Program Overview

Flute

The flute studio's friendly and supportive atmosphere enhances weekly private lessons, studio classes, and collaborative orchestral excerpt classes with master teacher Alexa Still. She has a worldwide reputation and decades of varied performance experience as a soloist, orchestral principal flutist, chamber musician, contemporary music specialist, and recording artist.

Associate Professor Alexa Still leads a flute lesson
Associate Professor of Flute Alexa Still guides a student through a private lesson in her Bibbins Hall studio.
Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones

Program Facts

  • Program Type: Major, Performance Diploma, Artist Diploma
    • Bachelor of Music (BM)
    • Performance Diploma (PDip)
    • Artist Diploma (ADip)
  • Division: Winds, Brass, and Percussion

Division Director

Michael Rosen,
Professor of Percussion

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photo of flutist in an orchestra
A performance by the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble at Ganz Hall in Chicago.
Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Time to Play

We place first-year students among returning students equally and fairly within the sections of all ensembles. We nurture them in a collaborative studio environment to inspire personal growth and development. Through orchestral, chamber music, jazz, improvisational, and historical through contemporary music for the flute, we encourage versatility and provide immense breadth of experience.

Master Classes at Oberlin

Opportunities for Flute

Ensemble experience is an essential component of Oberlin’s professional training; starting in the first semester, each student is assigned to and rotated through the major ensembles, one person per part. Flute students may pursue solo performances through the annual Concerto Competition and can play in at least six of the more than two dozen performance ensembles on campus.

Private Study

Individualized instruction is a hallmark of the conservatory. Students learn the art of balancing technical skills with natural musical growth and experience. The chief goal through private study is to help students progress in all phases of performing: technique, style, musicianship, interpretation, and repertoire. Flute students have access to and instruction on auxiliary instruments including piccolos, alto flutes, bass flutes, and the quarter-tone flute. This exposure ensures that Oberlin woodwind students are prepared for the greatest possible variety of professional opportunities.

Flute Studio

The Flute Studio maintains a friendly and supportive atmosphere to enhance a weekly routine of private lessons, studio classes, and collaborative orchestral excerpt classes. The Studio Class provides invaluable opportunities to perform for your peers, get feedback, learn about pedagogy, and gain experience in offering your own effective and supportive criticism.

Sample Courses

  • WELL 110 - Introduction to Body Mapping (2 credits)
  • MUTH 132 - Music Theory II (4 credits)
  • APST 802 - Orchestral Repertoire for Woodwinds (2 credits)
  • APST 807 - Oberlin Improvisation and Newmusic Collective (2 credits)
Curriculum and requirements

Flute Repair

Alexa Still, an authorized installer of Straubinger pads, offers a flute stripping and emergency repair course in which students are trained to make adjustments and diagnose problems themselves. They disassemble and reassemble their instruments, diagnose mechanical problems, and perform the simple “clean, oil, and adjust’’ regular maintenance that professional quality flutes require. Advanced students also have the option of working on pads. Flutes are available for loan to students whose own instruments are being repaired.

three students sitting at a table taking apart flutes and cleaning them
Students Aram Mun, Karisma Palmore, and Will Adams participate in the flute stripping course during winter term. They learn how to disassemble, clean and or repair flutes before reassembling them.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Alexa Still

Flute Faculty

Conservatory faculty maintain active performance schedules while remaining accessible and committed to their students. Individual instruction is paramount to helping students develop their mechanical, technical, stylistic, psychological, and musical skills.

“I try to encourage my students to think about what they want to do, get them thinking on a bigger scale, and help them with all the tools they need to make themselves excellent.”

Alexa Still, NEA Conservatory Associate Professor of Flute

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Explore Faculty within Flute

Master Classes

Weekly studio classes and regular master classes for the flute studio involve mock orchestral auditions, reinforcement of fundamentals, chamber music performances, solo recital performances, guest master classes, and many other types of performance opportunities. We encourage students to support their colleagues with positive and constructive feedback. Oberlin cultivates a learning environment in which students are open to making mistakes without consequence in larger public performances.

group of students and professor observing flute player
A coaching session with flute students who perform with small and large ensembles.
Photo credit: Matthew Lester

Flute News

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Life After Oberlin

Oberlin’s flutist alumni hold major positions in orchestras, contemporary music, and in teaching positions around the world. Others in our alumni ranks choose to change the world in non-music professions.

Notable Oberlin Alumni

Hannah Hammel ’15

Principal Flute, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Jiatong (Kathy) Ma ’15

Second Flute, Beijing Symphony Orchestra

Erica Zheng ’17

PHD student in chemical biology at Harvard University, flutist in Harvard's Dudley Orchestra for graduate students