Tara Helen O’Connor — Flute

Tara Helen O’Connor is a charismatic flutist acclaimed for her artistic depth, brilliant technique, and colorful tone across every musical era. A highly sought-after chamber musician and soloist, she is a season artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a regular guest at festivals including Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart, Chesapeake Music, Summer Music at Banff, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival. Together with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips, she serves as Artistic Director of Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico.

A passionate collaborator, O’Connor is a founding member of the Naumburg Award–winning New Millennium Ensemble and a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape. She has appeared with the Orion, St. Lawrence, and Emerson String Quartets; performed on A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts and PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center; and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings, and Bridge Records.

O’Connor is equally devoted to teaching. She serves as Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Wind Department, and Chair of Classical Music Studies at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. She is also on the faculties of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music, and she is a visiting artist, teacher, and coach at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto.

Her honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, two Grammy Award nominations, and her longtime role as a Wm. S. Haynes Flute Artist.