Listen to the recorders of Flûte Alors!

For many kids, the recorder is the first instrument they learn to play. For Alexa Raine-Wright and the other members of Flûte Alors! it’s their passion, and an instrument they want to see more people take seriously. The recorder quartet is coming to Yorkton with Prairie Debut, as part of the Stars for Saskatchewan series.

The program for the western Canadian tour, the first such tour for the Quebec-based group, will be centered around two seemingly different repertoires, Bach and jazz. Raine-Wright explains that they’re not as far apart as they might appear on first glance.

“It showcases the whole palette of sounds and colours we can get through a recorder quartette... The musicians of baroque and jazz have quite a few things in common. They improvised a lot, both Bach and jazz musicians, and they also did arrangements of other work. We are doing a lot of arrangements of jazz standards, like Autumn Leaves and What A Wonderful World, and Bach took the music of Vivaldi, and arranged it on organ. Those are a few of the ways Bach and jazz are linked.”

The other thing that links the two styles is that they’re both styles that the quartet loves to play. Raine-Wright says that since the recorder makes sounds the same way as an organ does, they’re a natural fit for Bach, and jazz is just something they the group loves playing.

“They’re very different styles, they don’t sound the same at all, but it’s really nice because you get a little bit of everything.”

There are few recorder quartets in the country, with only two professional recorder quartets in Canada.  The other members of the group – Caroline Tremblay, Marie-Laurence Primeau and Vincent Lauzer – they began learning the instrument in Montreal. Raine-Wright, coming from Colorado, she learned the recorder to learn flutes, and while she initially didn’t consider it a “real” instrument she quickly fell in love with it and the repertoire.

“I fell in love with all the baroque music, and the fact that in baroque and renaissance music, the musician and the performer had a lot more to say about the piece and input into the music.”

Part of the goal of the group is to get people to take more seriously, and get rid of the misconception that it’s a beginner’s instrument rather than a “real” one. She says that it’s having a slow comeback around the world, and they want to be part of the vanguard in Canada.

“In every audience, there are usually some people who know the recorder, there are usually some people who have never been to a recorder concert, and I love seeing the look on their faces, the joy that they hear in the music.”

Part of showing off the recorder is also showing off the wide range of instruments, far beyond the soprano recorder which many people recognize.

“In our concerts, we have all sizes of recorder. We have the soprano recorder, which is commonly played in grade school, but we also have recorders that are smaller than that, and the largest recorder we have on stage is almost five feet tall. We really play a big range of instruments. Just like in a string quartet, where you have a violin, viola and a cello.”

The group is excited to get out on their first western Canadian tour, and discovering new communities where they’ve never been before.

Prairie Debut presents Flûte Alors! as part of the Yorkton Arts Council’s Stars for Saskatchewan series on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m.