Press
Fantastic agility of technique … warm and passionate
– Boston Herald
Crystalline quality of tone, dexterous technique
and musicianship
– Daily Telegram, Worcester
Press Reviews
Sindelar / Buonocore Duo
Expert and extroverted
– The Boston Globe
Scarborough Chamber Players
With tours under the management of Alfred Kay and Associates of NYC, concerts throughout New England, and recordings of rarely heard works, Scarborough Chamber Players caught the attention of local and national press from 1979-1994.
The CD is a real delight, presenting an interesting collection of rarely heard works for soprano with chamber resources as simple as piano, flute, bassoon, and clarinet. .. Performances are excellent, and the recording approach is simple and direct….
John M. Eargle, Audio Magazine
Audio Magazine - June 1985
Chicago Tribune
May 22, 2006 – Caroline Vacha, Flutist – Obituary
… Soon, Mrs. Vacha became “the Grand Dame of the Chicago Lyric Opera and Chicago Ballet,” flutist Virginia Sindelar said. At Lyric Opera, Mrs. Vacha accompanied several acclaimed divas, including Maria Callas.
Although Mrs. Vacha was an integral member of these orchestras, the spotlight didn’t necessarily shine on her.
“She didn’t get the recognition she deserved,” Sindelar said. “Then again, what woman did in those days? But she helped engineer change for the women that followed.”
In addition to teaching her how to play the flute, Mrs. Vacha taught Sindelar and other students how to present themselves on and off the stage.
“She was the most elegant person I ever encountered,” Sindelar said. “She stressed that as a woman in a male-dominated profession, she always made sure she dressed and looked her best.”
Reflections from Virginia
I credit most of my inspiration to my first remarkable flute teacher Caroline Solfronk Vacha. I studied with her for 5 years when I lived in North Riverside, Illinois during my middle and high school years.She studied in the 1930’s at Juilliard with George Barrere (b. Bordeau, France 1876- d. New York 1944) one of the founding fathers of the French style of flute playing. By 1943 she was first flutist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and remained so for 3 years until the men came home from World War II. She then continued as the Grand Dame of the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Chicago Ballet. She not only was a great teacher but told stories of professionalism and perseverance necessary in competing in what was then a man’s musical world. She was the strongest woman I had ever met.
In The Press: Articles
Quincy: The Patriot Ledger, 1994
Joel Altman, Staff Reporter
Quincy: The Patriot Ledger, 1987
Constance Gorfinkle, Staff Reporter
Connecticut: Neighbors Magazine, 2024
Gretchen D'Andrea, Staff Reporter
All the world is a stage … especially a capacious 1730 farmhouse on the Glocester-Pascoag line.
Virginia Sindelar has been proving that since 2018, when she first started holding concerts at the historic Benjamin Smith Homestead, which was established nearly 300 years ago on what is today called Jackson School House Road. When she took it over, she named the place Grace Note Farm.
Sindelar, 79, a highly accomplished flutist, bought the venerable house and adjacent farmland in 1994. She had been engaged in a remarkable music career, performing and teaching, but a major auto accident in 1987 resulted in permanent damage to her neck that made it impossible for her to play the flute for a protracted period of time.
“I had experienced a severe whiplash, a permanent disability. I couldn’t practice. I couldn’t play.”
Music is her first love. Horses were her second. So, when she bought the farm, she embarked on a new course.
“I went from being a performing flutist to a gentle-woman farmer,” she says with a rueful smile, adding, “I knew nothing about farming. I had only ridden horses a couple of times. I had to figure out what to do, what to love. The farm was a big challenge.”
With an inspiration born of adversity, she eventually combined her loves, running the farm as a horse boarding facility and a site for guided trail rides, while later also establishing it as a location for classical music concerts.
The George Washington Management area in Glocester abuts her property and the scenic environs help to make it distinctive and inviting as an attraction for both functions.
The transformation of her career which blended her musical training and her intuitive plunge into equine-centric business endeavors was a risk, she acknowledges.
“I was always a hard worker. It gives you a lot of pride in what you accomplish when you make it happen,” she notes. Her achievements as a flutist certainly attest to the effort she put into her work and reaching her goals. “I have been a flutist since I was 10,” she explains. “It has given me a life. You have to love it so much that it’s all you want to do.” After a few minutes of conversation with her it is very clear that she does love it that much.
By the time she was 12 she was playing with the Chicago Symphony String Ensemble and the Chicago Youth Orchestra, and she appeared in All-State music competitions in Illinois. She went on to earn both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the famed Julliard School in New York City. There followed a Fromm Fellowship at Tanglewood for three summers, and she appeared as a soloist with the Berkshire Festival Orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller.
In her career she toured both North and South America presenting concerts and master classes, traveling to Alaska and Peru, among other destinations. She also performed at the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea as a guest of the government, and she was founder and artistic director of the Scarborough Chamber players in Squantum, Mass. In that position she commissioned new works and presented classical, historic, and multi-cultural series, and she received National Endowment for the Arts funding to bring programs to the public schools in Massachusetts.
Over time Sindelar also taught at three colleges and two private schools and gave private lessons. She also recorded three compact discs on the Centaur and Titanic labels. The injuries from the auto accident meant that she couldn’t continue to perform publicly for a long while, and she became the host and producer of cable TV performing arts programs for Cambridge Cable Vision in Massachusetts, interviewing performers and composers. In addition, she consulted for other arts organizations.
Accidents were not finished plaguing her, though. A mishap with a horse resulted in a serious ankle and foot injury. She was told in 1996 that she would never walk again. In 2020 she suffered a serious concussion and a broken spine. Somewhat amazingly, though, she has fought back against all her injuries aided by physical therapy and a powerful will. She also credits working on the farm as a helpful antidote to the effects of the earlier injuries.
“I think I needed to do physical work to offset the pain,” she comments. However, she says that the doctors were not optimistic about her recovery from the more recent injuries. Nevertheless, she has overcome much of the debilitation. “I healed. It was like a miracle. I guess I can’t stay away from the flute and music. The desire, the stamina, the ease of playing all came back,” she declares with a tone of wonderment.
As has been the case through much of her life, she attributes her amazing resilience to her passion for music. “It is very restorative. It is inspiring. It is fulfilling,” she observes.
The Grace Note Music at the Farm series that she has been hosting for five years absorbs a good deal of her attention. It seems to reward her efforts with an infusion of energy and a sense of deep satisfaction. She relishes the opportunity to discover up-and-coming talent. “Not everyone carries that deep, deep indefinable thing. To be a soloist is a very special talent. You have to have that electric spark and a big, big heart,” she states softly. The concert series consists of nine concerts a year featuring distinguished young artists. Included is a four-part summer music festival organized by Sindelar and her associate artistic director, the rapidly rising violinist David Bernat. This year it took place in June.
Next up is a performance on Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. by international classically trained artists cellist Yunwen Chen and pianist Xiyu Deng. They will perform J.S. Bach, Beethoven Sonata Number 1, and Brahms Sonata in E Minor. For information and tickets call 401-567-0354.
“I love all this,” says Sindelar. “I want to hear a lot more great music before I go, and care for animals that need homes. That’s my plan.”
Laurence J. Sasso, Jr.