Flutist Cynthia Solfest-Wallis has been a professional musician and instructor for over 20 years. Current faculty appointments include Wisconsin Lutheran College, Carroll College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she teaches applied flute, technique and pedagogy classes, and directs the flute ensembles. When first moving to Milwaukee, she taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.
Ms. Solfest-Wallis is principal flute with the Skylight Opera Theatre and Wisconsin Wind Orchestra. As a free-lance musician, she also performs frequently with the Bel Canto Orchestra and Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and has performed several times with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Woodstock Mozart Festival, as well as many other orchestras in the region.
Last season, Cindy performed Mozart Concert in G with the UW-P orchestra, and Bach Suite in B minor with the Waukesha Area Youth Orchestra. In October, 2007, she was soloist with the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra, performing the Concerto for Flute and Eight Wind Instruments, by William Alwyn.
Cindy has a love for performing chamber music, and in the 1990’s founded the Semplice Harbor Music Settlement which she directed through the summer of 2003. This enabled her to teach, as well as perform with the faculty quintet of Semplice Harbor, but the most important facet of organizing this each summer was sharing the enthusiasm and energy that came from the love of music and being able to perform in chamber groups that each participant displayed.
She has performed with other chamber groups, including Trio Vocé, Syrinx Strings, and Flutes Quatré, a Wisconsin flute quartet that commissioned quartet pieces and performed at the National Flute Convention in Ohio.
Locally, Ms. Solfest-Wallis has recorded with the Tanner and Nexus Recording Studios, recording commercials, videos, and educational cd’s. She can also be heard on the Marc Custom Record Label as a member of the WWO on their latest two cd’s, Old Wine In New Bottles and Wind Consorts. A third cd will be coming out this spring.
Cindy has performed in Europe several times throughout her career, beginning when her college orchestra studied in Vienna and Salzburg, and most recently with the WWO on their chamber music tour of the Netherlands.
In 1989, she took first place in the National Flute Association’s orchestral and piccolo competitions. She has performed in the master classes of Geoffrey Gilbert, Robert Willoughby, Walfrid Kujala, and Jan Gippo, and has had the privilege to also study with Israel Borouchoff and Marie Herseth-Kenote.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and business management from Luther College, and a Master’s of Music from Michigan State University, where she was a Graduate Fellow, and performed with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and the Richard’s Quintet (the faculty quintet).
Cindy is energized by her students and her goal to inspire them to be better musicians and outstanding people!
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