Stokes, Sheridon

He is a flautist specialising in contemporary music, composer, producer, teacher and author who was born in Los Angeles and began studying the flute when he was eight years old. When he was just sixteen he played with the Denver Symphony as a piccolo soloist.

He studied on a scholarship at the University of Southern California and when he was just 20 years old he was working as a piccolo player for the 20^th Century Fox Orchestra and was the youngest contract musician in Hollywood.

In 1975 he recorded as a member of the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Orchestra and has since also performed as First Flute with the Glendale Symphony since the late 1980s and in 1996 was First Flute with the Hollywood Festival Orchestra for their Video and CD of Three Sopranos. The following year he could be heard as Principal Flute with the Hollywood Academy Awards Orchestra and has performed with them several times since. Other orchestras he has lent his talents to include the Harlem, Houston and San Francisco Ballets.

This was the beginning of an incredibly successful career that has seen him performing on literally thousands of TV and movie soundtracks, often as a soloist, most notably on the theme from Mission Impossible.

A few of these movie and TV soundtracks include Apollo 13, The Color Purple, The Dead Pool, The Enforcer, E.T., Ghost, Kung Fu, Independence Day, Jaws, Jumanji, Out of Africa, Patriot Games, Roots, Rush Hour II, Scent of A Woman, The Scorpion King, Spitfire Grill, Star Trek: Nemesis, Stripes and Titanic, where he played the solo on “My Heart Will Go On”.

He has performed several premiers such as “Concerto” for flute and orchestra by John Williams and “On the Wings of the Wind” for solo flute and orchestra by Harry Bulow. He has also worked with hundreds of artists and musicians during his career with just a few of these including Christina Aguilera, Paul Anka, David Arnold, George Duke, Randy Edelman, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Jascha Heifetz, Jelly, Minnie Riperton, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa.

His album output is massive and a small selection includes his releases Boccherini: Six Sonatas, Caliendo: Torbellino – 10 Tangos for Flute and Guitar, Chihara: Willow, Willow, Lazarof: Chamber Music, Levitch: Quintet for Flute and Strings as well as Be Not Nobody by Vanessa Carlton, 40/40 by The Carpenters, Still Unforgettable by Natalie Cole, Hard Time For Lovers by Judy Collins,When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick Jr., The Movie Album: As Time Goes By by Neil Diamond, A Christmas to Remember by Amy Grant, Ultimate Mancini by Henry Mancini, The Greatest Songs of the Eighties by Barry Manilow, That’s What Friends Are For by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams and A Merry Little Christmas by Linda Ronstadt.

As a composer his works include “Bon Voyage” for flute and 6-string bass, “Laisse Le Voler” for flute and marimba, “Robin Hood Fantasy” for solo bas flute, “Irish in the Lowlands”, Soulscapes and Timeline and he performed a concert of his works along with other pieces at the NFA Annual Convention in San Diego in 2005.

As a producer he produces CDs with his sister Kathy Stokes who is a singer and teacher or piano and vocal studies.

Highly acclaimed for his work as a flautist he was presented with the MVP Award by the Natonal Academy of Arts and Sciences annually from 1981 to 1983 and presented with their Emeritus Award in 1984.

In the field of musical education he joined the faculty of UCLA in 1972 as a flute instructor and has since directed the UCLA Flute Consort. He has also held masterclasses in Washington state and in Benidorm, Spain.

As an author his Special Effects for the Flute and Illustrated Method for Flute have been published internationally with the latter being translated into Japanese.

Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams recordings
Emotion (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb)
S CBS 6164B (UK 45)

Sources:

Stokes, Sheridon

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