Flutist Bonita Boyd grew up in Long Beach, California. She studied with Joseph Mariano, principal flute of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and legendary pedagogue at the Eastman School of Music. Boyd succeeded Mariano at the Rochester Philharmonic in 1971, becoming the youngest principal flutist of a major American orchestra and remaining there until 1984. She was also Mariano’s successor at the Eastman School, where she has been professor of flute since 1977. Her concert tours have taken her across North and South America and to Europe, the Far East, and Australia. Since 1996 Boyd has also been principal flutist for the Aspen Festival Orchestra.