My Musical Background
Like many band students in Texas, I began playing the flute in 6th grade. I really enjoyed playing the flute, & throughout junior high & high school, I also became very interested in playing other instruments... particularly saxophone & french horn. I basically played whatever I could get away with! Although I did want to switch to saxophone, my main instrument in high school remained the flute (thanks to my parents' insistence). I attended Humble High School in a suburb near Houston, TX. I played with the Humble High School Marching & Symphonic Bands all 4 years, & also sang 1st soprano in the A Cappella Choir. Music honors included playing in the TMEA Texas 5A (now 6A) All-State Bands for 2 years, member of the Houston Youth Symphony my senior year, & a TMEA performance with the Humble High School A Cappella Women's Choir also my senior year. I also started playing oboe in high school. My band director had temporarily needed an oboe player in band, & then I switched back to playing the flute in band class because I really missed playing the flute parts. However, I continued playing the flute & oboe throughout high school in Region Band, Region Orchestra, All-State Band, & band camps. Deciding what instrument to focus on in college was a rather difficult choice for me, but I chose to major in flute performance. I didn't want to worry about reeds with oboe, but I did learn how to make oboe reeds in undergraduate studies. I had also learned how to play bassoon & saxophone in graduate studies for teaching purposes while I was considering a multiple woodwinds degree. In addition, I can also play piano to accompany students for solos (junior high level), & play guitar & bass guitar in my spare time. You can see a full list of accomplishments since college in my resume link above. I began teaching private lessons in the Houston area in 1995, & taught primarily in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district. Upon arriving to Dallas after undergraduate studies, I also taught in the following school districts: Rockwall, Irving, Plano, Carrollton, Garland, Lewisville, & Frisco. While in Chicago, I taught students in Downers Grove & Bolingbrook. I have taught mostly flute, but have also taught oboe (junior high & high school level), & also taught bassoon & saxophone (junior high level), and beginner/intermediate piano. Many of my past & present 7th-12th grade students have received many honors.
Since teaching in Austin in 2007, students have earned the following: