My Flute History

Hello, internet surfers!

I opened a blog. I started this to tell all of you who care about my new adventures in the next phase of my life. A brilliant idea it was...then I opened up this window to write my first ever blog post, and the dreaded WRITER'S BLOCK hit my brain. I don't even know how to start!

So, I guess I'll start with a little background information. I am currently finishing up my FIFTH year of my undergraduate. After 178 credits, and 2 degrees later, I am going to GRADUATE on Friday!

Ahh, the life of a music major certainly has been interesting. It's even more interesting when you add in my background as a Division II student athlete. I loved music and running coming out of high school, and the University of Nebraska-Kearney was going to let me do both. It wasn't an easy endeavor, especially when you factor in marching band and cross country practice's start times: 3:30 P.M. and...3:30 P.M. It's a good thing that if I want to do something, I WILL go achieve it. So, I survived doing a music education degree, a flute performance degree, cross country, indoor track, outdoor track.....and the honors program, undergraduate research, National Association for Music Education, a bit of Fellowship of Christian athletes, Newman Center Music Ministry...etc. etc. etc. If I loved it, I did it.

I want to take this post to give you a peek into my flute past. How did I get here, on the brink of being a graduate assistant in a new state?

I am from Dickens, Nebraska, a small, unincorporated community in the heart of Nebraska farm country. People usually underestimate how small Dickens really is. When I tell them my hometown has around 20 people (maybe less now?), they think, "It couldn't possibly be that small!" Well, my internet friends, it certainly is. I drove 10 miles each way to school at Wallace K-12 School, located in the booming metropolis of Wallace, with a population of around 350 people. The nearest Wal-Mart was in North Platte, 35 miles from my house. The nearest city of over 100,000 people would be either Denver or Lincoln, both 4 hour drives away.

My mom was originally from Omaha, where she was first chair violinist in her high school's orchestra. When my three sisters and I were growing up, she would play all sorts of music for us. She made sure we took piano lessons. My first piano lesson was when I was in first grade. That didn't last long, as I cried when I didn't understand how to read music. I waited a couple years and started up again in third grade.

The first time I remember wanting to play the flute was in third grade. My art teacher had some background music playing with a flute in it. I loved that beautiful sound, and from then on out, I was going to be a flute player (except for the brief time in which I wanted to be a bassoonist, but that's a different story).

The summer before my fifth grade year, we rented a flute for me to play. And I was TERRIBLE at it! My music teacher (bless her heart) wasn't a flute player, so she wasn't sure how to overcome my troubles with breath control and sustaining a sound. She took me to our superintendent, a former music teacher, and he couldn't figure it out either. I remember tape-recording myself, trying to find out what was wrong. I somehow got over it, and then, I was unstoppable in my thirst for more music! I played through two methods books before my class had gotten through half of one. I was hooked!

I thought I was doing everything well. I was playing second chair flute in my school's 7-12 band by the time I was in 8th grade. I played solos every year for contest.

No one told me I should take lessons until the end of my sophomore year in high school. I had somehow stumbled upon a copy of the Mozart G Major Concerto and attempted playing it at contest. I'm sure I played it quite poorly, but if someone in southwest Nebraska plays Mozart, that in and of itself is something quite special. I wish I knew who that judge was that day, for she is singlehandedly responsible for encouraging me to get flute lessons, and get a new flute.

I began taking flute lessons weekly with a lady in North Platte. I practiced really hard on the All-State Band excerpts that summer. The lessons helped, as I was accepted to play first part flute and even a little piccolo at all-state that fall. I remember going to all-state with my beginner model Yamaha and looking down the row of flutes. EVERY OTHER flute player had an open-hole flute. Looking back, it's pretty special that a girl from a Class D2 school (the smallest classification in Nebraska) made it into a band with people from massive AA schools out of Omaha and Lincoln.

I went to college at The University of Nebraska-Kearney. I came in as an education major, because one of the professors told me that performance was too rocky of a major. I added in performance as a sophomore. After going to the National Flute Association convention as a performer in the collegiate flute choir, my playing really took off. I invested in a solid sterling professional model Brannen Millennium flute and started practicing more!

I gave four flute recitals while at UNK, and as I got closer to my senior year, I began thinking about graduate school. The summer before my senior year, my flute teacher knocked on my practice room door and exclaimed, "I have found you a teacher!!!" She then handed me the business card of Dr. Virginia Broffitt, the new flute professor at Oklahoma State University. It just so happened that the cross country team was traveling to Stillwater for a cross country meet that year, so I was able to visit. I am sure this occurrence was more than just a coincidence!

Early this year, I auditioned at Oklahoma State and Illinois. I then put all thoughts of graduate school out of my head and focused on student teaching. I was going to be a public school teacher until I got a letter from the music department at Oklahoma State offering me full tuition plus a stipend to move to Stillwater as a graduate assistant. I had a sort of life crisis, but finally decided to sign the letter!

So here I am, straddling two phases of my life. I'm finishing up my undergraduate and have a few months before I move to Oklahoma. I am excited to see where this road leads me, and ready for an adventure!!!