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Mexican-American flautist Elena Duran is one of the world's top instrumentalists. A native of Oakland, California and based In London, England, Duran has been involved with a variety of recording projects. She's performed on albums by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfoniette, Moscow Virtuosi, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, two albums by late French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli -- Brandenburg Boogie and Bach to the Beatles, and an animated video, Rupert and the Frog Song," by Paul McCartney. Turning her attention to her own heritage, she recorded a solo album, Nostalgia de Mexico.

A former student of Lloyd Gowan of the San Francisco Symphony, and Darius Milhaud at San Francisco's Mills College, Duran worked briefly as a lecturer of flute at Stanford University. She resigned, after two years, to study with flute masters, Jean-Pierre Rampal and James Galway. ~ Craig Harris