Cape Cod Times - Flutist: From open mic to NYC concert

https://www.capecodtimes.com/entertainmentlife/20200312/flutist-from-open-mic-to-nyc-concert

Article appeared on March 12, 2020, and was written by Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll

Open Mic Classical in Brewster inspires musician to go back to the flute;

Flutist Carl Gutowski has made it to New York’s Carnegie Hall, by way of a Brewster church’s Open Mic Classical program.

Gutowski, a longtime software engineer with homes in Brewster and New York’s Hudson Valley, will perform on March 21 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. He won the opportunity through an audition with the Association of Classical Musicians and Artists.

His concert will include the world premiere of composer Debra Kaye’s “a deafening silence – an elegy,” a piece he commissioned in memory of his brother Paul, and Ian Clarke’s “Hypnosis,” with pianist Toshiko Jones.

Gutowski had stopped playing flute for more than 20 years, according to press information, as he raised a family and pursued his career. Four years ago, he drove by First Parish Brewster UU Church on Route 6A and saw a sign for its monthly Open Mic Classical program.

Intrigued, he began to practice, and, after a month, he attended, performing Gabriel Faure’s “Morceau de Concours” with pianist Lucy Banner. He returned again and again, inspired by the encouragement he received, he says in a press release, and then began playing in recitals and chamber music concerts around Cape Cod, the Hudson Valley and New York City.

His next local show after Carnegie Hall: “A Musical Tapestry” June 7 with pianist Ana Glig at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth.