Diversions is Rose Bishop’s debut album of solo flute repertoire that she either commissioned during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic or performed as part of her residency with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra in October 2021. This album features compositions by all female composers and includes works by Amber Beams, Nicole Chamberlain, Linda Robbins Coleman, and Lisa Neher. Diversions was released on September 2nd, 2022 through Odd Pop Records.
This project all began with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra commissioning Iowa composer Linda Robbins Coleman to write a new flute concerto, Diversions for one soloist and alto flute, flute and piccolo and orchestra, for me as the 2021 Artist in Residence. I was extremely honored and thrilled to be a part of this project, and getting to work closely with Linda as she wrote the piece was incredible. We were scheduled to give the world premiere in April of 2020, but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The residency was a huge success, and I premiered Linda’s concerto in 3 cities in 24 hours: Ottumwa, Burlington, and Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Linda was thrilled and encouraged me to record my residency pieces for my solo debut album, which took about 6 months to finish. I titled my album Diversions after the name of Linda’s concerto because none of this would have happened without her love and support. I am immensely grateful to everyone who helped turn this dream into a reality and especially grateful to the composers who worked closely with me to record their works.
I had always wanted to record a solo album, and I am so thrilled to feature music by several of my friends, who are all living female composers. As a champion of new music, I perform almost exclusively music by living composers and commissioned a few of the exciting works on this album. I am so grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality, and can’t wait for you to hear these amazing new works! I am especially grateful to Southeast Iowa Symphony Director, Robert McConnell, composers Linda Robbins Coleman, Lisa Neher, Amber Beams, and Nicole Chamberlain; to Peter Nothnagle for recording and putting these recordings together; to Adam Shoemaker and Odd Pop Records; and to Coe College for helping me fund this project and for providing the space to record many of these works.
International prize-winning flutist Rose Bishop serves as Instructor of Flute at St. Ambrose University, Coe College, Cornell College, Kirkwood Community College, and Mount Mercy University. An active orchestral musician, she serves as Principal Flute of the Southeast Iowa and Quincy Symphony Orchestras and Second Flute/Piccolo with the Ottumwa Symphony Orchestras and has performed with orchestras across the Midwest.
A highly sought-after guest artist, Bishop has appeared as a guest soloist with ensembles including the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra and numerous university and municipal bands, in addition to enjoying various guest artist residencies at universities throughout the nation. An active clinician, Bishop has performed, lectured, and presented at events including the National Flute Association Convention, Kansas Wesleyan International Music Festival, Upper Midwest Flute Association Festival, Iowa Flute Festival, Wisconsin Flute Festival, Portland Flute Society, the St. Louis Flute Fair, to name a few. Dedicated to community outreach, Bishop is the Flute Faculty, Founder and Artistic Director of the Eastern Iowa Flute Workshop and the Cornell College Summer Music Camp, and is a frequent contributor to Flute Talk, the Flute View, and the Flute Examiner Magazines. Bishop serves as a member of the National Flute Association’s Career and Artistic Development Committee and is a Trevor James Alto Flute Artist. Rose and Lizzy Darling are co-authors of A Flutist’s Guide to the Voxman Etudes, a pedagogical text and supplementary recordings of Voxman’s Selected Studies for Flute.