Highly regarded as an educator, clinician, soloist, new music specialist, and chamber and orchestral musician, flutist Dr. Erin Helgeson Torres has performed and taught throughout the United States and abroad in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Austria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, China, and Canada. She is Assistant Professor of Music at Ohio Northern University where she teaches the flute studio and various musicology courses. Erin has served as Artist Faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan and is the founder of the Mid-Ohio Flute Intensive, entering its seventh season.
Principal Flutist with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, Erin she also performs with the LSO Woodwind Quintet on "Mornings with the Maestro" and "Symphony Storytime" at area libraries. She looks forward to the world premiere of Evan Williams's Mountains Upon Mountains, Like Waves Upon Waves, a concerto for flute and saxophone in April 2024 with LSO and has previously soloed on Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto. She also serves as Principal Flutist of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra and Queen City Opera, Acting Principal of Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra, and Solo Flutist with the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble (CODE), a contemporary music ensemble. She performs regularly in various area orchestras including the West Virginia, Louisville, Central Ohio, Springfield, and Westerville Symphonies and and as associate musician with the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she performs in the flute/saxophone duet, Tower Duo, with her husband, Dr. Michael Torres. Their debut album, CROSSWIND, under the Ravello label for Parma Recordings was released in January 2019.
Active as a soloist, Erin most recently completed a performance tour through the Balkans as a solo artist on the Derek Han Tribute Concert Series, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy. She performed as concerto soloist with the North Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra in Skopje, North Macedonia and Pristina, Kosovo, and the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet in Tirana, Albania in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of U.S. - Albania diplomatic relations. Earlier in the summer of 2022, she performed as a guest soloist with the Lima Area Concert Band.
As a faculty member at Ohio Northern University, she toured China as a teaching artist and guest of the Chamber of Commerce in 2016. She also completed a two-week tour through China with the New Sousa Band under Keith Brion in December 2010. As an undergraduate, she received grants to study pedagogy in France and the UK and presented this research at the 2007 Florida Flute Festival. In 2008, Erin went to Austria and performed with the American-Austrian Mozart Academy Orchestra in the Salzburg Festival.
Her DMA Document is entitled, “Flute Articulation Pedagogy: The Effect of Language-Specific Consonant Pronunciation on a Flutist’s Articulation within the French and English Languages.” This research was conducted in Dijon, France in March 2012 and was funded by the 2011 Sigma Alpha Iota National Career Grant. Subsequently, Erin was awarded the 2013 Peter A. Costanza Award for Outstanding DMA Document.
Erin holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, The Ohio State University and Stetson University. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her saxophonist husband, Michael, and their rescue ex-racer greyhound, Arwen.
Please email Erin for Full Biography or Press Materials.
Principal Flutist with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, Erin she also performs with the LSO Woodwind Quintet on "Mornings with the Maestro" and "Symphony Storytime" at area libraries. She looks forward to the world premiere of Evan Williams's Mountains Upon Mountains, Like Waves Upon Waves, a concerto for flute and saxophone in April 2024 with LSO and has previously soloed on Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto. She also serves as Principal Flutist of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra and Queen City Opera, Acting Principal of Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra, and Solo Flutist with the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble (CODE), a contemporary music ensemble. She performs regularly in various area orchestras including the West Virginia, Louisville, Central Ohio, Springfield, and Westerville Symphonies and and as associate musician with the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she performs in the flute/saxophone duet, Tower Duo, with her husband, Dr. Michael Torres. Their debut album, CROSSWIND, under the Ravello label for Parma Recordings was released in January 2019.
Active as a soloist, Erin most recently completed a performance tour through the Balkans as a solo artist on the Derek Han Tribute Concert Series, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy. She performed as concerto soloist with the North Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra in Skopje, North Macedonia and Pristina, Kosovo, and the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet in Tirana, Albania in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of U.S. - Albania diplomatic relations. Earlier in the summer of 2022, she performed as a guest soloist with the Lima Area Concert Band.
As a faculty member at Ohio Northern University, she toured China as a teaching artist and guest of the Chamber of Commerce in 2016. She also completed a two-week tour through China with the New Sousa Band under Keith Brion in December 2010. As an undergraduate, she received grants to study pedagogy in France and the UK and presented this research at the 2007 Florida Flute Festival. In 2008, Erin went to Austria and performed with the American-Austrian Mozart Academy Orchestra in the Salzburg Festival.
Her DMA Document is entitled, “Flute Articulation Pedagogy: The Effect of Language-Specific Consonant Pronunciation on a Flutist’s Articulation within the French and English Languages.” This research was conducted in Dijon, France in March 2012 and was funded by the 2011 Sigma Alpha Iota National Career Grant. Subsequently, Erin was awarded the 2013 Peter A. Costanza Award for Outstanding DMA Document.
Erin holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, The Ohio State University and Stetson University. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her saxophonist husband, Michael, and their rescue ex-racer greyhound, Arwen.
Please email Erin for Full Biography or Press Materials.
Tower Duo
Tower Duo is a flute and saxophone ensemble based in Columbus, Ohio that specializes in creating engaging musical experiences with a particular interest in performing and premiering contemporary works by living composers. Tower Duo, whose members are flutist, Erin Helgeson Torres and saxophonist, Michael Rene Torres, has been performing together since 2007 and gave its inaugural recital at the Brevard Music Center Festival and Institute in North Carolina. The duo has since performed all across the United States at universities, conferences, and festivals. Highlights include the Omaha Chamber Music Society’s Eko Nova series, the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s Re:Sound New Music Festival, and multiple North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial conferences. Tower Duo recently recorded their debut album, Crosswind, which features the duo’s favorite collaborations with composers from the first decade of their artistic work. Crosswind was released under the Ravello for PARMA Recordings label in January of 2019.
Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble (CODE New Music)
CODE is a new music ensemble in Central Ohio that is dedicated to the promotion, performance, and perception of contemporary concert music in our community. With a special interest in collaborating with Ohio composers and Ohio performing artists, CODE presents a variety of musical styles and aesthetics while searching for innovative ways to meaningfully engage Ohio audiences with substantive new music. Inspired by Columbus’ innovative spirit, CODE explores our city's willingness to hear new sounds and to discover new music. Please check out our website at your earliest convenience!
Many thanks to Perry Bennett for the photos on this website!
Photo Credit: Perry Bennett Photography
www.perrybennett.com
Photo Credit: Perry Bennett Photography
www.perrybennett.com