Flames Must Not Encircle Sides for Solo Flute by Robert Dick

Robert Dick, born and raised in New York City, started playing the flute as a child after hearing it on the radio in the Top 40 hit “Rockin’ Robin.” He later went on to study with Henry Zlotnik, James Pappoutsakis, Julius Baker, and Thomas Nyfenger.

Robert attended Yale College, where he earned a B.A. degree. It was at Yale that he met Robert Morris, a composer and theorist who became a crucial mentor. Robert wrote his first compositions and had his first experiences with improvisation as an undergraduate at Yale. He began working on his first book, “THE OTHER FLUTE: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques,” as a senior project, completing it during his first year of graduate study at the Yale School of Music, where he obtained a Masters degree in composition.

He studied composition under Robert Morris and electronic music under Bulant Arel and Jacob Druckman. “THE OTHER FLUTE” was initially published by Oxford University Press in 1975. During his time in graduate school, Robert composed his groundbreaking piece, “Afterlight,” for solo flute, which was the first flute composition to primarily use multiphonics as the foundational elements of its musical language. “Afterlight” received the BMI Oliver Daniel Prize and has since become a staple in the flute repertoire.

After completing his studies, Robert embarked on his career as a concert soloist, dedicated to contemporary repertoire. His musical journey led him to focus exclusively on performing his original works and improvisations for many years. Currently, Robert enjoys incorporating “guest composers” into his recital programming, notably Paul Hindemith, Georg-Philip Telemann, and Jimi Hendrix.