A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family.

The choice of "flautist" (from the Italian flautista, from flauto, and adopted due to eighteenth century Italian influence) versus "flutist" is a source of dispute among players of the instrument. "Flutist" is the earlier term in the English language, dating from at least 1603 (the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English Dictionary), while "flautist" is not recorded before 1860, when it was used by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun. While the print version of the OED does not indicate any regional preference for either form, the online Compact OED characterizes "flutist" as an American usage.

Richard Rockstro, in his three-volume treatise The Flute written in England in 1890, uses "flute-player." He also uses "fluteist" and the less popular "flutomater".

The American player and writer Nancy Toff, in her The Flute Book, devotes more than a page to the subject, commenting that she is asked "Are you a flutist or a flautist?" on a weekly basis. She prefers "flutist": "Ascribe my insistence either to a modest lack of pretension or to etymological evidence; the result is the same." Toff, who is also an editor for Oxford University Press, describes in some detail the etymology of words for "flute," comparing OED, Fowler's Modern English Usage, Evans' Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage, and Copperud's American Usage and Style: The Consensus before arriving at her conclusion: "I play the flute, not the flaut; therefore I am a flutist not a flautist.

Katherine Bryan became Principal Flute of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Spring 2003, a position to which she was appointed at the age of 21.

Born in 1982, she was educated at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. In 1997, whilst there, Bryan won the Audi Young Musician competition, the only wind player ever to do so, after performing the Nielsen concerto with the Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Daniel Harding. The performance was broadcast live on Classic FM. She was a woodwind finalist in the BBC TV Young Musicians competition in 1998, 2000 and 2002, and a prizewinner in the 1999 Royal Overseas League Competition.^{[citation needed]} Later that year she won the Royal Philharmonic Society's Julius Isserlis Scholarship, which enabled her to study at Juilliard School in New York from 2000 until graduation in 2003. Bryan was featured in The Times as a Great British Hope - a Rising Star in the Arts Firmament.

In 2001, Bryan gave her Lincoln Centre debut playing Mozart's Flute concerto in G major with the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra after winning the Juilliard concerto competition. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, and spent the summers of 2001 and 2002 with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan. Bryan performed Mozart's Flute and harp concerto with the harpist Pippa Tunnell in the 2004 RSNO Scottish Power Proms, and in July 2004, she gave a solo flute recital at the Cheltenham International Festival.

Holly Cook-Tanner is an American figure skater. She is the 1990 World and U.S. bronze medalist. She was coached by Chris Sherard. She now coaches at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful, Utah. Cook is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is a graduate of Viewmont High School in Bountiful, Utah, class of 1989.

African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States that have ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa.

African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States. However, some immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations, or their descendants, may be identified or self-identify with the term.

African-American history starts in the 16th century with African slaves who quickly rose up against the Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón and progresses to the present day, with Barack Obama as the 44th and current President of the United States. Between those landmarks there have been events and issues, both resolved and ongoing, including slavery, racism, Reconstruction, development of the African-American community, participation in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Barbara Ann ("Bobbi") Humphrey (born April 25, 1950) is an American jazz flautist and singer who plays fusion, jazz-funk and soul-jazz styles. Bobbi Humphrey has performed for audiences around the world.

She was born in Marlin, Texas, and raised in Dallas. Her flute training included classical and jazz styles in high school. She continued her studies at Texas Southern University and Southern Methodist University. Dizzy Gillespie saw Humphrey play at a talent contest at Southern Methodist, and inspired her to pursue a musical career in New York City. She followed his advice, getting her first big break performing at the Apollo Theatre on Amateur Night. She eventually began playing regularly throughout the city, including a gig with Duke Ellington.

By 1972, she was recording for the Blue Note Jazz label, one of the first female instrumentalist to do so. Humphrey has played with well-known musicians, ranging from Duke Ellington to Lee Morgan. Guitarist George Benson and Humphrey were guest musicians on Humphrey's friend Stevie Wonder's single "Another Star" from his Songs in the Key of Life (1976) album. In 1976, she was named Best Female Instrumentalist by Billboard. In 1994 Humphrey launched her label, Paradise Sounds Records, releasing Passion Flute, which continues to be one of her best-selling recordings.