I grew up on a tree farm in Northern Idaho where nothing extraordinary was ever expected from me. But that, of course, just made this scrappy farm girl from the sticks even more determined to prove them wrong. And so I did! My parents did not have a lot of money when I was young but managed to scrape a few bucks together when I hit sixth grade to afford a flute from the local pawn shop so I could take Band class like many of the other kids. I remember that first flute very well – A older, discolored Bundy model with a klunky grey case that I loved more than anything because it was mine and different from everybody else’s shiny new instruments. Band class gave me something I did not know could have – A calling. The flute became a wonderful symbol of everything I was and still wanted to be. I had something in my head, in my heart, and in my soul that nobody else had. Not something that could be purchased with allowance money or given as a gift under the Christmas Tree. My flute represented my ticket to a better life – One that reflected who I was at the very core of my soul. I worked extremely hard in the beginning, practicing more each week than any other child in my class and completed music theory workbooks at a rate years more advanced than was required. When I reached 7^th grade, my band director convinced my parents to invest in private flute lessons. My flute teacher, Rhonda Bradetich, helped me absolutely crush my burgeoning flute career in middle school and high school. Rhonda taught me how the power of a supportive, goal-driven, talented teacher could unlock extraordinary potential in students from literally all walks of life. I was moved into the high school symphonic band when I was still in 8^th grade and lettered in Band before I was even in high school (although the rules said that I could not actually receive a letter until I was officially a high school student). In high school, I won the Idaho State Solo contest in 1998 (playing the Faure Fantasie) and placed second in 2000 (playing Serenade by Howard Hanson). I also performed with the Idaho All-State Orchestra as Principal Flute and Piccolo in 1998 and again on Piccolo in 2000. I performed with the 1999 All-Northwest Symphonic Band, the WBIC Concert Band in 2000, and the Spokane Youth Symphony from 1999-2000. My biggest accomplishment in high school, however, was winning the Emerson Electric Company’s full tuition, room, and board scholarship for the state of Idaho to attend the 1999 Interlochen Arts Camp. Not bad for a poor girl from the tree farm, practicing for an audience of Grand Firs and wildlife in the middle of nowhere!

My high school journey led me to study Flute Performance at DePauw University in Indiana. It was terrifying to move so far from home and even more terrifying to no longer have my “girl from the farm” identity. College often places us on equal ground, which for some of us feels sort of like walking into Oz without a yellow-brick road or fancy red shoes with mysterious magical powers. After a short stint of tendonitis in my Freshmen year (practicing too long with no breaks far too often – do not recommend!), I eventually found my footing, crushed my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior recitals, performed in both the University Band and Orchestra, minored in Classics (because why not??), and found my way to graduate school in San Francisco. At San Francisco State, I became what my favorite wind ensemble conductor called the “Piccolo Princess” and lived and breathed chamber music, studying from the chamber music experts of the Alexander String Quartet. I also confronted orchestral excerpts head-on, studying flute with Linda Lukas of the San Francisco Symphony. Linda gave me the tools (and courage) to apply to doctoral programs. With my Master’s Degree in hand, I traveled from the foggy streets of San Fran to the icy blizzards of Minnesota to study with Immanuel Davis at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Immanuel taught me to think outside the box and introduced a number of wacky but extremely useful techniques (such as the breathing bag, buzzing, marching while playing, practicing on a trampoline, etc.) that revolutionized my flute playing. Some of these tools were the brain-child of his own teacher, Keith Underwood, who, coincidentally was the very first flute expert that I performed for in a masterclass back in good, old Spokane, Washington when I was in the 8^th grade. I had the opportunity to perform for Keith again at the week-long Hidden Valley Masterclass in 2008, where I finally understood that “flute playing” was not a one-size fits all skill. Flute playing could actually be….fun…interesting…and, dare I say, TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME!

I also turned my attention towards historical musicology while I was at the University of Minnesota, under the influence of amazing musicologists such as Peter Mercer-Taylor and Kelley Harness, and eventually added a secondary emphasis in musicology to my DMA degree. My DMA paper, Misrepresentations, was largely inspired by archival work surrounding the Altes Methode pour Flute and the subsequent editions of the work that seemed to present the music in different formats than the original, all aimed at accomplishing different types of performance goals. I was so inspired by the story and history of this work that I turned my research into a proposal for a Critical Edition of the original Altes Methode with Oxford University Press, which I am currently under contract to publish (coming soon!).

After adding the Dr. prefix to my signature block, and with a DMA in hand, I moved to Davis, California where I currently live, teach, perform, write, and live my best professional flutist life. Despite short stints in places such as Houston, Texas and Waldport, Oregon, I find myself very much at home in the California sunshine. I am a dog mom to an overactive bulldog named Meatloaf who, unlike most dogs, enjoys snoozing at my feet as I practice in my studio space. I am married to the most amazing man, Ted Geier, who shares a love of Disneyland, 90’s alternative music nostalgia, shreds on the drums, and inspires young minds at UC Davis and Chico State on the daily. I host a popular weekly Flute Friday blog series and publish monthly Flute Horoscopes (yes, you read that right) in The Flute View online journal. In my off-duty time, I am also a tarot card reader (click here to book a session if you are ever interested).

I maintain an active teaching and performing life and always strive to make playing the flute fun and interesting for my students. I try to take a page out of the Keith Underwood playbook whenever I can and ask my students to think outside the box. Try the wacky thing that just may make your flute playing amazing. Yes, learn the scales and the Mozarti concerti, but also have fun with the weird stuff. The weird stuff is what makes the rotating tires of music spin in new directions. I am the kooky, tarot card reading flute teacher who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is but always makes it safe to be wrong. Being wrong is how we find our way to being right or creating something far more interesting in the grey areas in between.

Happy fluting!

-Dr. G.