Countermelodies

2024 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Memoir
“A disturbing and compelling tale of resilience, determination, and musical passion.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Whitman has composed a remarkable work, a musical memoir that is symphonic in scope, emotional range, and musical nuance … she expertly weaves together themes of heart wrenching tragedy and despair with themes of uplifting joy and triumph. And pulsing beneath each word, sentence, and melodic phrase, the undeniable transformational power of courage, resilience, and hope. Once I began the musical journey, I couldn’t put it down. Brava!“—Brian Pertl, Dean, Lawrence Conservatory of Music
“… In this memoir you will learn about the inner workings of professional orchestras and brush shoulders with luminaries, but the most important lesson it delivers is how to overcome pernicious self-doubt.”—?Jean Feraca, author of I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio
“In her candid and courageous memoir, flutist Ernestine Whitman traces the long term impact of psychological abuse encountered within a dysfunctional family … will be of great interest to music lovers curious about the professional music world and the need for steely determination in order to survive and succeed.”—?Leone Buyse, Professor Emerita, The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University; former principal flutist, Boston Pops Orchestra and acting principal flutist, Boston Symphony Orchestra
“When Ernestine Whitman became a professional flutist, classical music was a man’s world. Opposed by her judgmental father, she learned to fight for her art, navigating encounters with dangerously insecure men and holding fast to her flute until it became the means of her transcendence. At turns funny and frightening, Countermelodies is a glorious masterclass in music history, feminist resilience, and memory.”—?David McGlynn, author of The End of the Straight and Narrow and One Day You’ll Thank Me
“What was it like to forge a path as a woman in a male-dominated field generations before the #MeToo movement? … a courageous, engrossing, and exquisitely written portrait of the artist as a young woman. Part coming of age, part coming to terms, Countermelodies is the story of a gifted flutist making her way in classical music at a time when men got away with unimaginable abuses of power. Like the most sophisticated sonatas, it’s stirring, unsettling, and, in the end, triumphant.”—?Eleanor Henderson, professor at Ithaca College and author of Ten Thousand Saints and Everything I Have Is Yours: A Marriage

Ernestine Whitman began her career as a professional flutist at age twenty, making her the youngest member of the Atlanta Symphony. Her passion for teaching brought her to Lawrence University, where she was professor of flute for thirty-three years. A passionate advocate for restorative justice, she volunteers frequently in programs at several Wisconsin prisons. Ernestine and her husband, Howard Niblock, divide their time between their condo in midtown Atlanta and their longtime residence in Appleton.

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