Share with us some of your professional accomplishments.

I am a visiting lecturer of flute at Cornell University, a lecturer in music education at Ithaca College and instructor of flute at Opus Ithaca School of Music. As the current principal flutist with the Fort Smith Symphony (AR), I have recorded four CDs for the Naxos label. I perform regularly with Opera Ithaca, the Cornell Wind Quintet, Ithaca New Music Collective, Shuhan-Luk Trio, Ithaca Flute Duo and the Skaneateles Festival. I have also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra to name a few. 

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Prior to moving to upstate NY, I performed guest principal flute, 2nd flute/piccolo with the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra for seven years and second flute with the Meridien (MS) Symphony Orchestra for three years.

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A laureate of many competitions including winner of the NFA Professional Performer’s competitions, a finalist in the National MTNA competitions, a finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions and first prize winner in the Mid-South Flute Society Competition. I hold degrees from the University of Arkansas studying flute performance and pedagogy and the University of Southern Mississippi studying flute performance and music education. I have continued my flute teaching studies and have received advanced Suzuki flute teacher training from Toshio Takahashi, the founder of the Suzuki flute method. My primary teachers include Sheryl Cohen, Sharon Lebsack and Ronda Mains. I have also recorded for Albany Records and PBS. I perform on a 14K Gold flute with a platinum headjoint made by Burkart Flutes and a Bukart Elite piccolo.

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What excites your about Luzerne Music Center?

 I am looking forward to being a part of a community that nurtures young musicians and helps them reach their fullest potential in a summer music center setting. It is an honor and a privilege to guide, inspire and share our musical passions with young people. I am thrilled to be on the flute faculty for this first time this summer and experience the magic at LMC.

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What can campers expect to learn while working with you this summer?

 As a junior flutist at Luzerne, students will receive instruction in tone, technique and ear training. They will be introduced to new repertoire while also reviewing older repertoire. The students will also receive guidance on how to practice effectively and efficiently. Lastly, all students will be given instruction on extended techniques for the flute to use in their daily practice. These techniques will help the students play with ease and will help to facilitate beauty and joy while making music with others. 

Share with us some of your professional accomplishments.

Being a musician to me means using every corner of my being to welcome people into the world of music. There are so many ways to express your musicality. For me, that means teaching, performing, composing, arranging, writing, listening, talking and working behind the scenes in arts administration.

 

I teach flute at Juilliard's Music Advancement Program and in an El Sistema program in the Bronx called UpBeat. I also teach music history, music appreciation, ethnomusicology and music theory at SUNY Purchase, CUNY Queensborough Community College and CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College. Behind the scenes, I curate a concert series devoted to new chamber music and audience interaction at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and I was the Institutional Giving Manager there for four years. 

 

I toured Italy with a woodwind quintet, Fiati Five, for several seasons, and I've worked closely with composers like Shirish Korde, Tania Leon, Whitney George, Leo Kraft and Eric Nathan on dozens of new solo and chamber pieces. In 2017, Fanfare Magazine called my 2017 album of chamber music by female composers with Ensemble 365 “pretty music faultless ... required listening.” As a freelancer in New York City, in a typical week I might perform in an orchestra one day, premiere a chamber music piece I wrote the next and hop into the studio for a commercial recording that weekend.

 

I received the Brookshire award for musicological research and writing at SUNY Purchase, the Associated Music Teachers League Award for instruction at CUNY Queens College, an Enhanced Chancellor’s Fellowship at the CUNY Graduate Center and the Graduate Research Award from the National Flute Association. In 2018, I was named to the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs inaugural Leadership Accelerator cohort, a group of dynamic cultural leaders from traditionally underrepresented groups. 

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What excites your about Luzerne Music Center?

There's nothing like being in a place where everyone comes together to get better at what they do every day. That energy is infectious and inspiring. Add to that a beautiful location, collaborating with great musicians and learning from everyone around me, and that sounds like a recipe for a perfect summer.

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What can campers expect to learn while working with you this summer?

I think of lessons and coaching sessions as a great opportunity to build good skills not only as players (tone, technique, extended techniques, good practice habits, the skills of playing in chamber ensembles and orchestra — all that good stuff!) but also as musicians: learning to be a good colleague, creating a sense of community, listening in new ways, overcoming performance anxiety, thinking about music's role in our lives and our world, and understanding how we make a career as musicians. What's the best way to learn all of this? Ask questions, challenge yourself and keep your ears open!