Valerie Coleman
| Valerie Coleman | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | VColeman |
| Origin | Louisville, Kentucky, |
| Genres | Various (Classical, Jazz, Soul, etc.) |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, Flutist, Educator |
| Instruments | Flute |
| Years active | 1997-present |
| Labels |
Naxos Records Blue Note Records E1 Music International Opus |
| Associated acts | Imani Winds |
| Website | VColemanMusic.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Western concert flute | |
Valerie Coleman (born Louisville, Kentucky) is an American composer and flutist best known for her contributions to wind chamber music and for founding the wind quintet, Imani Winds, in 1997. She has released a number of studio albums with the group, one of which was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2005.
A graduate of Mannes College of Music and taught by musicians such as Julius Baker, her compositions frequently incorporate diverse styles such as jazz with classical music and political or social themes. Her piece Umoja in 2002 was listed as one of the "Top 101 Great American Works" by Chamber Music America.
Valerie Coleman was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, in the same West End inner city neighborhood where Muhammad Ali was raised. Her father died when she was nine, and her mother raised Coleman and her sisters as a single working mother.
Even as a toddler Coleman recollects picking up sticks in the backyard and pretending they were flutes, and she started her formal music education in fourth grade, at age eleven. She immediately started to write down music, and soon started writing symphonies as a hobby, using the portable organ she had at home. By the age of fourteen she had written three full-length symphonies and won several local and state competitions, as well as participating as a flutist in youth orchestra. She is an alumnus of Louisville Male Traditional High School.
Coleman and all her sisters attended college, and she earned a double B.A. in theory/composition and flute performance from Boston University. She then graduated with a Masters Degree in flute performance from Mannes College of Music. Coleman studied flute with Julius Baker, Alan Weiss, Judith Mendenhall, Doriot Dwyer, and Mark Sparks, and composition with Martin Amlin and Randall Woolf.
...
Wikipedia