Zart Dombourian-Eby - Piccolo and Flute

Zart Dombourian-Eby is the principal piccoloist (Robert and Clodagh Ash Chair) of the Seattle Symphony, and is regularly featured as both a flute and piccolo soloist with the orchestra. Her performances have consistently received highest praise from both critics and audiences: the Seattle Times review of her performance of Gunther Schullerís Concerto for Flute and Piccolo bore the headline "It was a night for flute/piccolo artistry", and described her playing as "spectacular" and "phenomenal". Music Director Gerard Schwarz has called her "without peer."

A native of New Orleans, she received her B.A. and M.M. degrees from Louisiana State University. After a year of study in Houston with Albert Tipton, she attended Northwestern University, where she earned a Doctor of Music degree under the tutelage of Walfrid Kujala, and also coached with Donald Peck. Her doctoral paper, The Piccolo in the Nineteenth Century, represents the only extensive research ever undertaken on the piccolo in that era.

Ms. Dombourian-Eby has performed on concert series and given masterclasses throughout the country, including her own week-long classes in Seattle in the summer. She has been a member of the New Orleans Pops, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Colorado Philharmonic, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has performed with the Chicago Symphony. She has served on the faculties of the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University.

She was the founding editor of Flute Talk and is on the Editorial Board for the Flutist Quarterly. She has served twice on the National Flute Association's Board of Directors, and has been a featured soloist and teacher at numerous NFA conventions. She was the recipient of an Artists Trust Award in 2001. She has commissioned numerous compositions, including two works for piccolo and piano by Martin Amlin, and her edition of the Vivaldi piccolo concertos was recently published by Theodore Presser. Her solo CD, in shadow, light, is available on Crystal Records.