Teaching Philosophy

Many music instructors have a consistent structure through which they lead their students—the same repertoire, warmups, technical exercises, and etudes in approximately the same order. There is tremendous value in the formal pedagogy used to train classical musicians over the past several centuries. That’s just not where my passion lies.

My goal is to guide each student toward finding their individual artistic voice and refining the skills needed to express it.

Each term of college, students complete a jury—think of it as a performance in lieu of written final exam. At Lewis & Clark College, my studio’s recent juries included a wide array of works. One student performed a piece of traditional advanced flute repertoire. Another student was interested in social justice and performed a musical reflection on America filled with extended techniques and written by a female BIPOC composer. I pushed one outside her comfort zone to record a multi-layer improvisation with a spacey backing track. Finally, an art major studying flute created a multi-track sonic art installation constructed of different extinct birdsongs transcribed and imitated on the flute, broadcast from speakers along different floors of a resonant stairwell to create a chattering effect. Those students worked on scales, quarter tones, audio recording and editing, tone, interpretation, research, artistic immersion, contemporary performance practice…

If you want to play in a professional orchestra someday and are ready to do the work, I absolutely will drill you on the usual material. My students choosing that path have gone on to study at world-renowned schools including the Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Boston University, and the Hartt School of Music.

But that’s not the only avenue to a life in the arts.

Wherever you’re headed, I want to help you get there.

Where I Teach

I’m a faculty member at Lewis & Clark College and Portland State University, and I teach privately in SE Portland. Please note that I am happy to give a free trial lesson to prospective Lewis & Clark or PSU students.

My private studio is currently full, but I occasionally squeeze in dedicated students with an exceptional work ethic and attitude. To be considered or to be placed on the wait list, contact me at the link below. The lesson rate is $70/hour.