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Geraldine Rotella is unquestionably one of the most heard flutists in the world. In a career now spanning five decades, she became one of the first-call studio musicians working in Los Angeles performing as a freelance on thousands of studio recordings, including many projects with John Williams. She’s also Principal Flutist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Assistant Principal/Piccolo for the Pasadena Symphony.
Geri Rotella comes from a distinguished musical family. Her father, Johnny Rotella (1920-2014), was a top woodwind player, band-leader and songwriter who worked with legendary big bands and musicians on Broadway and Los Angeles shows, including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Raymond Scott. Her mother, Anna Graziano, was also a dedicated musician (and great cook and mom extraordinaire as well). In this environment, Geri started playing piano and flute under her father at age 5 and she feels fortunate to have had her early training in pitch and sound from her dad.
Geri received her Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge (CSUN). While there, she studied with Luella Howard, Principal Flute at 20th Century Fox Studios, and Gretel Shanley. After graduating, she went on to study with legendary studio flutists Sheridon Stokes and Louise Di Tullio, who became her most influential mentor. She studied in Europe with Sir James Galway and William Bennett, and with their inspiration, took many trips to the East Coast to study with Marcel Moyse. She attributes much of her concept of sound to having had these great flutists instilling her with a high dedication to tone.
After graduating, Geri then became the applied flute professor and served on the music faculties of both CSUN and Pepperdine University. At the same time, she quickly learned the ropes to become a successful studio musician and soon started being contracted to perform on record dates for performing artists, sessions for commercials (a.k.a. “jingles”), television shows, and then on major motion picture soundtracks for many illustrious film composers. She often found herself playing in the section with her friends and former mentors Sheridon Stokes and Louise Di Tullio, but also with other top studio flutists like Jim Walker, Dave Shostac, Paul Fried, Susan Greenberg and Steve Kujala. Since then, Geri has played and been featured on over 1000 motion pictures playing for such esteemed composers like Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, James Horner, Randy Newman, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Alan Menken, and of course John Williams.
In 1990, Geri was appointed piccolo player for John Williams, inheriting the chair from Louise Di Tullio (who then became Williams’ principal flute). Geri started to perform in that role on very important works like Hook and Jurassic Park, two scores that contain a lot of very fast, difficult music for woodwind instruments. Geri has played in that chair for John Williams ever since for all his scores and recordings made in Los Angeles. The list of her works for John Williams includes such films as Schindler’s List, The Lost World, Amistad, The Patriot, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Memoirs of a Geisha, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse, The Book Thief, The BFG and the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
She can be often heard playing high-pitched notes in the piccolo during the action scenes of those films (the Velociraptor sequences in the Jurassic Park movies being some of the trickiest she ever performed), but also performed a lot of beautiful lyrical alto flute parts. In 2016, Geri was one of the four instrumentalists who performed the beautiful flute quartet “Dream Jars” on the soundtrack for Steven Spielberg’s The BFG together with her colleagues Heather Clarke, Jenni Olson and Ben Smolen.
Geri also performed on several special projects with John Williams, including the Sony Classical album American Journey (featuring a great selection of Maestro Williams’ ceremonial music), the 2002 recording of Williams’ Cello Concerto with Yo-Yo Ma, and the 20th anniversary live to picture performance of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on February 2002—an experience that she still remembers with great fondness. She has played piccolo and 2nd flute also on the very recent film projects The Fabelmans and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
“When we play for John, we know that he knows our instruments so well, and what they can and cannot do,” says Geri Rotella about playing for John Williams. “I feel like we musicians are his colors and he’s painting with them.”
In addition to her studio work, Geri is also an esteemed classical performer. Throughout her career she has performed with the LA Philharmonic, LA Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Opera, LA Opera, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, mixing her work in the studio with live performing for a balanced musical life.
She has also recorded with many musical legends including Sir Paul McCartney, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, Linda Ronstadt and Tom Petty.
She is happily married to Music Producer/Contractor Peter Rotter and has two children, Jessica and John and 3 grandchildren, Stella, Miles and Charlie and new son-in- law, Tom Murphy.
In this conversation, Geri Rotella talks her illustrious career as a studio musician in Hollywood, highlighting her family heritage and unique musical upbringing, the mentorship she received from Sheridon Stokes and Louise Di Tullio, and her many collaborations with John Williams throughout the years. Geri recollects the unforgettable experiences playing on such scores as Hook, Jurassic Park, The BFG and Indiana Jones among others, reflecting on Williams’ flute writing and also at his skills as a communicator on the podium.
List of music excerpts featured in the episode (all music by John Williams except where noted):
. Igor Stravinskij, excerpt from The Rite Of Spring, Pasadena Symphony Orchestra, Jorge Mester, conductor (Newport Classic, 1997)
. “Hook-Napped”, from Hook (1991)
. “The Mine Car Chase” from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
. “The Lost Boy Chase,” “The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland” from Hook (1991)
. “Happy Birthday Variations” (2002 recording)
. “Journey to the Island,” “The T-Rex Chase” from Jurassic Park (1993)
. “Farewell and The Trip” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
. “The Rise of Skywalker” from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
. “Closing In” from Catch Me If You Can (2002)
. “Dream Jars” from The BFG (2016)
. “Finale” from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary – Live at the Shrine Auditorium (Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles, John Williams, cond.)
. “The Patriot End Credits” from The Patriot (2000)
. “The Journey Begins” from The Fabelmans (2022)
. “Horse vs. Car” from War Horse (2011)
. “End Credits” from Hook (1991)
The Legacy of John Williams 