Born in Schrvengin, The Netherlands, Louis was the son of a famous flutist father – Marcel Moyse, and Celine (Gautreau) Moyse. His first flute teachers were his father and father’s teacher Philippe Gaubert (who in turn was a student of Paul Taffanel). Raised in Paris, Louis became very skilled at both the flute and piano and reportedly had studied both at the Paris Conservatory. Other reports state that a choice between the two instruments came when auditioning for the Paris Conservatory - and that he chose to focus on the flute because he thought it might offer more career opportunities!

As a freelancer in Paris during the 1920’s, he was a member of the Opera-Comique and also played in orchestras that accompanied silent movies. As a pianist, he played with Duke Ellington and Reynaldo Hahn. Louis also “rubbed shoulders” with composers Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy, Bohuslav Martinu and Maurice Ravel and worked with Adolf Busch.

As a flutist he won the Premier Prix from the Paris Conservatory in 1932, and soon thereafter became an assistant to his father who’d joined the school as Flute Faculty during that same year. (A young Lukas Foss was reported to have been one of Louis’s students there.)

In 1934, his father Marcel formed the “Moyse Trio” which included Louis on piano, and Louis’ wife Blanche Honegger Moyse (a violinist) on flute. Louis would play both flute and piano with the trio during the rest of the 1930’s and on into the ‘40’s.

Louis Moyse was offered a second flute chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra but with the start of World War II the borders of the US were closed and he was unable to take the position. After weathering the war in eastern France and finding no ready work in postwar Europe, the Moyse Trio emigrated first to Argentina, and then eventually settled in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1949. The instigators of their Veromnt move were old friends and colleagues from Europe: the string players Adolf and Hermann Busch, and Adolf’s son-in-law, the pianist Rudolf Serkin.

The three Moyse’s obtained teaching jobs at Marlboro College, and in 1951 the six friends founded the Marlboro Music School. In 1952, Louis and his wife Blanche started the Brattleboro Music Center, which in 1969 begat the New England Bach Festival.

After the dissolution of their marriage, Louis left Vermont for a time. In 1974 he married Janet White. He taught for many years at the University of Toronto and Boston University and taught privately at his home in Westport, NY. In 1998 he returned to Vermont (Montpelier), where he continued to teach, coach and compose. In 2003, his “Works for Flute and Piano of Louis Moyse”, recorded by a student, Karen Kevra, was nominated for a Grammy. He also gave annual masterclasses in Saint Amour, France, his fathers hometown, until 2005.

In addition to this last piece, Louis Moyse has most certainly left his mark in the flute world, having composed, adapted, transcribed and edited more than 170 works. (His “Ballad of Vermont” was his largest composition.)

We lost Louis to heart failure at the age of 94. But less than two weeks before his death, he conducted an ensemble and lead a master class on his arrangement of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Montpelier Unitarian Church – an arrangement he’d been working on during this past year. His wife Janet has shared that the teaching and performing of this last work of his was something he very much had wanted to complete: “He wanted to do it, and he did make it”. Certainly, his heart was in on that, and we are left with that one last gift. For this and more, he will be well remembered.

Christine D. Nield-Capote, passed away on April 27, 2007 after a brief struggle with brain cancer. She was an alumnus of the North Carolina School of the Arts having been a high school as well as undergraduate student at NCSA in the late sixties and early seventies. She had extensive private study with Philip Dunigan, James Galway and Marcel Moyse in the United States as well as Europe.

Christine was the principal flutist with the Florida Grand Opera and the Florida Philharmonic for numerous years and for the past sixteen years she was Professor of Flute at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. She was currently the principal flutist with the Boca Raton Philharmonic Sinfonia, and enjoyed performing a wide musical variety of recitals and chamber music every season.

She performed in numerous festivals and venues including the Accademia Chigiana in Italy, Festival Miami (UM), Library of Congress, Marlboro Music Festival and the New England Bach Festival. Most recently she performed at Carnegie's Weill Hall for a Ned Rorem tribute with the Bergonzi Quartet as well as David Maslanka's "Song Book for Flute and Wind Ensemble" at Interlochen, Michigan (2006).

