U.S. flutists are divided into two classes: those who have and those who have not studied with William Morris Kinkaid.
The Haves occupy the first-flute chair of virtually every major U.S. orchestra; the Have-Nots are often unemployed. Last week Kinkaid made a televised farewell appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where for almost 40 years he has been demonstrating that he plays the flute better than anybody else in the land.
Holding the $6,000 platinum flute long familiar to Philadelphia audiences, he launched into Kent Kennan's Night Soliloquy. Not even the uncertainties of TV sound could obscure Kinkaid's pure, clear and...