Eric Maul, a classical flutist who studied at the New England Conservatory and the Peabody Institute in his native Maryland, died unexpectedly on Sept. 12, 2024 at his home in Provincetown. He was 33, and the cause of his death has not yet been determined, his family told the Independent.
The son of Gary Maul and Cinda Ascione, Eric was born on Oct. 24, 1990 in Dover, Del. When he was 18 months old, the family moved to Millersville, Md., an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County near Severna Park, where Eric went to school and where music became central to his life.
His mother took him to as many musical programs for kids as she could, and when he was in fourth grade, they disagreed on which instrument he should learn to play; she wanted French horn, he the flute. “He won,” said Cinda.
In a 2021 profile in the Independent, Eric said that he “loved flute players — I thought they were so elegant. And the sound as well. This is as close to being a diva soprano as I will ever get.”
In middle school, Eric played in musicals including The Wiz and Tom Sawyer and in the all-county band; in high school, he played in the all-state band. He also won the Naval Academy Band Side by Side solo competition in his sophomore year and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Side by Side competition as a junior.
His teacher at that time was Laurie Sokoloff, the Symphony’s principal piccolo player. He also played in the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra.
Eric started taking master classes at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University while still in high school, and he was accepted to college there, becoming “part of the Peabody family,” Cinda said. He trained under Marina Piccinini and won the Britton Johnson Memorial Flute Prize before graduating in 2013.
After graduation, Eric moved to Boston, working at Flutistry and for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, giving demonstrations for children before concerts. The children especially liked the animal sounds he made with the flute. At the New England Conservatory, he studied under Paula Robison and earned a master’s degree in flute performance in 2015. Three days before his master’s recital, he was diagnosed with HIV.
That same year he returned to the Peabody Institute to begin work on a doctorate. At a master class with Piccinini in which he was set to perform a solo, Eric suddenly realized he had left his flute behind; his friend Adam Workman “saw the panic in his eyes” and handed him a flute from a nearby table. In an appreciation that he posted at slippedisc.com, Workman wrote that he then “snuck into the room behind you to hear you perform on this flute that you’ve never played. That performance of ‘The Lark Ascending’ is one of the most astonishing musical moments I’ve ever witnessed.”
But, as Eric told the Independent in 2021, it was a hard time in his life. With an HIV diagnosis and the competition in the Ph.D. program, the music world began to feel cutthroat. He took a years-long break from performing, playing at his grandmother’s funeral in 2017 but otherwise avoiding the stage.
Eric moved from Boston to Provincetown in 2019.
He earned a living here bartending and walking dogs — jobs that brought him into contact with a wide range of people. “When he walked into the room, a light came on,” Cinda said. “He would call me while he was walking dogs in town, and he would interrupt the call by talking to everyone he met along the way.” Those calls could last for hours, Cinda recalled, as Eric greeted everyone with his kind and unforgettable smile.
“He chose to live and play locally,” said his friend Fred Jodry, director of choral activities at Brown University. Eric was a flutist of “immense talent,” Jodry said, adding that he “chose a joyous life over the competitive world of performance.”
“Classical music is the only art form that doesn’t really have a history in this town, which feels really bizarre to me,” Eric said in 2021. “I want to create a space for queer classical music.”
He did. Eric live-streamed his music online during the pandemic along with Jon Richardson and many other musician friends. He became music director for the Provincetown United Methodist Church, and he co-founded Red Door Chamber Music with his friend Craig Combs in 2021 as a “community ensemble dedicated to bringing chamber music to Provincetown,” especially in the off-season.
“Everywhere he went, he played,” Combs said. “His hallmark was his gorgeous tone, almost like he was singing.”
“Eric was one of the world’s great flute players,” said Richardson. “He was secretly a virtuoso.”
“The thing I love about this town,” Eric told BroadwayWorld.com in 2022, “is you never know who you can create with.” He played with numerous artists here, including Peter Donnelly, Brian Calhoon, Zoë Lewis, Parker Ousley, Daniel Arocha, Andrew Haig, Mike Flanagan, and Brittany Rolfs.
After listing some of his collaborators in that interview, Eric paused. “Little did I know, I had found my tribe,” he said. “My family. I am finally home.”
Eric is survived by his father and stepmother, Gary and Sharon Maul of Pasadena, Md.; his mother and stepfather, Cinda and Raymond A. Ascione of Annapolis, Md.; his brother, Bryan Richard Maul, and wife Taylor of Severn, Md.; stepsisters Gretchen and husband Dave Kelleher of Pasadena, Md., Brittany and husband Moe Almeshleb of Glen Burnie, Md., and Jessica and husband Bryant Freeman of Pasadena, Md.; and stepbrothers Raymond D. Ascione of Arnold, Md., Matthew Ascione and wife Sharon of Arnold, Md., and Lawrence Ascione and wife Stacy of Gambrills, Md.
A memorial service will take place at the Provincetown United Methodist Church, 20 Shank Painter Road, at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Red Door Chamber Music will also perform a memorial concert for Eric, called “Faces About Town,” at the church on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m.
The program will include the premiere of A Nordstrom Songbook by Thomas Gregg, with poetry by Mary Elizabeth Nordstrom that evokes the beauty of the seashore. There will also be music by Bela Bartók, Edvard Grieg, and Friedrich Kuhlau; the performers will include Tyler Michael James, Thomas Gregg, Markus Kailtan, Loren Lee, Brian Calhoon, and Craig W. Combs.
Eric and Craig had planned “Faces About Town” together. It will now be presented as they designed it, but without a flute player.