Christine recorded solo, chamber, and orchestral music on the Albany, Altarus, Audiofon, Centaur, Coronet, and Harmonia Mundi labels as well as for the international television series "Joy of Music". She was an Advisory Board member for the Marcel Moyse Society. As a member of the Florida Flute Association and the National Flute Association she performed, gave master classes and judged competitions for these organizations.

Christine made her home in Boca Raton, Florida and is survived by her husband, Manuel Capote and their teenage son Nicholas.

Although not a flutist – Clifford was such a powerful presence for many of us in the flute world that, although his instrument was piano, his passing commands notice in these pages. This pianist from England was unquestionably one of the special ones.

Besides being a dear personal friend, Clifford was a marvelous teacher in his own right – and all who were fortunate enough to have met him, studied or worked with him (vicariously or otherwise – possibly while at a flute master class or in any other venue) - will remember his brilliant musicianship, his quick wit, his clever and insightful suggestions (musical and otherwise), his beautiful and moving original compositions, his most wonderful playfulness, his humble demeanor, -- and all of that being over and above an absolutely scarey-good piano technique … He was indeed a “one of a kind”, and a genuinely giving soul who was a joy to be around.

On August 10th, 2007, after a long battle with a brain tumor, Clifford passed away at the age of 60. His funeral was held at the Tudeley Church, near Tonbridge – a beautiful little chapel famous for its many Chagall stained glass windows. Not surprisingly, the little 19th century church was packed. There are plans being made for a Clifford Memorial Concert sometime in the next year... we'll share news about that when it becomes available.

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We are honored to get to share with you here, all of the following about Clifford -- all courtesy of Trevor Wye (Thank you so much, Trevor!)

This from the obituary which ran in the papers in England, written by Trevor Wye:

Clifford was born in Grays, Essex, England. His father was a local government official and amateur violinist. Clifford studied the piano with Rhuna Martin, formerly the wife of flutist William Bennett, and later attended the junior department of the Royal College of Music, London, where he met the violinist Levon Chilingirian. (Clifford would go on to do play extensively with both WIBB and Levon Chilingirian.)

Entry to the senior organization followed: Clifford continued his studies at the Royal College of Music with Lamar Crowson and Cyril Smith, winning the Chopin prize and the Martin Music Fund Scholarship, awarded by the New Philharmonic Orchestra, which enabled him to further his studies.

Notably – Clifford accompanied Marcel Moyse for his two years at the International Summer School in Canterbury England, and would go on to work with all the woodwind classes there during the six years there, and then at Ramsgate for another 12.

Cliffords career was launched when his duo partnership with Chilingirian won the BBC Beethoven duo competition in 1969, and a competition in Munich in 1971. As a result, they were offered BBC broadcasts, and London concerts at the South Bank and Purcell Room followed.

With the Nash Ensemble, he worked with singers such as Cleo Laine, Marion Montgomery, Sarah Walker and Eartha Kitt; the composer John Tavener; and recorded Schubert’s Trout Quintet and septets by Hummel and Berwald. In 1979 he played the piano reduction of the Elgar Cello Concerto for Jacqueline du Pre’s TV masterclasses on BBC2.

Also for the BBC, Clifford was a member of the judging panel for the Young Musician of the Year competition, and he adjudicated at many music festivals and at all the leading British colleges of music.

Notable among his recordings are those with Dame Thea King of clarinet music by Brahms and by British composers; songs by a variety of composers with tenors Ian Partridge and Martyn Hill, baritone Stephen Roberts, and bass Michael George; and his double album recording of songs by Charles Stanford with baritone Stephen Varcoe.

On DVD, Clifford and flutist Trevor Wye performed variations by a mixture of composers on the Carnival of Venice – 48 of them, presented on 58 different flutes” with piano. Trevor Wye comments with genuine admiration that in performing this work, Clifford was unparalleled in “his swiftness in moving from one style to another matching mine in changing instruments”.

However, Cliffords largest recording output was with flutist William Bennett (WIBB), for the Japanese Camerata Tokyo label, and WIBB’s own label, Beep Records. These recordings include live concerts from Japan, Taiwan, Vienna and the Wigmore Hall in London. These releases ensured that little worthwhile 19th and 20th century repertoire remains unrecorded. Clifford also made recordings for Hyperion, Chandos, CRD and Deutsche Grammophon.

