Eleni T  
Instruments: Flute, Piccolo
Styles: Classical

My teaching experience dates back to my college days. I have taught both privately and publicly for 6 years both in Europe and NY. I hold two Undergraduate Degrees from Bard College (flute and dance) and a Master's Degree in Flute Performance from Queens College. I have a very strong background in Alexander Technique and Body Mapping. I incorporate the Alexander Technique principles in my flute teaching in order to ensure that my students build a strong and efficient flute technique.

My training method is ideal for students who wish to explore music as a hobby as well as those who wish to run a career in the music industry. An experience that stands out, outside of my studio teaching, dates back to 2015 when I was invited at the Annual Conference of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki to give a two hour lecture followed by a Q&A session on Flute Pedagogy. Topics that were covered included Anatomy-related content “Musicians are Small Muscle Athletes”, “The Art of Practicing”, “Pleasure- The driving force of Progress”. My audience consisted of Conservatory teachers, student of all ages, prospective students, parents as well as non-musicians. The outcome was wonderful and inspiring since the lecture was designed to be very interactive and was very well-received. I love being a witness and a guide to one’s personal and artistic growth through music. I find myself always being inspired by the variety of perspectives and I am passionate about coming up with new ways to tailor my ideas to every student.

Musicality and technique are two sides of the same coin. They co-exist and cannot be separated; I like to instill that in my students as early on as possible. I do so by providing a setting that values creativity and individuality and encourage my students to explore their musical ideas, find solutions to tricky passages and always keep a positive and intelligent mindset while practicing. The musician you are in the practice room is the musician you become on stage. Dedication and consistency are crucial in order to build confidence as a performer and I am a big advocate of inspiring students to be curious about music. Knowledge is power and therefore I encourage students to look up information about the composer whose piece we are learning, listen to many recordings, find out information related to the period of time in which the piece we are working on was composed etc.

In teaching young students or beginners, my goal is to show them that flute-playing should be fun and pleasurable above all. When teaching adults I like to help them discover what they think the meaning of the piece is as well as show them ways to portray their thoughts through music. I usually start off a student by teaching the principles of a good posture and the journey of the breath. These are the fundamental elements of technique. Once we establish a good posture or better, position of mechanical advantage, I like to use fun method books that introduce a variety of ways to practice scales, arpeggios, tonguing, intervals and sound. Books I use a lot in my teaching are Paul Edmund Davies The 28 day Warm up Book, Taffanel and Gaubert 17 Daily Exercises as well as Marcel Moyce On Sonority.