Kelly Via received the
Bachelor of Music from Drake University (Des Moines, IA) and the Master of
Music from East Carolina University (Greenville, NC). His primary teachers were Nathen E. Jones,
Beatrice Chauncey and Paul Brittan. He
also participated in masterclasses with Samuel Barron, Julius Baker and Bernard
Goldberg.
Kelly
is the piccoloist with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and Macon Symphony
Orchestra. For many years he was
principal flutist of the former Atlanta Pops Orchestra and he was a charter
member of the Georgia Sinfonia. He has
performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Opera, Augusta Symphony, Columbus
Symphony, Des Moines Symphony and Des Moines Metro Opera orchestras. He has appeared as soloist with the Albany
Symphony, Atlanta Pops, Columbus Symphony and Macon Symphony orchestras. Kelly also performs frequently as a soloist
and in a variety of chamber ensembles in the Atlanta area.
A
flute choir enthusiast and arranger, Kelly has been selected to perform with
the National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir each year since
2000. Several of his arrangements for
flute choir are available through Nourse Wind Publications. One of these arrangements was named a winner
in the National Flute Association’s 2002 Newly Published Music Competition and
another was named a finalist in 2004. He
conducted the Mid-Atlantic High School Flute Choir at the 2006 Mid-Atlantic
Flute Fair in Dulles, VA and was guest conductor and soloist for the 25th
Anniversary Concert of the Quad City Flutes Unlimited in Bettendorf, IA in 2008. He was especially honored to conduct the
premieres of his commissioned pieces for the Blackledge Flutes (2007, West
Hartford, CT) and West Michigan Flute Orchestra (2008, Grand Rapids, MI). He was appointed to serve as Flute Choir
Coordinator for the National Flute Association from 2007 to 2012 and conducted
the 2008 NFA National High School Flute Choir in Kansas City, MO.
Kelly
is currently teaching flute and directing flute choirs at Mercer University,
Agnes Scott College and the Atlanta Music Academy. His teaching experience includes the
positions of flute instructor at Mercer University Atlanta, Simpson College
(Indianola, IA) and Graceland College (Lamoni, IA); graduate teaching assistant
at East Carolina University; and preparatory flute instructor at Drake
University.