Clifford’s disks with Chilingirian included the Schumber Sonatinas, followed in 1976 by the first recording of the Frank Bridge Sonata. With violinist, Lydia Mordkovitch, he recorded sonatas by Nielsen, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Schnittke; and violinist Shlomo Mintz encour pieces by Fritz Kreisler. Clifford also joined the Alberni Quartet in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet.

As a soloist, he managed to fit in occasional recitals in Japan and the US, andhe was an annual feature at the Portsmouth Festival. Last year he performed a programme celebrating Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Clifford joined the staff of the Royal Academy of Music in June 1993, teaching accompaniment, and his chamber music workshops were very popular.

A composer with published works of his own, Clifford has given some notable world premiers of other contemporary composers such as Richard Rodney Bennett and Malcolm Lipkin. He has been a panel member for the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition, the Albuquerque Flute Association, the Frank Bowen Young Artist Competition and regularly coached and adjudicated for the British Chamber Music for Schools Competition.

Trevor Wye further comments that Clifford “was delightfully easygoing. His relaxed and kindly approach to his work as an accompanist and chamber musician put everybody at their ease. His humility, perceptiveness and skill made him greatly valued by the fortunate few with whom he performed. As his career developed, he became selective, refusing offers from eminent performers who he felt lacking in empathy; this combination of factors resulted in him receiving rather less international recognition than he might have received otherwise.”

Shortly before his death (at the age of 60, and due to a brain tumor), he was present for the recording by his friend Michael Dussek of several piano pieces of his own composition, - all charming, witty and approachable.

Clifford Benson by Trevor with interjections from WIBB (William Bennett) - From the pulpit of Tudely Church

In our short time here, we must count ourselves lucky if we meet someone who enriches and influences our lives to such an extent that it would have been a rather empty life without them. Such a person was Clifford. Many hundreds of folks who have met him, played with him, or been taught by him have been so influenced by his kindness, amiability, and helpfulness.

A few months ago, William Bennett and I were talking about how short his life had been: He had only had 60 years. Wibb remarked, ‘Yes, but what a 60 years! How many people do what he has done in their lives? He’s had 60 amazing years and many would envy him that’. He was lucky to have such a wonderful wife and family through a large part of that time.

WIBB: I have been playing with Clifford since 1961 or 1962, and since the classes with Moyse in Canterbury and Trevor’s and my recording of Victorian music, I have played the vast majority of my concerts with Clifford all over the world. There is no other pianist with whom I would rather play; he had music coming out of every pore in his body. No matter whom he played with, he had some psychic sense that told him where they would breathe, and while he could accommodate their vagaries, he also had a great power of leadership, and would show the player the way forward simply through his fabulous playing and musicianship. This meant that it was not necessary to discuss very much in rehearsals - one simply followed him. He had perfect pitch, and could play all sorts things at the drop of a hat. He had had a wonderful musical education through his parent’s home music making, and not only knew a vast amount of popular and light music, but also knew instinctively the right rubato style. Once in a class he was reminded of the famous gavotte from the opera Mignon, and played it off the cuff with the standard Benson family rubato, which was a fantastic lesson for all present in how effective and essential is a flexible tempo. Sometimes he would appear to be asleep in a class while we were stuck on some flute technicality, and I would suddenly ask him to play a bit of Mozart’s "Exultate Jubilate" in some strange key, and with barely any hesitation, he would launch himself into a most exciting performance. At other times we would be working on a study for solo flute and I would ask "Clifford, could you play that for us in the style of Chopin, with triplets in the middle voice against the duplets in the melody?", The apparently sleeping Clifford would know the tune from having taken it in by ear, and deliver a rendition of the piece with often the most extraordinary harmonies which no one else could have dreamed of. (Chopin would have been amazed too)

He could play the violin quite respectably, but his first instrument had been the ukulele which he would play at parties accompanying himself in a song. He had a light tenor voice which he could use really effectively and his sad ballads, and a certain bit from Schubert’s Linden Baum, would regularly move me to tears.

Going on tour with him was always great. He quite often lost his tickets or passport, but it was always fun. When Geoffrey Gilbert first heard Clifford playing a Recital at the Ramsgate Summer School, he said that he had not heard piano playing like that since hearing Rachmaninoff in the late 1930`s.

