Nickname/Preferred Name

Michelle

What is your primary instrument? Flute
Secondary instruments? Piccolo, Alto Flute, Bass Flute (beginning Baroque Flute)

When did you join the MTAC? What made you decide to join?

I had always wanted to be able to offer CM to my students, but didin't have time until I pretty late in my teaching career (2019). A good friend of mine, Dana Burnett, is a piano teacher and MTAC member in San Diego Country and she had a big influence on me as well.

Fondest musical memory?

There have been quite a few. Here are three. The most recent one was last season playing with the San Francisco Symphony, Gustavo Dudamel conducting Mozart Symphony 38 and Mahler 5th Symphony. 

I played in the Skywalker Symphony, which was the recording orchestra at Skywalker Ranch.The first big project we did was recording music from the original Star Wars Trilogy with John Williams conducting, for the CBS/Sony label. The very first thing we recorded was the Imperial March from "The Empire Strikes Back" and it gave me chills. That was such a special event. 

An old fond memory would be my high school marching band taking the biggest prize at the first annual Pleasanton Maching Band Competition. Even though we had won awards for years, we were all thinking we weren't going to be good enough that time, but we were wrong. It was very thrilling.


Best advice you have been given as a musician? Or advice you like giving?

1: Just say OK ( no arguments, no excuses)
2: Never give up, be willing to forge your own path.
3: We never stop learning
Favorite musical era/composer/work?

I don't have a favorite era or composer. I have many favorties from many eras: everything from Hildegard von Bingen to Outkast. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, are the top seven.

Something you should know about me is:

I like gardening, cats, dogs, and am a very, no nonsense, straightforward person.


Thanks Michelle!