Biography
Flutist Cynthia Bueker Ellis is a member of the Pacific Symphony, playing solo piccolo since 1979. The symphony recently returned from a triumphant debut at Carnegie Hall and an international tour to China in the 2017-2018 season. Her performance credits also include Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Pasadena Chamber Orchestra and the Cabrillo Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California. She has also served as the principal flutist for touring ballet companies on their Orange County stops including the Royal Ballet of London, American Ballet Theater, Stuttgart Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. In January of 1995, she was appointed Principal Flutist with the Opera Pacific Orchestra, a position she held until the company’s closing in 2009. She has recorded with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as well as on several major motion picture and cartoon soundtracks.
Ms. Ellis received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with Honors from California State University, Fullerton, and was chosen as Music Associates Outstanding Student of the Year upon completion of her work in 1983. Her many scholastic honors include membership to the honor societies of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi, and membership and listing in Outstanding Young Women of America for 1983. She was named as one of O.C. Metro Magazine’s “Ten Women Making a Difference” in March 2002 for her work in the field of music education. She has been published in Flute Talk magazine, a international educational journal, and was appointed editor of the “Let’s Talk Picc” column in May 2003. Frequently published in other journals, her most recent article was seen in the Spring 2020 California Music Teacher MTAC journal. She won the John and Mary Virginia Foncannon Chamber Music Scholarship from the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation in 2007, as well as the Pacific Symphony Chairman of the Board “Orchestra Hero” award.
Chamber music credits include performances in the Pacific Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Concerts and American Composers Festival Chamber Music Concerts, the Corona del Mar Baroque Festival, the Sonora Bach Festival, Fullerton Friends of Music Series and live broadcasts on KUSC’s Sundays Live! Concert Series. In March 2000, her chamber trio, Les Amis Musicalles, won first place in the National Flute Association Chamber Music Competition. The group has performed at NFA annual conventions in Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Texas, and San Diego, California. The trio commissioned several composers for new works, among them, Arni Egilsson, Bruce Broughten, and James Hopkins and released their first CD, “Beyond Beethoven” on the Centaur Label in February 2006. She currently performs as a member of the flute and harp duo Arioso, with Michelle Temple and their debut CD “Petite Delights: Romantic Music for Flute and Harp” was released in May 2016 on the Centaur label. Synergy, her trio with Jung-A Lee, piano, and David Chang, clarinet, concertizes frequently and will be the featured chamber music artists at the MTAC Convention, 2021.
Music education is an important facet of Cindy’s career. She served as instructor of flute at California State University, Fullerton, where she held a lectureship position and coached chamber music from 1985 to 2011. In October 2003, Ms. Ellis performed the world premiere of Stephen Maphar’s Sonata for Flute, Wind Ensemble and Women’s Choir, “The Celestial”, at CSUF. In addition, Cindy is an instructor for Pacific Symphony’s nationally recognized “Class Act” education and outreach program. She has served on the National Flute Association Pedagogy Committee and is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon. She was the Program Chair for the NFA’s annual convention held in Anaheim, CA, in 2010. In 2011, she was named Music Director of the Laguna Flutes, a 25 member flute ensemble which concertizes throughout Orange County. Cindy is currently on faculty at Vanguard University and Saddleback College. She was part of the teaching artist faculty at the International Piccolo Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2013 and has also lead masterclasses in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She was the master teacher for the MTAC virtual convention Flute Panel Master Class in July, 2020.
She will also be the featured flute artist at the 2021 MTAC virtual convention. She will host several live lectures/masterclasses and give a virtual performance with Synergy.
Ms. Ellis is a Powell Flutes artist.
Ms. Ellis received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with Honors from California State University, Fullerton, and was chosen as Music Associates Outstanding Student of the Year upon completion of her work in 1983. Her many scholastic honors include membership to the honor societies of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi, and membership and listing in Outstanding Young Women of America for 1983. She was named as one of O.C. Metro Magazine’s “Ten Women Making a Difference” in March 2002 for her work in the field of music education. She has been published in Flute Talk magazine, a international educational journal, and was appointed editor of the “Let’s Talk Picc” column in May 2003. Frequently published in other journals, her most recent article was seen in the Spring 2020 California Music Teacher MTAC journal. She won the John and Mary Virginia Foncannon Chamber Music Scholarship from the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation in 2007, as well as the Pacific Symphony Chairman of the Board “Orchestra Hero” award.
Chamber music credits include performances in the Pacific Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Concerts and American Composers Festival Chamber Music Concerts, the Corona del Mar Baroque Festival, the Sonora Bach Festival, Fullerton Friends of Music Series and live broadcasts on KUSC’s Sundays Live! Concert Series. In March 2000, her chamber trio, Les Amis Musicalles, won first place in the National Flute Association Chamber Music Competition. The group has performed at NFA annual conventions in Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Texas, and San Diego, California. The trio commissioned several composers for new works, among them, Arni Egilsson, Bruce Broughten, and James Hopkins and released their first CD, “Beyond Beethoven” on the Centaur Label in February 2006. She currently performs as a member of the flute and harp duo Arioso, with Michelle Temple and their debut CD “Petite Delights: Romantic Music for Flute and Harp” was released in May 2016 on the Centaur label. Synergy, her trio with Jung-A Lee, piano, and David Chang, clarinet, concertizes frequently and will be the featured chamber music artists at the MTAC Convention, 2021.
Music education is an important facet of Cindy’s career. She served as instructor of flute at California State University, Fullerton, where she held a lectureship position and coached chamber music from 1985 to 2011. In October 2003, Ms. Ellis performed the world premiere of Stephen Maphar’s Sonata for Flute, Wind Ensemble and Women’s Choir, “The Celestial”, at CSUF. In addition, Cindy is an instructor for Pacific Symphony’s nationally recognized “Class Act” education and outreach program. She has served on the National Flute Association Pedagogy Committee and is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon. She was the Program Chair for the NFA’s annual convention held in Anaheim, CA, in 2010. In 2011, she was named Music Director of the Laguna Flutes, a 25 member flute ensemble which concertizes throughout Orange County. Cindy is currently on faculty at Vanguard University and Saddleback College. She was part of the teaching artist faculty at the International Piccolo Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2013 and has also lead masterclasses in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She was the master teacher for the MTAC virtual convention Flute Panel Master Class in July, 2020.
She will also be the featured flute artist at the 2021 MTAC virtual convention. She will host several live lectures/masterclasses and give a virtual performance with Synergy.
Ms. Ellis is a Powell Flutes artist.
“Flutist Cynthia Ellis...brought moments of silken ensemble and gathering excitement to Debussy’s 1916 Sonata...”
The Los Angeles Times
(In review of Pacific Symphony Chamber Concert Series)
“Cynthia Ellis played a beguiling flute solo in the Entr’acte to Act 3.”
Orange County Register
(In review of Opera Pacific’s Carmen at the Orange County Performing Arts Center)
The Los Angeles Times
(In review of Pacific Symphony Chamber Concert Series)
“Cynthia Ellis played a beguiling flute solo in the Entr’acte to Act 3.”
Orange County Register
(In review of Opera Pacific’s Carmen at the Orange County Performing Arts Center)
