Review
I dare you! This book cannot be put aside. ... Be prepared to settle in with a thermos of coffee, and be shocked to later glance at your watch and wonder how time flew by so silently. Wion's account of his extraordinary career as a flutist (and even as an elevator operator at New York's famed Waldorf Astoria), is more than most readers can dream of experiencing in a single lifetime. His writing is compelling, enormously funny, touching, and especially revealing in its honesty. ... The autobiography is filled with wonderful vignettes of his family, countless glimpses of his geographical world, and photographs of many who helped shape his life. The reader comes away from his writing believing John Wion to be a close personal friend. His sharing is filled with passion, enormous insight into human nature, a deep personal warmth, a conviction to be honest in his reflections, and a joy that spills over into the lives of all who read it. --The Flutist Quarterly: XXXIII, No 4, Summer, 2008
Review
John Wion, who was principal flute of the New York City Opera Orchestra for thirty seven years and, until spring of 2007, the Professor of Flute at the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, has had a very inspiring and fruitful life. Flutists everywhere will be grateful that he has decided to share his personal story with us. A former President of the National Flute Association, Wion was recently recognized by the NFA with a life-time achievement award--and what an interesting and productive life it has been! Over the past 6-8 years, John has shared drafts of his memoirs with some of the on-line flute discussion groups and at his website, but now he has released it in a printed book form that will appeal to anyone interested in the flute or concert life in the United States in the past half century. Starting with his early childhood days in Brazil, Rochester, N.Y. and Capetown, South Africa and the rich experiences of his formative years in Australia, and proceeding up into his sixties, Wion relates a fascinating (and very honest and revealing) account of his personal development and struggle to become a professional flutist, his migration to the U.S.A., his days as a student of Julius Baker, William Kincaid, Claude Monteux, and Marcel Moyse and as freelancer in New York City, and, eventually, his success as an orchestral flutist, an active chamber music player, and featured soloist.
Wion provides the reader with a window on a full and varied (though often harried) existence and intimate details of the composers he inspired, the great singers and conductors he worked with, and his interactions with his colleagues. As the story progresses, his life is full of successes and struggles, joys and frustrations. His depiction of his travels back to Australia, Asia and Europe to concertize and teach master classes, his intimate portraits of his rich family life and his close associations with many notable musicians and composers provides an inside view of what it was like to be a musician in this exciting and competitive musical world. [While these recollections contain a fascinating and stimulating view of his personal growth, his professional life, and his achievements, they may be a cautionary tale for those with less talent, determination, and stamina.] With a witty conversational style that juxtaposes entertaining anecdotes with profound insights, Wion details his work as a teacher, publisher and editor of Romantic period music, as champion of new music, as a soloist, and as a respected performer in symphonic and chamber music groups, on Broadway, and in recordings studios. One has only to go to his website and hear samples of his many recordings or review a summary of his productive career to know that this book is an account of an artist who can communicate, who has much to share musically and intellectually, and for whom the wood would, the silver shines brightly, and the golden years are still to come. The unfolding of Wion's life is as compelling as that of any more widely known public figure's career and time in the spotlight. And as his life progresses and more is revealed, this autobiography is an engrossing as a mystery novel. This is story you really don't want to end soon.
