Flute with Michelle M.

My name is Michelle and I have been teaching flute lessons for all ages for over 20 years. Currently, I have students who range in age from 7 to 75, and I really enjoy the variety that brings. I love to start beginners off, to make sure their body posture, tone production and technique are correct, and I also enjoy working with more advanced students. I have spent many lessons getting high school students ready for college auditions, and also have a lot of beginning students who want just want a little extra help outside of school band. One of the things that sets me apart from other teachers is that I do not teach every student the same way. I am a parent myself, and I have learned the benefits of tailoring the education to the individual student. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how best to teach for each person, in a relaxed and fun way. While there are standard books that most flute teachers use (and I do too), I try to keep students interested by finding more unusual music or exercises to play. For example, I will bring in jazz or extended techniques to young players, because it's fun for them to explore music that's not just classical. BIOGRAPHY Hailed as “possessing rich, mellow flute playing, lovely lyrical style, and excellent breath control” by ClassicsToday.com, flutist Michelle Matsumune is a fourth generation Californian and an avid solo and chamber music performer. In addition to concertizing regularly as a soloist, she has released 4 chamber music CDs: Postcards, with the woodwind trio Ceora Winds, two CDs with the Resonance Flute Consort (Flute Tootin’ Yule and Lights, Camera, Flutes!), and Duo Arioso’s flute and harp CD of Medieval music entitled Cantico. Michelle performs as a singer and flautist for both the choral group Wagner Ensemble and the Independent Opera Company. As a soloist, Michelle has performed flute recitals in Europe, Mexico, and throughout the United States, and at music festivals in Mexico City and Geneva, Switzerland. With a strong interest in World Music, she toured as the featured soloist with the Southern California Balinese Gamalan Group as well as with Persian pop singer Moein, and performs as principal flute with VASCAM (Vietnamese American Society for Creative Arts and Music). Michelle has worked closely with many contemporary composers including James Tenney, Eugene Kurtz, Adrienne Albert, Peter Wing Healey, P.Q. Phan and Nancy Bloomer-Deussen. She is married to composer Mat Matsumune, and has premiered all of his flute works. In 2020, Michelle created FluteWave, a YouTube channel dedicated to relaxing flute music, which she composes and records herself. Michelle studied flute with Peter Lloyd at Indiana University and received her MFA at California Institute of the Arts.