Interview with Jan Gippo, Part I

What do you do when you have an opportunity to perform professionally on piccolo and find out that there just isn't much literature out there for the instrument? If you're Jan Gippo, you commission some works! Jan, the piccoloist for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, started out on flute, like just about everyone else. He also, of course, learned piccolo, but discovered that there really wasn't any pedagogy or methods for piccolo, per se, but only modified versions of flute techniques. When Gippo decided he wanted to play professionally, the competition for flute was so keen, he decided to aim for auditioning on piccolo.

One of his teachers was Lois Schaefer, formally the assistant principal to Julius Baker at Chicago, and later piccoloist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Gippo studied flute with her until coincidence and timing steered him towards piccolo. He had decided to study piccolo in order to prepare for a piccolo concerto that had a relatively easy orchestra part. At just about the same time, the Portland, Maine symphony needed a piccolo player. Finally, Gippo had just ordered a piccolo from Haynes (about the only good piccolo to be found in the late '60s.) It soon became glaringly apparent to him how little knowledge there really was about piccolo. Schaefer had developed her own piccolo pedagogy (studies) out of necessity, but had not developed alternate fingerings to help with tone color and intonation. No one had really set out to develop a good method for teaching and performing on piccolo until Gippo decided to do so himself.

When Gippo decided to expand his professional performance opportunities, he discovered that there really wasn't much in the way of good piccolo literature except for the Vivaldi concerti. In January of 1987, he commissioned music for piccolo from the National Flute Association. He ended up commissioning about 20 works. One of these commissioned works, Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra byLowell Libermann, will be performed with the symphony on November 6, 7, and 8 at Powell Symphony Hall. Because of his efforts, people are beginning to look at the piccolo as an instrument of choice rather than an extension of flute-playing abilities.

According to Jan, flautists can become successful piccoloists, but not with the same expertise. He likes the piccolo because of its expressiveness and tone colors. Shrillness only comes from improper playing. The instruments and the approaches to breathing and fingering are different if the piccolo is to be played correctly. The closest breath support analogy is comparing the support for piccolo to the support necessary to play oboe, with more resistance than is needed for flute.

I'm embarrassed to say, but our interview was cut short by the zapped power of my cell phone (I couldn't get access to my phone at school!), and Jan left soon afterwards with the symphony on their European tour, so Part II of this interview will be published on October 30. This second half will cover Jan's upcoming events and more suggestions for improved playing, based on his teacher and masterclass experiences.

In the meantime, if you would like more information on his concerto performance with the symphony, click on the above link to the symphony web site.