Deborah Yates
Vortex Tribe’s elegant and regal leader, thrills crowds with her spirited fluting and commanding presence. Accepted into her first symphony orchestra at the age of 13, Deborah was touring Europe at 16, playing piccolo with symphonic orchestras. Her classical talents earned her featured performances at the Brandenburgh Hall in Vienna, Austria, for Austria’s President, and a solo at Carnegie Hall. Deborah attended the University of Northern Colorado, on full scholarship, as one of the youngest students to be accepted into the Music Performance Program. Deborah has performed with symphony orchestras worldwide, musical theater, ballet orchestras, chamber ensembles, solo performance, and symphonic bands.
Now Deborah has trained her sights on the explosive expressionism in Jazz, Rock and Latin music with the unorthodox approach of using guitar pedals and effects to enhance her sound. She played flute throughout Britain and the Bay Area, performed weekly at Jagz at the Station in Acscot, England, and played the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, before piloting the Vortex Tribe around the world. She has just completed her second South Pacific tour and is looking forward to her next tour being scheduled for March 2011 – featuring her rock / funk flute. Deborah’s duet – Due Cuori – will be opening for the great Al DiMeola in Los Angeles.
She tours and performs with Jon Mulvey and Stuart Hamm of Joe Satriani and Prairie Prince from The Tubes. She is in the studio recording her flamenco guitar / flute duet music with Due Cuori featuring the music of Jon Mulvey, and will include Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta both of Peter Gabriel fame on the recordings.
GEAR
VOL905 | Volare Flute
P1200 | Piccolo
videos
"I perform on the Volaré professional model and am extremely pleased with the tonal quality and intonation. It performs exquisitely in the full range of the flute. As I perform with a full rock band behind me, it can often be a challenge to be heard even with the best mics. The first time I played with the Volaré, the response from the band was ‘you are finally cutting through’. It brings a new capability that I didn’t have with my previous instruments. RS Berkeley has provided me excellent artist support and a great choice of flutes to endorse."
"The P1200 piccolo has a beautiful tone and excellent intonation. It's a great addition to any flute players collection. You know it's something when the clarinet section informed me, 'That's the best sounding piccolo we've ever heard'."