MIXING UP A FLUTE SALAD; MUSICIANS GATHERING FOR TRIBUTE TO INSTRUMENT.

Byline: P. Catherine Shanks Special to the Daily News

Toss together 50 flutists picked from cities and towns throughout Ventura County and beyond. Mix them up and voila! You have Flute Salad.

Flute Salad III is a combined flute choir concert to be presented April 26 at the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Camarillo.

Simi resident and flute teacher Mary Predmore dreamed up this salad sans salad bowl to give flutists a fun performance outlet and an opportunity to display their talents.

In part, Predmore credits the movies for increased interest in flute music and for the large number of players participating in the concert.

``Go see `Titanic,' '' she said. ``You'll also hear flute music in the movie `Contact.' ''

She includes the sweet potato-shaped ocarina, American Indian flutes, Chinese and Japanese flutes, and other flute-like relatives in one broad category.

``They all have different flavors and are used in different styles of music,'' she said.

Among the variety of flutes seasoning the sonorous Flute Salad III will be piccolos, alto flutes and bass flutes. Musicians as young as 7 or 8 comingle on stage with vintage flutists in their 60s and 70s. Beginning and intermediate players will match tones with semiprofessional and professional players.

``Each group is a mix,'' Predmore said. ``They're all there for the love of music.''

One of the performers, Thousand Oaks High School junior Jennifer Lin, has played the flute for eight years.

``Music is magic,'' she said. ``It's a universal language. It brings common bond in lots of different people and touches people emotionally.''

Lin views the concert as a means to an end.

``I've wanted to go to flute convention in Fresno, but that's kind of far,'' she said. ``So when she (Predmore) told me about this, I jumped at it.''

Simi Valley resident Sherie Frame agreed to play in the concert because her daughter asked her to play. According to Frame, her daughter Allyson, a student at Valley View Middle School, was insistent about the matter. Sherie Frame had not touched the flute for more than 15 years.

``I never really lost it, I guess,'' said Frame, who had to work quickly to get her lip back in shape. ``Fortunately, flute is easier to pick up than some of the brass instruments. I'm definitely more excited now. It's fun to play toward a goal and not just practice all the time.''

Predmore has enlisted more than 40 of the 50 flutists who will perform the grand finale piece in the concert. The collected musicians will be broken into eight harmony parts for the playing of the theme from ``Casper the Friendly Ghost.'' Prior to the finale, smaller flute choirs and soloists will play Welsh folk songs, jazz and classical selections.

The concert begins at 3 p.m. Trinity Presbyterian Church is located at 2304 Antonio Ave. (corner of Las Posas) in Camarillo. Cost is a free-will offering. For information call [phone].

Also on April 26, the newly formed Conejo Valley chapter of the American Harp Society will present at 2 p.m. seminar on harp performance for weddings and special events at the Foxmoor Clubhouse, Westlake Boulevard and Potrero Road, Thousand Oaks.

Spring and summer brides- and grooms-to-be, party planners, and wedding consultants will want to attend. At the end of the seminar, attendees will be treated to a short program of harp music. Refreshments will be served.

Call [phone] by April 22 for specific location and information, and to reserve a seat. Admission to the seminar is $5.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--2--Color) Yosuk Murakami, left, joins Allyson Frame, center, and her mom, Sherie Frame, at flute practice to prepare for Flute Salad III, a concert April 26.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News