Meet the Musician: Dr. David Klee Brings a Lifetime of Music to Fall for the Arts

Classical training. Jazz improvisation. Smooth jazz, Latin influences and original music.

For Dr. David Klee, the flute has never belonged to just one musical world.

A contemporary flutist and versatile multi-instrumentalist, Klee has built a career that crosses musical boundaries. Equally comfortable in classical and jazz settings, he has performed with orchestras, professional concert and jazz bands, toured extensively, recorded original music and spent decades sharing his knowledge with the next generation of musicians.

This September, audiences will have the opportunity to experience his music during Fall for the Arts in downtown Columbus.

From Classical Flute to Jazz

Klee is a highly trained classical flutist who earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in flute performance from the University of Georgia in 1998. But his musical interests have always extended well beyond the traditional boundaries of classical performance.

Over the course of his career, he has performed professionally on flute, saxophones and electric bass and led his own group, The Jazz Express, performing his original music throughout the Midwest.

His career has also taken him on the road.

Klee has toured in more than 37 states, aboard cruise ships and in the Bahamas, sharing the stage over the years with performers and groups including Alabama, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Lettermen, Razzy Bailey, and musicians associated with the Allman Brothers Band and the Rolling Stones.

Musician, Educator and Author

Performance is only part of Klee's musical story.

For 20 years, he served as a Professor of Music at Buena Vista University in Iowa before retiring in May 2022. As Director of Jazz Studies/Music Production, he created and established the university's recording technology program.

He also spent many years serving as principal flutist for the Fort Dodge Symphony and the Karl King Band.

Klee is the author of two books, Finding the Boy Inside and The Jazz Book — The Improvisation Book for the Classically-Trained Flutist, further reflecting a career built around both creating music and helping others discover new ways of making it.

Still Creating New Music

Retirement from the classroom certainly hasn't meant retirement from music.

After previously releasing three original smooth jazz albums, Klee released Here We Come, a collection of 10 original tracks blending smooth jazz, Latin and easy-listening influences.

It's another chapter in a career that demonstrates just how many directions music — and the flute — can go.

That's also what makes Dr. David Klee such a wonderful fit for Fall for the Arts.

The festival is about discovery: encountering an artist you haven't met, hearing a musician you haven't heard before and experiencing art and music in unexpected places throughout downtown Columbus.

On September 19, Dr. David Klee will add his own distinctive sound to that experience.

The businesses become the galleries. Downtown becomes the stage.