Continued from Page 4
“There used to be infomercials for
[Zamfi r’s] music on TV and I’d sit there
and I’d watching it because that was my
classroom. I’d see how he stood, his pos-
ture, his movement, so I tried to imitate
that as closely as possible,” Koreski said.
Romania considers the pan fl ute its
national instrument. The pan fl ute is also
popular in Koreski’s native Poland. His
father always encouraged him to look into
something cultural from east Europe.
Koreski’s fi rst pan fl ute and workbook
were purchased at Thiel’s Music when the
family lived in Astoria during the mid 80s
and early 90s.
Koreski was born in 1979 in Golden-
dale, Washington. The family later lived in
Fossil, Oregon, before coming to Astoria.
Playing a variety of pan fl utes
At the concert, Koreski plans to plays
eight or nine different types of pan fl utes.
He will play classical music selections for
solo pan fl ute on the east European pan
fl ute as well as South American Folk music
with Flamenco guitar, which Koreski will
play at the same time.
Koreski also has a self-playing cham-
ber organ he designed and crafted that will
accompany him.
“The pipe organ can basically play the
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Acoustic guitarist Alberto Benitez.
Pianist and organist Gary Becerra.
entire part of an orchestra,” Koreski said.
The pan fl ute, as it turns out, is the
grandfather of the pipe organ which was
modeled after the instrument.
He will play works by Bach, Mozart,
Tchaikovsky, Purcell and other classical
composers at the concert.
How the instrument works
Koreski makes the pan fl utes he plays
from bamboo. The pan fl ute is made of
several tubes, ranging from seven to 47
tubes, depending on the pan fl ute. Pan
fl utes used for playing classical music have
22 tubes. There are no fi nger holes like on
a modern fl ute.
“It all depends on which pipe you’re
blowing in, they each have their own tone
and then you can achieve other harmonic
or half tones and harmonics depending on
how you blow on the pipes,” Koreski said.
The pipes can change their pitch
depending on the angle the musician blows
at. Sound also only comes from the end
the player blows from as the other side is
plugged.
Vibrato is also important for playing the
pan fl ute to give it its rich, mystic tone.
Koreski learned how to built pan fl utes
from the musician Andres Gmelin when
Koreski was in Bolivia with the ensemble
he was playing with at the time. Koreski
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specializes in building east European style
pan fl utes.
Performing as a solo artist provides
Koreski a lot of freedom and fl exibility.
He has recorded many albums of solo pan
fl ute, including most recently “Serenity.”
Koreski will be joined by young musi-
cians from his church: acoustic guitarist
Alberto Benitez and pianist and organist
Gary Becerra.
Benitez said he was inspired to learn
and play acoustic guitar from his brother
and guitarist Andy McKee. He will play a
piece by Kalin Graham titled “Tears on My
Toes” at the concert.
Becerra, who has played piano since
he was nine years old, will be making his
organ playing debut at the concert with the
“Star Wars” Main Theme and Beethoven’s
“Fur Elise.”
Furthering his connection to Astoria,
Koreski said one of the fi rst concerts he
went to was at the Performing Arts Center.
“I really enjoyed that and for some rea-
son I could always envision myself playing
but in my mind I was always thinking the
Performing Arts Center,” Koreski said.
When he takes the stage, Koreski hopes
to bring a “greater sense of calm” to audi-
ences and “kind of an uplifting feeling so
that everybody kind of comes out fl oating
on a little cloud of air. I want everybody to
feel happy and inspired.”
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019 // 5