Beautiful and consistent tone production, strong technique, and a wide palette of colors are the tools necessary to create great music through the flute. As a teacher, I aim to create a safe and nurturing environment where students can explore these fundamental skills to grow their individual voices as flutists, musicians and artists.
Because no two bodies are identical, no two flutists should sound the same. The shapes of our lips, mouths, tongues and hands are unique, and the way we navigate our differences contributes to the individuality of our sound and expression. In my teaching, I work to guide students toward an understanding of how the physical choices they make (e.g. mouth, lip and tongue shape) interact with their air and flutes to affect sound, technique, tone color and phrasing.
In service of this, I developed a method book, “Eight Essential Exercises,” which distills standard conservatory-level exercises by Taffanel-Gaubert and Moyse to develop concepts such as homogeneity of tone, finger dexterity, articulation, vibrato and flexibility. In lessons, I focus on finding an efficient and resonant base tone, and then exploring ways to massage this “neutral” tone to create a variety of sounds and colors with ease and stability.
After their time with me, I hope that students will have gained greater ease with the flute and the tools to realize their personal artistic visions. I hope that they will make different musical and artistic decisions than I do, and that they will do so skillfully and with conviction.
Training & Affiliations
M.M. (Flute Performance), Manhattan School of Music
B.M. (Flute Performance), University of Southern California
Affiliations: National Flute Association, Hawaii Flute Society (President), Chamber Music Hawai’i, Music Teachers National Association, Wintergreen Music Festival (Flute Faculty & Chair of Instrumental Studies)
Recent Masterclass Presentations: Flute World SF, Hawai`i Flute Society, University of Maryland, University of South Carolina