That was from Wibb

TW: What always struck me when we performed together was his extraordinary ability to predict what I was going to do. Most pianists ‘follow’. Clifford never did that; he played with the player and often led. It made rehearsing easy, so much so that we spent very little time rehearsing. It was such a pleasure to play freely and have complete confidence in him, something very rare in my experience. Besides that, he played so lyrically! It was always beautiful.

In these past months, while doing my Carnival show, I have sorely missed looking back at him to see him giggling at my silly jokes.

All over the world, there are players whose lives brushed by Clifford but who still remember him with affection and respect.

For many years, on our summer courses, we shared an apartment together. It was my habit to get up early, often at 6 or 6.30 and make the tea. Then followed the ‘morning opera’ based on Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten... (Singing) ‘I am making the tea........ Would you like some? A silence for a moment, and then the Clifford giggle came from his room. (Singing) ‘Yes – yes – yes – yes...yes, yes , yes, yes, ..Please’ ‘Shall I bring it to your room?’ ‘If you would be so kind...’ This vocal dialogue would continue sometimes even to breakfast, to the amusement of anyone listening.

Then we had this Abbreviation Game, (or AG, as we say in the Trade). Large sections of our conversation was Reduced To Abbreviations. (Or RTA, as we say in the Trade!) At dinner, I might ask him, ‘Cliff, WYLSMB(As we say in the trade)’ He would think hard...then I would have to explain, ‘Would You Like Some More Beer?’.’ This always got a laugh from him especially when the abbreviations were tediously long and he couldn’t guess them or they were especially funny.

I only found out at a post-master class party in America a couple of years ago that he was read poetry because we each had chosen to read a poem as our contribution to the party entertainment.

Clifford’s love of people was one of his most endearing gifts. He really liked people. A poem of Leigh Hunt’s, called, Abu Ben Adham comes to mind where, Abu Ben Adam (May his tribe increase!) was asleep and dreaming, when an angel appeared. The angel told him that he had a list of names of all those who loved the Lord God. Ben Adham asked, ‘Is my name on that list?’ The angel told him ‘No’. Ben Adham asked the angel to write down that he loved his fellow man the most. The next night, again Ben Adham was again dreaming: this time the angel told him: ‘I have a list of names of all those whom God loves the most, and yours, Ben Adham, is at the top of the list! When I read that poem, it often reminds me of Clifford.

Clifford was never one to be shy at joining in: At one end-of-Course party, we were taken away by a couple of ladies, stripped, made up and Dressed In Drag. (or DID, as we call it in the Trade!) We had the lot; bouffant hairstyle (that was some years ago!!) make up, and with high heeled shoes. Only later, we realised that the teenagers at the Flute Choir camp had taken photographs of us dancing together and sent them to their parents. ‘Look Mom! These were our teachers, the English professors at the flute class!’ We prudently decided not to do that again!

His patience was often sorely tested with flute players and as we all know, they are not amongst the most intelligent of mortals! Yet he never got impatient with them. At our Albuquerque Summer Class, a student was playing a sonata with him. He stopped her to ask, ‘What kind of chord am I playing under your middle A in bar 34?’ She thought for a moment, looked up at him and said, ‘I don’t do chords’ (This was later reduced to DDC...Don’t Do Chords!)

Finally from Wibb: . It has always been a pleasure to do things in your company and you have breathed life and understanding into several millions of black dots, and shared those pleasures with everybody with total generosity and everyone around you loved and admired you for it. We will always remember you, especially when performing because you are still here, guiding us with your wonderful example. Thank you from Wibb.

TW: After coming off stage from a concert, we usually had the following conversation: I would start by saying, ‘Benson... I think I should tell you that tonight. you played one or two Rather Good Notes.’ (or...RGN, as we say in the Trade!) ‘Oh, Thanks Trevor! Which ones were they?’ ‘Well, there was an F# in the slow movement I rather liked, and then there was a very nice D in the last movement. I just thought you should know because it’s important that you feel encouraged, I think’! ‘Yes it is indeed most kind of you’ he would say.

............Well, today, I have a confession to make: ‘Benson, I lied...! You played Millions of Good Notes (or MGN, as we say in the Trade!). You have been playing millions of lovely notes all of your life. Wibb, Levon and I, and many others the world over, will miss you enormously Trevor Wye