OUT NOW | Flutist Julie Scolnik Releases Debut Memoir

Julie Scolnik is a concert flutist and the founding artistic director of Mistral Music – a chamber music series founded in 1997 that became known for its noted artists, innovative programming, and rapport with its audiences.

In her earlier years, Scolnik performed as principal flute with leading orchestras including Emmanuel Music, The Boston Ballet, and the Boston Lyric Opera. Since then, she has been a regular guest on Boston’s WCRB radio – having made over 30 radio appearances. 

Her book, Paris Blue: A Memoir of First Love, starts in 1976 when Scolnik was a 20-year-old student arriving in Paris to study flute. She writes of her encounter with first love, heartbreak, and experiences in the concert halls of Paris in the late 70s. 

Scolnik’s collaborators have included conductor Sir Simon Rattle with whom she recently organized concerts to support cancer patients after her own battle with the illness in 2005. The performances were held at Boston’s Jordan Hall and Hotel de Ville de Paris, for the League Contre le Cancer. 

Her book was inspired by a quote that deeply resonated with Scolnik from American poet Maya Angelou who said: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

“For over forty years I knew I had a story that I would someday need to tell, one that goes beyond a simple tale of first love,” Scolnik told The Violin Channel. “The memoir covers several decades of my life, so it is also very much about the role of memory in our lives.”

She hopes readers will take away the sentiment "that our memories are not to be deleted and canceled, but treasured, whatever the outcome."

The book has won several literary awards including the New England Book Festival winner in the Memoir category, the Independent Press Awards: Distinguished Favorite in Memoir, and the Literary Titan Silver Medal Award.

Scolnik tells us that now the book has been published, she misses the process of putting it all together — a feat that has spanned over decades of reflection and self-awareness.

To purchase and read Paris Blue: A Memoir of First Love, click here.

The book trailer can be watched below.

Skolnik lives in Boston with her husband, physicist Michael Brower, and has two children, pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower and cellist Sasha Scolnik-Brower who often perform together. 

Having created albums with her children before, Julie will be releasing the complete Bach Flute Sonatas with her daughter in the fall of 2022 with Parma Records.