DUNKEL Paul Lustig

Paul Lustig Dunkel’s (1943-2018) career accomplishments represent what an extremely talented person who seeks the maximum pleasure from music and life can achieve. One of the renowned flutists on the New York music scene for the past 50 years, his playing represents the great 20^th Century tradition of American flute playing. He studied flute with Robert Di Domenica, William Kincaid and Sam Baron. In 1966, Paul won a Silver Medal at the Birmingham International Woodwind Competition—the event that helped launch the solo career of the Gold Medal winner, James Galway.

Shortly after this competition, Paul became a first-call flutist during the heyday of the New York freelance scene in the 1960s—1980s. He served as principal flute of the American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra (which he helped create with Dennis Russell Davies), and the New York City Ballet Orchestra. His chamber music affiliations included Speculum Musicae, Musica Aeterna, Ars Nova, and the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. 

In the 1970s, he began to turn his attention to conducting and began studying with Leon Barzin. He was the recipient of the American Symphony Orchestra's Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award in 1981. Subsequently, Paul conducted the American Composers Orchestra, the Westchester Philharmonic, (which he founded and was music director for 25 years), and the Denver Chamber Orchestra. His lifelong affinity for contemporary music has inspired many through his performances as a flutist and in his programming as a conductor. His recording of Melinda Wagner’s Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion (which he commissioned) with the Westchester Philharmonic, received the Pulitzer Prize in 1999.