Yamaha flute artist, an artist-in-residence with The Juilliard School Music Advancement Program, and is known to be a highly sought-after recitalist and clinician with a reputation of transformative skill. She has given masterclasses and performances at several top institutions, summer music festivals, flute festivals and more, including Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, Carnegie Mellon, Oberlin College, Cleveland Institute, Spoleto USA, Mannes School of Music, Rice University, University of Chicago, Ravinia Festival, Music at Angelfire, Chautauqua Institution, Banff, Interlochen Arts Academy, the Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair, Mid-South Flute Festival, San Diego, Austin, Portland and Seattle flute festivals, and many more. Her work as a recording artist features an extensive discography with Imani Winds, with legendary artists like Wayne Shorter Quartet, Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance, Chick Corea, the Brubeck Brothers, Edward Simon, Jason Moran, René Marie, and Mohammed Fairouz, on the record labels Naxos, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, eOne and Cedille Records. Her music is also featured on several albums by notable artists, including the McGill/McHale Trio, clarinetist David Shifrin, and flutist Jennie Oh Brown. Her performances and compositions can be heard regularly “on the air" at Sirius XM, NPR, WNYC, WQXR and Minnesota Public Radio and abroad including RadioFrance, Australian Broadcast Company, and Radio NZ.
Valerie is listed as “one of the Top 35 Women Composers” by the Washington Post, and has recently become the first African-American woman to be commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the first with the Metropolitan Opera. She has received the Herb Alpert Awards Ragdale Prize, Van Lier Fellowship, MAPFund, ASCAP Honors Award, among others. Her work, UMOJA, was listed by Chamber Music America as one of the “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works”. Alongside her work with the Philadelphia Orchestra, her multi-faceted career has led her and her works to be featured with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New Haven Symphony, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, The Atlanta Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Library of Congress, New York Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI). Her performances at Music at Angelfire, Banff, Spoleto USA, Bravo! Vail, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, Coleman Chamber Music Association, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, DaCamara Houston, LaJolla Music Festival, Coleman Chamber Music Association, Chamber Music Yellow Springs, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and many more have featured performance collaborations with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D’Rivera, David Shifrin, Orion String Quartet, Harlem Quartet, Miami String Quartet, Dover Quartet, pianists Anne-Marie McDermott, Wu Han, Gil Kalish, Shai Wosner, Jon Nakamura, Edward Simon, Danilo Perez, Alex Brown, and Chick Corea, among many others. Recent commissions include Sphinx Virtuosi, Bravo! Vail Festival, The Library of Congress, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Collegiate Band Directors National Association, Chamber Music Northwest, National Flute Association, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Chamber Music America/OboeBass! Duo, University of Michigan, and Hartford Symphony Orchestra.
A cornerstone to her work is the advocacy and mentorship of artists and emerging ensembles, and she has immensely enjoyed their success stories. In 2011, she created the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, a summer mentorship program in NYC that has welcomed musicians from over 100 institutions globally. She has also served as an adjudicator for National Flute Association’s High School Artist Competition, Concert Artist Guild Victor E. Elmaleh Competition, APAP’s Young Performing Concert Artists fellowship, ASCAP’s Morton Gould Award, MapFund Award, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She is on the board of advisors for Composers Now, Sphinx LEAD, Composers Concordance, and has previously served on the APAP’s Classical Connections Committee, National Flute Association’s New Music Advisory Committee and Board Nomination Committee.
Valerie is published by Theodore Presser, and her own company, VColeman Music.