Carol Wincenc is among the most accomplished U.S. flutists, premiering many new works by American composers and mentoring many younger players as an educator. Wincenc ("Win-sense") was born in Buffalo, New York, on June 29, 1949. Her father was a conductor and a professor, and her mother was a pianist. Her father gave her violin lessons beginning at age four, but after she switched to the flute at nine, she began to make rapid progress. As a teen, Wincenc studied with flute virtuoso Severino Gazzelloni. She did her undergraduate work at the Oberlin Conservatory, studying with Robert Willoughby and at the Manhattan School of Music. She went on for a master's degree at the Juilliard School; her teacher there was Arthur Lora. Wincenc performed with various ensembles and then joined the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota in the 1970s. When she took first prize at the 1978 Naumburg Competition, she launched a solo career. She performed widely and made many recordings for the Musical Heritage Society LP subscription service. Wincenc taught at Rice University and has been on the faculty at the Juilliard School since 1988. Wincenc released an album of Mozart's flute quartets with the Emerson String Quartet on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 1991. In 1994, she gave the world premiere of Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto. The following year, she issued the album Joan Tower: Black Topaz on New World Records, and since then, much of her recording and performing career has been devoted to contemporary music. She has premiered works by top composers, including Tobias Picker, Peter Schickele, and Henryk Górecki (the Concerto-Cantata). In 2004, Wincenc performed the work Passover Offering on a Naxos recording of compositions by Yehudi Wyner; the album earned a Grammy award nomination. She earned a lifetime achievement medal from the National Society of Arts and Letters in 2014. In 2022, Wincenc released the album Air in Motion: Pierre Jalbert on the Orchid Classics label. ~ James Manheim, Rovi