April Clayton, flute

Recognized as a leading flutist of her generation, April Clayton maintains an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and pedagogue.  She has performed in London, Zurich, Paris, Riva del Garda, Leipzig, Moscow, Vancouver, Mexico, throughout South Korea, New York City, and across the United States.  She plays in festivals around the world, including residencies at the Seminários Internacionais de Musica in Brazil, the Holder’s Season Festival in Barbados, the Wells Cathedral Concert Series, and the Aberystwyth Music Festival. April has performed in a concert of Mozart Concerti alongside fellow soloist Roberto Diaz, as a guest with the New York Woodwind Quintet, and has been featured in a cover story by Flute Talk magazine.  She joined the Burkart Flutes team in November 2017, becoming a Burkart Artist.

Dr. Clayton is Director and Artist Faculty for the Da Capo Alliance Paris Summer Flute Class and former Director of Chamber Music for the European American Musical Alliance Summer Program, held at l’Ecole Normale de Music de Paris and Scola Cantorum.  She is the Professor of Flute at Brigham Young University and Woodwind Studies Chair at The Gifted Music School.  As a chamber musician she performs frequently with the Orpheus Wind Quintet, a faculty ensemble at Brigham Young University.  She is also a member of the flute-viola-harp trio Hat Trick, and Principal Flute with the Utah Chamber Artists.  She has been a Guest Artist Instructor at the Conservatoire MJC du Vesinet and the Centre de Musique F. Hasselmann in France, as well as Manhattan School of Music.  Ms. Clayton taught the California State University at Fresno flute studio when a sabbatical replacement was needed in 2016, and has been a guest for flute clubs across the United States. 

A dedicated performer of new music, April Clayton gives numerous premiere performances and has collaborated with a long list of composers.  She presented a concert of premieres written for her in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2008 sponsored by Williams Flutes.  Her CD of flute concertos, Flute Horizons, features two concertos written for her by Todd Coleman and Murray Boren.  She received two “Best Performance” awards from the National Flute Association for her renditions of newly commissioned compositions.

April Clayton presented her 2003 debut solo recital at Carnegie Hall as Winner of the Artists’ International Debut Award.  Accolades for her playing from the New York Concert Review, Fanfare, American Record Guide, and Flute Talk magazines describe her playing using such terms as “stunning”, “dazzling”, “impeccable”, “[played] with total conviction”, “outstanding”, “thoroughly polished”, “beguiling”, “superb”, “elegant”, and “delectable”.   

At The Juilliard School, April Clayton was a Starr Doctoral Fellow and the youngest student to have been admitted to the D.M.A. program.  Ms. Clayton was Principal Flute and Concerto Soloist with the New York Lyric Orchestra.  She has been concerto soloist with orchestras across the country.  She is a four-time laureate of National Flute Association competitions, and her current and former students have won First Place awards in the NFA High School Soloist, Orchestral Audition, and Piccolo Artist Competitions as well as the Myrna Brown Competition.