Rhonda Larson

What Rhonda Larson offers:
As a seasoned soloist, Rhonda's focus will be from the perspective of performance. She will also lead you in new practice techniques to access your path to greater freedom in performance/playing. First and foremost, this entire process is FUN! Rhonda teaches you from where you ARE, helping you move forward to a new place outwardly and inwardly. Her objective is to help you find your Best Self, and guide you in how to perform from THERE. Given this expansive teaching stance, she is less concerned with your current level of flute playing. She is more concerned that you are open, willing, eager, and in love with making music. As Rhonda puts it, "We play music and the flute because we LOVE it, and it first feeds our own souls before we ever give it away to the public. How we work with music carries over into our daily lives, so we must foster this joy and love! Ultimately, what I teach is how to play the flute boldly, deeply, thoughtfully, and freely!" You can read more of Rhonda's biographical information here.

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Lea Pearson

What Lea Pearson offers:
Lea Pearson’s unique pedagogy book, Body Mapping for Flutists: What Every Flute Teacher Needs to Know about the Body, has received praise from teachers and students alike, and is being translated into Chinese and Japanese. A recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Ohio State University, Lea was a 1998 Fulbright Scholar at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where she studied flute performance with Liisa Ruoho. With B.A. and M.A. degrees from Hampshire College and Stanford University, she has performed with the South Bend Symphony and the Toledo Orchestra, and has taught flute at Hillsdale, Heidelberg and Centre Colleges and The Ohio State University. She specializes in performing music of women composers and offers classes, private coaching and workshops world-wide.

Lea’s classes will focus on What Every Musician Needs to Know about the Body: how the body works and how its use affects our playing.
Sessions will address the following topics:

-- Standing & sitting with balance & support
-- Arms & hands – preventing injury
-- Breathing: how it works, how to get more air and sustain longer
-- Preventing neck- and back-aches
-- Legs – the foundation of it all
-- Why movement is important for musicians
-- Using the senses and inclusive attention to play more freely
-- Tools for helping students

Every participant will have the opportunity to play for Lea during class and receive individual feedback.

Visit Lea's website here.

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Helen Spielman

What Helen Spielman offers:
Helen Spielman is an acclaimed performance anxiety coach who has had phenomenal success in helping musicians maintain concentration and control and reduce fears of performing on stage. Helen synthesizes more than 30 years of her own experiences as a performing musician, an educator, a public speaker, and a nationally certified grief counselor to bring to her workshops a wealth of knowledge and resources. Her own triumph over a deeply profound struggle with stage fright gives her a soft, compassionate connection to everyone in her classes. Helen's warm smile and supportive manner encourages participants to discover new ways to share with audiences that which is close to their hearts.

Helen has presented workshops in England, Italy, Canada, and South Africa, as well as countless universities, conservatories and flute festivals around the USA. She has presented at numerous National Flute Association conventions including New York City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Columbus, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Kansas City. She is on the faculty of Wildacres Flute Retreat and UNC Wellness Center where she teaches performing artists, speakers, business executives, and athletes, to perform with confidence and concentration. Her writings about music have appeared in The Flutist Quarterly, Pan (Great Britain), Flute Focus (New Zealand), and Flute Talk, and others, and have been translated and published internationally. Helen’s work in performance anxiety has been featured in Philadelphia Music Magazine, Flutewise (United Kingdom), Pan, and Fluit (The Netherlands). Her 2010 engagements include workshops in Honduras, at Yale, and a residency at Westfield State College.

In Helen's classes, you will:

--- Hear the story of Helen’s dramatic transformation from severe stage fright to joyful flute soloist and public speaker

--- Learn the role of positive and negative thinking and how to use your thoughts to control performances instead of leaving them to random chance

--- Find your own personal barriers and transform them to create the outcome you desire

--- Learn to find approval from within, instead of worrying what others think of you

--- Learn how to manage perfectionism

--- Experience and learn how to correctly use progressive muscle relaxation and mental visualization

--- Learn other skills for working with performance anxiety

--- Receive handouts and an extensive reading list

--- Have plenty of time for interaction and questions

--- Receive personal attention in a safe environment

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