I grew up in rural Minnesota, and my mom introduced me to the beauty of the flute at the age of ten. After only one year of playing along to my favorite songs and taking lessons with my band director, I knew I wanted to be a professional.

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So... we began the search for a private teacher! My parents were incredibly supportive. After a few trial lessons that just didn’t feel right, we found Julie. Julie was everything I wanted to be as a flutist – bold, expressive, and exploratory. After every lesson I was itching to get into a practice room to play around with the things she was teaching me. 

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And she was teaching me freakin’ cool stuff. She could sing and play, she could make the flute sound like an electric guitar, or a plucked string instrument, and she had her own band. Julie was the real deal. Her cool factor also came from the fact that she (like me) was a flute nerd. We dug into how to make a singing TONE on the flute, which was what drew me in when I started. It’s so beautiful (and shiny, and floaty)! She taught me all the major and minor scales and how to double and triple tongue, and truly set me up with cool flute skills that I use all. the. time.

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I eventually graduated from high school, moved to Colorado, and then came here to Pittsburgh. I’ve completed two degrees in flute performance and have been lucky to have had incredible teachers at every stage. They have truly shaped who I am as an artist and a person, and gifted me with skills I use in every realm of my life now. 

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My goal as a teacher is to inspire, educate, and empower you to be your own best self, musician, and teacher. I will be there to guide you through those gnarly technical passages, periods when you don’t feel like practicing, and audition or performance anxiety. I’ve been through it all myself – and have tried and true methods that can help. ​