The lesson is the room where a lifetime with an instrument begins.
I grew up with music before I knew what to call it. It was around the house, in the room, in the way people I loved spent their time — and by the time I sat down at a piano, it already felt like somewhere I'd been.
Piano started at nine at Bob Jones Elementary. A year later, I picked up the flute with Amanda Barrett, and the two never really let each other go. Music education at Anderson University under Leah Wilson followed — principal flute of every school ensemble, principal chair of the SC Band Directors Association Intercollegiate Honor Band, and winner of the Anderson Symphony Concerto and Aria Competition. Along the way I served as principal flute of the Anderson Symphony Orchestra and solo piccolo of the Anderson University Wind Symphony.
A Master of Music in Performance from UNC School of the Arts followed, studying under Dr. Tadeu Coelho — three years of principal flute chairs with the UNCSA Symphony and a 2022 UNCSA concerto competition finalist run. Those three years were as much about how to teach as how to play. The two questions turned out to be the same question.
Today I'm home in Anderson. I teach music theory as an Adjunct Professor at Anderson University, play principal flute with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, and co-founded Exceed Academy of Music alongside a private teaching studio — building the place I would have wanted when I was a ten-year-old with a flute in hand.
The private studio takes students from first-breath beginner through college-prep audition. Music theory tutoring is offered independently, on any instrument, at any level — harmony, ear training, analysis, AP Music Theory prep, whatever the student is working toward.
The strongest musicians have an adaptive, flexible understanding of concepts — across genres, across traditions.
Educating the whole musician.
Four principles guide every lesson — from the ten-year-old just starting to the college-prep senior. The instrument is the vehicle. Musicianship is the destination.
Self-sufficient practice.
You leave with tools for the week. The lesson is a rehearsal for how you'll work on your own — not a place where progress happens only in my presence. The goal is a student who can teach themselves what I'm not there to teach them.
Musical interpretation.
Beyond correct notes — reading the phrase, shaping the line, choosing what to say. Notes are the alphabet, not the sentence. The work is figuring out what you mean and then getting the horn to say it.
Historical & theoretical context.
Understanding why the music is what it is — the era it came from, the composer's intent, the harmony under the phrase — deepens how you play it. Theory isn't a separate class. It's the reason the phrase wants to breathe the way it does.
Practical performance.
Recitals, competitions, auditions — real stages, coached preparation. Confidence comes from having done the work in the room where it counts. Every student in this studio plays for other people from the very beginning.