Flutist Allison Parramore is a versatile performer and educator with a multifaceted career as an orchestral, chamber, and solo musician, freelance artist, and Artist-Teacher.
As an orchestral musician, she is the Principal Flutist of the Boston Festival Orchestra and Boston’s Phoenix Orchestra, Second Flutist of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, and is the former Second Flute & Piccolo player of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the Boston Symphony, Pops, and Esplanade Orchestras, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Philharmonic, Odyssey Opera, Albany Symphony, New Haven Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, Cape Symphony, and the Midland-Odessa Symphony, among others. Parramore has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Festival Orchestra, Boston’s Phoenix Orchestra, and the University of Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra.
Her awards include first prize in the 35th Annual James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition, resulting in a solo debut recital at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, first-prize of the Boston Woodwind Society Doriot Dwyer Competition, third-prize in the Upper Midwest Flute Association Young Artist Competition, and appearances at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Astral Artists National Auditions, and the Plowman Chamber Music Competition.
As a solo and chamber artist, Parramore has been a featured performer in both the Rochester Flute Association and Upper Midwest Flute Association presenting a joint solo recital: Raise Their Voices: Celebrating Female Composers, and has performed at the Tanglewood Music Center Festival of Contemporary Music, Phoenix Orchestra Chamber Series, and the Boston Conservatory New Music Festival.
An active and passionate educator, Allison Parramore serves as the Artist-Teacher of Flute at the Longy School of Music at Bard College and the University of Rhode Island, and as a Lecturer in Music at Ithaca College. She is a frequent guest performer and educator and has given several lectures and masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States, most recently presenting her talk, Freelancing and Entrepreneurship: navigating the field from student to full-time music professional. She has also been a guest educator for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra, as well as a presenter at the Flute Society of Berklee and the New Jersey Flute Society. Parramore currently serves on the Board of Directors for the James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and the Rochester Flute Association.
In the summers Parramore has performed on the Festival of Contemporary Music at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Texas Music Festival, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival, and was the teaching assistant at the Brevard Music Center. In 2023 she begins her position as Second Flutist of the New American Sinfonietta, part of the Hamptons Music Festival under music director Michael Palmer.
Allison Parramore’s primary teachers include Linda Toote, Elizabeth Rowe, Susan Thomas, and Jacqueline Goudey. She holds degrees from The Boston Conservatory and the University of Rhode Island where she won the Kingston Chamber Music Award, the Presser Scholarship, the President Award for Musical Excellence, and the 2010 Concerto Competition.
Teaching Statement:
I teach to the needs of each unique student, from in-depth and nitty gritty focus, to overarching coaching of music skills, mindset training, and career planning. I utilize my experience preparing a range of students in pursuit of distinct goals, fostering a deep study of fundamental technique and diverse repertoire, as well as cultivating organizational habits to reach specific goals through the execution of a realistic and individualized daily plan.
At Longy I work to build a culture of excellence, diversity, and significance. I understand how contagious a supportive studio of integrity and joyful curiosity can be, and how critical the experiences of risk-taking and failure (cradled by thoughtful, honest, and habitual self-reflection) are to the development of a successful artist.
I am an experienced Artist-Teacher who strives to engage all students, who brings both depth & breadth to this role – a dedicated residential colleague for whom this job is a foremost professional focus of each day. Longy makes available an array of courses, ensembles, and specializations for our students. In support of students enrolled in Longy’s innovative Catalyst Curriculum, I engage with the students in a way that propels them towards their dreams in this rapidly changing musical landscape. I help my students develop essential habits of self-care and guide them to create an atmosphere of communal support in my studio. Music can serve communities in extraordinary ways; we can begin with our own flute studio and radiate outward.