Professor Kathleen Chastain Retires

French and American flutist Kathleen Chastain joined the Oberlin Conservatory of Music faculty in 1993. Prior to that, she studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she later taught as assistant professor of flute with Michel Debost, Oberlin emeritus professor of flute. She also has served on the faculties of Baldwin Wallace University and the University of North Texas.

Chastain has appeared in solo and recital performances in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia, and she has performed as soloist with the Paris Chamber Orchestra, Versailles Chamber Orchestra, and the chamber orchestra of Toulouse, France, among others. She has been guest principal flutist with the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Daniel Barenboim, the St. Bart’s Festival Orchestra, and the Orchestre de L’Ile de France. She has appeared at some of the world’s most prestigious music festivals, including Curitiba, Brazil, St. Bart’s Music Festival in the French West Indies, and the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.

An enthusiastic contemporary music performer, Chastain has commissioned works by Tom Lopez and recorded works by Elliott Carter, Noel Lee, and David Felder. She premiered Lopez’s Espaces Pointillés for the AKI Contemporary Music Festival in Cleveland, and she has recorded with the Virgin, EMI, La Flûte Traversière, Arion, and Skarbo labels. Her CD with French pianist Laurent Boukobza includes works by Schumann, Schubert, Beethoven, and Hummel.

She enjoys living in Oberlin and Paris, France. Three of her four grandsons, Félix, Jonas and Raphaël live in Paris with their mother Jeanne Roth. The fourth grandson, Augustin Bernard, lives in New York City with his parents Charles and Aileen Debost. Chastain plans on visiting with them often and enjoying the best of both worlds.