Reviews Edith Eisler, New York Concert Review, Spring 2008: "Their intonation, balance and ensemble are impeccable...the playing was brilliant...two new works, written for Flute Force - interesting and original. The results were startling and riveting." Ken Smith, Gramophone, August 2002: "By their very nature, ensembles like Flute Force have to develop their repertoire largely from scratch by commissioning new works. Not surprisingly, the composers most likely to be successful in such a project are flautists themselves. Other than that, very little on the subject can be generalised from this collection. Despite his name, flautist-composer Gary Schocker offers the least shocking of the pieces here. His Nymphs (1994), using four C flutes rather than a consort, draws most strongly on traditional flute techniques in each of its three movements. Robert Dick, on the other hand, whose own playing regularly pushes the boundaries of the instrument to its extremes, develops extended techniques in Eyewitness (1990), based on North Indian timbres like breath tones and vocalisms. Composer-flautist Elizabeth Brown weaves a potentially frightening microtonal vocabulary into pure innocence in Travelogue (1995), her self-described evocation of early car trips with her family as a child. The grandest statements, in musical forces if not necessarily duration, come at the beginning and the end. Composer-pianist David Alpher's Land of the Farther Suns (1995) spins 10 texts by Stephen Crane into a spoken song cycle, with writer and radio personality Garrison Keillor (of National Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion fame), matching perfectly the music's balance between atmosphere and narrative structure. Eric Stokes' Tantamounts (1996) confronts one of the issues at the heart of this recording. With their alto and bass instruments, flute quartets obviously look to the string family as a model. But Tantamounts shows that their eyes need not be filled with either jealousy or enmity. Flute Force and the Meridian String Quartet prove quite compatible, with Stokes playing both on their similarities as consorts as well as their differences in sound. A chamber work in form with symphonic contrasts in sonorities, it brings the collection to a satisfying close." Daniel Buckley, Stereophile/Tucson Citizen, 2002: "The fearless foursome of female flautists has put together an appealing survey of broad ranging works by contemporary American composers. The majority of works are tonal, though deliciously kaleidoscopic in their twists of harmony and direction. By contrast, Robert Dick's 'Eyewitness' takes the known features of the familiar wood instrument and explodes them into hyperspace. [Brown] has a cinematic quality about it. It is music with a sense of humor but also a painterly way of setting place and mood. In texture and sheer quality, the work is on a par with flute ensemble pieces by French baroque composers Boismortier, and that is extremely high praise. [Dick] Both the music and the performances are superhuman, making for unforgettable listening experience." David Williams, The Charleston Gazette (WV), 1999: "Flute Force brought its flawless, inspired artistry to a concert for the Charleston Chamber Music Society...a just-right clarity of motivic dialogue and pristine intonation." Rick Justice, Charleston Daily Mail (WV), February 14, 1999: "Quartet of flutes charms music lovers...on a day when hearts and flowers are called for." Anne Bendheim, Mobile Press Register (AL), 1996: "Decked out in black and gold and enough sequins to rival many a Mardi Gras ball gown, Flute Force set out to charm the full house Monday night at the Eastern Shore Art Center, and they succeeded mightily. But the charm wasn't in the tasteful glitz. It rested squarely in the musical taste, the natural grace and the unaffected performance style of the New York women in the quartet, one of the country's only classical flute ensembles." Eric Dawson, Calgary Herald (Canada), 1993: "The quartet demonstrated handily that an evening of flute music need not be a recipe for aural monotony...The players mutual responsiveness is a great pleasure to hear." Andrew Stiller, Musical America, 1992: "Flute Force is an extremely persuasive advocate for the flute quartet medium: four top-quality players in a perfectly balanced and expressive ensemble." Art Lange, Fanfare magazine, 1991: "As demanding and unconventional as these scores may get, Flute Force is nevertheless up to the task: more importantly, with their compatible timbres, soothing ensemble blend, and musical intelligence, they convince us that these pieces communicate as music, and not technical exercises. For flute fanciers, certainly, and anyone with an ear for attractive sonorities." Will Crutchfield, The New York Times, 1985: Flute Force spoke with "a glittering variety of accents...immediately appealing, full of brilliant, swirling, movie-score effects (and) brilliant ornamental passages..." Douglas Townsend, The New York Tribune, 1984: "The group plays with a fine sense of ensemble, precision and vitality...four virtuosi playing as one." Julius Baker, former principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic: "Flute Force is a terrific ensemble!"