Dr. Robert David Billington, flute
Dr. Rene Gonzalez, Guitar
The Islander News, Key Biscayne, Fl
“........his command of guitar dynamics, timbres and effect was precise and impressive.”
“...Scarlatti Sonatas were airy and delicate...”
The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, GA
“...delicate tone,simple acoustics and total reliance on the touch of the fingers created a mood of intimacy...”
The Hurricane, Coral Gables, FL
“...has the facility to produce the effect of multiple instruments on one guitar with enviable facility.”
"Also on last night's program was Shun-san for solo flute, by Kazuo Fukushima, a Japanese composer. Robert Billington played the short work, which combines an Oriental style and sound in a Western structural framework. The sometimes breathy, sometimes steely tones, the microtones, simultaneously sounded tones and a host of other effects were all well-played by Billington." Owen Hardy, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY
". . . I was quite impressed with the flutist, Robert Billington." John Schuster-Craig, The Louisville Times, Louisville, KY
". . . Hurry, Ye Happy Shepherds, beautifully sung, and excellently accompanied by solo flute, played by Robert Billington." Raymond Barr, Coral Gables Gazette, Coral Gables, FL
"Conductor Doris Lang Kosloff and players seemed to work well together, resulting in nice string articulation (with fine violins in Cortigliani), sweet flute phrasing (in the work’s echoed themes) and well-modulated dynamics." Robert Carreras, OperaToday.com.
"The playing included lustrous solo flute (Robert Billington) and harp (Ana Maria Bolivar) playing in the overture." Robert Carreras, OperaToday.com.".
On One-keyed Traverso
"In a beautifully coordinated Flute Quartet in D Major, Op. 41, No. 1 by Pleyel, the players fleshed out the music with natural inflections and tasteful nuances. From the start, the Pleyel flowed like a lively conversation between four friends. . . the Pleyel bloomed with Billington's velvety soft sound." Sharon McDaniel, the Palm Beach Post.
"...there was some very attractive work here, and the audience gave the Camerata a warm reception. Perhaps most notable was the playing of flutist Robert Billington, who offered pretty work in a sonata written by Nicholas Chedeville, a Vivaldi contemporary who published the music under the more famous composer’s name. Billington was also a fluid soloist in Il Gardellino, the D major flute concerto replete with bird song imitations that sounded much mellower than a modern performance thanks to the darker sound of the Baroque flute." Greg Stepanich, South Florida Classical Review.
Canadian-born flutist Robert David Billington earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree majoring in flute performance from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. He also has a Master of Music Degree majoring in flute performance from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, and a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in music from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI. Dr. Billington has also done post-graduate work at Ball State University in Muncie, IN, and at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne. His flute teachers have included Bernard Goldberg, Donald Peck, James Pellerite, Robert Aitken, Francis Fuge, and Arthur Kitti.
Dr. Billington is a free-lance flutist and flute instructor in the South Florida area. He has taught at the University of Miami, Boise State University, the University of Illinois, the University of Louisville Preparatory and Non-Credit Department, the Louisville Academy of music, and at Ball State University. His doctoral essay, "A Description and Application of Robert Aitken's Concept of the Physical Flute," demonstrates a means by which the flutist can control certain physical elements of flute playing to become a better flute player.
Dr. Billington currently performs as principal flutist of the Miami Lyric Opera Orchestra and performs on baroque flute with the Camerata del Re, an early music group. He concertizes with the Billington and Gonzalez Classical Flute and Guitar Duo and with the LGEM Trio, a flute, guitar, and percussion trio that performs Western Hemisphere popular and folkloric music. He has also has performed with numerous orchestras in the United States and with festival orchestras in Europe and has also been a soloist on Trinidad and Tobago Television.
Rene Gonzalez, Associate Professor (Classical Guitar), received B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Miami under the tutelage of Maestro Juan Mercadal. Director of the Classical Guitar program, Frost School of Music, University of Miami and nationally respected pedagogue, Dr. Gonzalez’ classroom method “The Advancing Classical Guitarist”, published by Ellis Family Music, Inc. is widely used by public and private schools throughout the U.S. He has presented numerous lectures, workshops and clinics for state and national music education conventions in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Arkansas, Utah, Nevada and Arizona. He was invited to conduct the Florida All-State Guitar ensemble for FMEA in 2012.
As an artist he has performed with such artists as Juan Mercadal, Victoria de los Angeles, the Fort Worth and Augusta symphony orchestras in chamber music and solo concerts in the U.S., Festival Internacional de Guitarra, Acapulco, Mexico; IV Internacional de Guitarra, Queretaro, Mexico; Latino sin Frontera Festival, Costa Rica; Festival Internacional de Guitarra, Puerto Rico; 15 th International guitar Festival, Czech Republic; Piani Musical 2009, Imperia, Italy, Festval Internazionale dell” Adriatico, Pescara, Italy 2010, Festival Internacional de la Musica Classica, Navas de San Juan, Spain, 2010 and at the Tennessee Guitar Festival and Competition June, 2011 at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.
His CD “The Hummingbird” was released in 2000 on the EFM label.
As an organizer, Rene Gonzalez was director of the “Guitar, Bass Guitar and Drum Set” summer camp since 1990 and of the annual Miami International Guitar Festival, hosted at the University of Miami in the month of June.