My association with my neighbour M. Beaudin goes back to 1998 when he offered to build me a flute of ironwood taken from Pinnacle Mountain in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. I had come to live there in 1982 and loved the mountain and its trees enough to devote some years to defending them from developers. Also, I had played silver flutes for fifty years, yet, discontented with their tone, took Jean-François up on his offer and have never regretted doing so.
We have worked together on an article about the Beaudin-flute for Pan Magazine, the premier English publication on flutes. (Disclaimer: J.F. and I have shared our interests in the development of his flute though I have never derived personal profit from it).

Eventually I came to own three of his flutes and I still play them all: two at A=440Hz and one at A=392Hz. Their tones are very individual. The A=392 is deep and mellow but capable of whispering too, the A=440 in ironwood is sweet but not cloying, and the second A=440, of African Blackwood, I find very precise as to pitch, and its clear tone capable of ample but controllable expression. The instruments themselves are beautiful, and so gratifying to the touch, that, frankly, I can hardly keep my hands off them, even for a day. M. Beaudin’s meticulous craftsmanship and deep musical sensitivity are reflected in all of his instruments I’ve had the pleasure of trying.

They let me play adequately several different kinds of music. I use them for baroque, folk, pop, jazz and improv. I perform with them often, and live daily with their clean loveliness of presence. They have been a personal blessing.     

Richard Sommer