Robert Cart (United States)

Advocacy Through Cultural Testimony and Historical Memory

 

Robert Cart’s nomination recognizes advocacy expressed through sustained artistic practice, where performance, storytelling, and historical preservation are inseparably linked. As founder and artistic director of Hope Will Never Be Silent, Cart has created an ongoing global initiative that places music by historically marginalized composers — LGBTQ+ composers, composers of color, Jewish composers, and women composers — at the center of public performance and remembrance.

His advocacy frames the flute as a narrative instrument, capable of conveying suppressed histories through performance combined with historical commentary, archival imagery, and spoken reflection.

In 2025, Cart’s work remained actively public-facing through concerts, filmed advocacy projects, and benefit performances supporting humanitarian and civil rights organizations.

Beyond performance, Cart’s leadership as Executive Director of the Marcel Moyse Society, his institutional service within major flute organizations, and his long-standing role as an educator reflect a multi-generational model of advocacy, grounded in dignity, visibility, and historical truth.

Alessandro Cilona (Italy)

Advocacy Through Heritage Preservation and Open Access

 

Alessandro Cilona is nominated for advocacy centered on the active transmission of flute heritage. His work bridges scholarly research, public education, performance contextualization, and open-access digital resources, ensuring that historical knowledge is not confined to academic circles.

Author of The Pedagogy of the Flute from the Nineteenth Century to Today, Cilona has reconstructed pedagogical lineages across major European and American flute traditions.

In 2025, his advocacy expanded through museum-based conference–concerts, public lecture-recitals, and international educational outreach.

A defining component of his advocacy is his collaboration with TraversoPractice.net on the open-access project Traverso Models through Europe in the 18th Century, transforming specialized research into a freely accessible global resource for performers, teachers, and students.

Cilona’s profile represents advocacy through historical literacy, preservation, and access to knowledge.

Christine Erlander Beard (United States)

Advocacy Through Institution Building and Social Engagement

 

Christine Erlander Beard’s advocacy is defined by action, continuity, and present-day relevance. She has reshaped the status of the piccolo through the founding of the International Piccolo Symposium — the first event worldwide devoted exclusively to the instrument — and through the creation of PiccoloHQ, the first global digital hub dedicated to piccolo repertoire, history, and community.

In 2025, her advocacy was especially visible through juried and invited international lecture-recitals connecting flute and piccolo performance with human rights, Holocaust remembrance, climate awareness, migration, and LGBTQIA+ representation. These projects were presented not only in concert halls, but also within museums, embassies, educational institutions, and public humanities forums.

Her work demonstrates advocacy as institutional leadership combined with artistic engagement, using flute and piccolo performance as tools for education, remembrance, and civic dialogue.

Fundamentally Flute (Canada)

Advocacy Through Access, Inclusion, and Community Care

 

Founded by Sara Hahn-Scinocco and Sarah MacDonald, Fundamentally Flute is nominated for its sustained advocacy of accessible and inclusive flute education. The platform supports a global community of over 900 members by focusing on core fundamentals presented through clear, manageable, and encouraging teaching models.

In 2025, Fundamentally Flute continued to offer free monthly challenges, guided exercises, and peer-supported learning in a non-competitive environment. Its advocacy lies in removing financial and psychological barriers, serving flutists often underserved by traditional instruction — adult beginners, returning amateurs, and students without reliable access to private lessons.

Through consistency, clarity, and community building, Fundamentally Flute exemplifies advocacy achieved through care, access, and sustainable musical growth.

Laura Chislett (Australia)

Advocacy Through Cultural Documentation and Preservation

with Stephanie McCallum, piano

Laura Chislett is nominated for her landmark 2025 project 100 Years of Australian Flute Music, a definitive act of advocacy through cultural preservation and documentation.

The recording creates a permanent, scholarly, and performatively authoritative record of a century of Australian flute composition, including nine world premiere recordings.

By curating works spanning 1924–2024 and amplifying voices often absent from international programming — particularly women composers and composers outside dominant European and North American centers — Chislett transforms a fragmented repertoire into an accessible global resource.

Accompanied by scholarly commentary, the album serves performers, educators, and researchers alike, positioning advocacy not as activism alone, but as long-term stewardship of musical heritage.

A Collective Vision of Advocacy

Together, the 2025 Flute Advocate Award nominees demonstrate that advocacy is not singular in form. It may emerge through:

▪︎ cultural testimony and remembrance,
▪︎ preservation of historical knowledge,
▪︎ institution and community building,
▪︎ educational access and inclusion, or
▪︎ the creation of enduring artistic resources.

Each nominee embodies advocacy as service to the flute community beyond the self, reinforcing the flute’s role as an instrument of meaning, memory, and connection.

The international judging panel now has access to the full nomination materials and detailed documentation for review and evaluation. Final results will be announced on January 10, 2026.