Solo Flutist Michele McGovern

Solo flutist Michele McGovern has become a sensation on YouTube and Vimeo. After receiving full scholarships to the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, Ms. McGovern earned a bachelor and master’s degree in Music Performance. After school, Michele entered and won several music compositions. Solo flutist Michele McGovern spoke in an interview about her mentor, teacher, and colleague Melody Lord. It was Ms. Lord, who encouraged Ms. McGovern to pursue her career as a musician. The first step was entering competitions, so she could begin to gain recognition.

As solo flutist Michele McGovern was beginning to get noticed for her many first place honors, she was recognized by the Musicians Club of Women, who awarded her the coveted Farwell Award on two separate occasions. The career of solo flutist Michele McGovern began to take off, and she was invited to play for many highly-regarded orchestras, such as Mozart's D Major Concerto, Mozart's Andante, Vivaldi's Il Gardellino Concerto, Vivaldi's La Notte Concerto, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 for two flutes and violin with flutist Mary Stolper and violinist Rachel Barton Pine, and Lukas Foss' For Toru with Lukas Foss conducting.

Melody was a huge influence and part of solo flutist Michele McGovern’s career. She took piano lessons from Ms. Lord and later worked with her for twelve years before her untimely death. During their time as colleagues they completed several arrangements, including Moonlight Sonata for flute and piano that was based on Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (Mvt. #1).  Their collection of arrangements also included Carmen for flute and piano. Solo flutist Michele McGovern and renowned pianist Melody Lord also performed together on several occasions, including at New York City's Carnegie Hall in the Weil recital hall. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall, Michele was also invited to record with the Saint Petersburg Camerata in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Solo flutist Michele McGovern enjoyed a long engagement with the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra as Principle Flute for 12 years. After Melody passed away, Michele began working on a tribute video for her teacher, colleague, mentor, and friend. The culmination would be the award-winning Moonlight video on YouTube.  The video incorporates a tragic love story told through the Moonlight Sonata arrangement completed by Ms. McGovern and Ms. Lord.

Solo flutist Michele McGovern also stars in the video that takes place in the 1920’s. The characters are a flutist and a pianist. The woman (Evelyn Reed), played by Michele, goes off to Paris for her career leaving her fiancé, the pianist, in Chicago. Tragedy strikes in Paris leaving the man heartbroken and unable to perform, until he is visited by the ghost of his lost lover. Michele showcases her scope of talent in this successful video that she not only performs and acts in, but also wrote and produced.

To date, Ms. McGovern has released six crossover classical music videos on her YouTube and Vimeo channels.  Her videos include a mix of genres, original music, and covers with her hands on attention to detail and capturing the story of the music through video.