I love teaching, and I love my students.
I love figuring out how each student needs to understand a concept in order to succeed.
I love working through the breakdowns as much as I love celebrating the breakthroughs.
My goal as a teacher is to help create critically thinking students equipped with the tools to succeed without me.
Technical proficiency is essential in order for musicians of every ability to fully express themselves. Scales, arpeggios, common finger patterns are foundational in everything; when the fingers are having trouble, we work them very slowly as tone exercises and add speed later. I strongly believe that we shouldn’t let mechanical, easily-solvable problems get in the way of our art.
Goals for each Student
Each student is different and each student has different goals. To keep a consistent studio, lesson expectations and goals include each of the following topics.
Creating and efficiently and healthily manipulating a beautiful, full, sparkly tone through learning proper embouchure and breathing techniques.
Improving fine finger technique as well as rhythmic accuracy through method studies of scales, arpeggios, and etudes.
Growing an understanding of musicality and interpretation as well as learning to express oneself musically.
Understanding different genres and how the flute plays a role in music history.
Refining sight reading skills.
Learning to focus and prepare for auditions and performances.
Auxiliary instruments (piccolo and alto flute) as needed and requested.
With the right balance of encouragement and direction, we can all be taught to fall in love with the creative process over and over again and allow music to continue to shape us into the best versions of ourselves.
Something that I stress continually with all of my students (but particularly the perfectionists) is that we are always in a state of process. We drill and succeed and brilliantly fail at each new skill every time we pick up our instruments; by accepting the fact that the grueling process is a huge part of what we’ve signed up for, we are able to move beyond destructive thinking toward the sometimes elusive joy that can be found within our learning.
Student Successes
I’m proud of all of my students’ varied successes, from rocking a recital piece to passing the scales test. Here are some more standardized successes of my students:
Talent scholarships at universities for both music majors and non-music majors
High placement in collegiate level ensembles immediately upon starting school
Multiple “Best of Day” distinctions at IHSA Solo and Ensemble
Placement in ILMEA District and All-State Orchestra and Band (often multiple years per student)
High exam marks through the ABRSM curriculum.