Your teachers...

FLING teachers make up some of the best private flute teachers, performers, professors, composers, and excellent musicians in the area.

Most teachers have at least 2 higher education degrees in flute and have years of experience performing and teaching.

When we say you're learning from the best of the best, we mean it! Plus, they're really nice and funny too. ;-)

We hire teachers based on the number of students who register so that we have 1 teacher for every 12 students.

Hi! I'm Katherine Emeneth, and I'm the owner of the Georgia Flute Academy and KE Creative and creator of FLING. My students call me Dr. E, Ms. Katherine, and sometimes just "Flute Mom."

I've done it all as a professional musician and teacher. I have all of the degrees: Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate all in education and flute. I've taught everything from elementary music to college courses for music majors. I've played in many professional orchestras, competed in flute performance at the international level, and have extensive experience in flute pedagogy. If you're interested in my full story and fancy bio, you can read it here.

A few years after graduating with my doctorate in flute performance, I noticed something in college flute studios. The students are given numerous opportunities to perform, learn, and experience their craft. They grow SO MUCH because of the experiences they're offered. I know I did.

I had worked with pre-teens and teens long enough to know that if they love music and are given the opportunity to excel, THEY WILL. Why shouldn't teenagers have the experience of performing solo recitals 4 times a year? Why shouldn't they be exposed to the best flutists in the world? Why can't they learn college level music theory and history?

I started this crazy new flute studio idea in Sugar Hill, Georgia, and I can tell you, IT WORKS. My students sound amazing, they love music, and have had more musical experiences before the age of 18 than most people do (including me).

For years, I hosted a summer flute camp just for my own students. I'm thrilled to be able to open it up to the community.

Welcome to FLING!

Kathy Mason
FLING Co-director

Kathy Mason is in her 27th year of teaching middle school band and her fourth year as director at Buford Middle School. Previously, she directed bands at Creekland Middle School in Lawrenceville, Louise Radloff Middle School in Duluth, West Jackson Middle School in Jefferson, and Winder-Barrow Middle School in Winder, Georgia. Mrs. Mason has served as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the state of Georgia for numerous camps, solo and ensemble festivals, and Large Group Performance Evaluations. She has also been a guest clinician for the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festivals and District Honor Events throughout Georgia.

Bands under Mrs. Mason’s direction have consistently earned superior ratings at LGPE. Her students are well represented at District Honor Band, All-State Band, and Solo and Ensemble Festival. Bands under her direction have received four invitations to perform as a guest band at the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival, and the Creekland Eagle Wind Ensemble was a guest band at the GMEA In-Service Conference in 2019. She has received four Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association and presented at three GMEA In-Service Conferences. She currently serves as the District 13 GMEA Middle School Band Chair. Kathy is a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association and the National Band Association.

Mrs. Mason is a graduate of Lassiter High School in Marietta, Georgia. She received her Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from the University of Georgia. While a student at UGA, she studied saxophone with Dr. Kenneth Fischer, conducting with Dr. Dwight Satterwhite, clarinet with Dr. Theodore Jahn, and served as a rehearsal assistant for the Redcoat Band. She performed in the UGA Saxophone Quartet, Jazz Band I, Wind Ensemble, and was principal alto saxophone in the premier performing ensemble.

Kathy enjoys spending time with her family at the lake where they are actively involved in water sports. She is married to Erik Mason, band director at Buford High School. They live in Hoschton, Georgia with their three children - Aria, Alie and Clay. Aria is a music education major at Furman University playing horn, and Alie and Clay are active members of the Buford Band of Wolves playing percussion and trombone respectively.

Cain-Oscar Bergeron

Cain-Oscar Bergeron is a multifaceted performer and educator in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a staff singer at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Atlanta and a flutist and piccoloist for regional Georgia orchestras and ensembles.

In 2014, Mr. Bergeron completed the prestigious William R. Kenan, Jr. Performing Arts Fellowship at Lincoln Center in New York City. There he worked alongside the most talented Teaching Artists in New York and taught workshops and classes in many NYC-area schools and colleges.

Cain earned a Master of Music degree from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with Dr. Tadeu Coelho. Following his Master’s degree program, Cain completed a Professional Artist Certificate concentrating in Orchestral Flute Performance while maintaining an active and talented private flute studio.

Before leaving his home state of Louisiana, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches where he studied flute with Dr. Dennette McDermott. He was a founding member and president of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Flute Guild.

Cain is originally from the small Cajun French town of Cottonport in Louisiana. Often found in the kitchen, Mr. Bergeron is always cooking up Cajun specialties like chicken and andouille gumbo, shrimp Creole, and crawfish étoufée with his sous-chef, Sebastian, a large Maine Coon cat.

www.CainOscarBergeron.com.

Lesson Specialties:

My lesson specialties include tailoring a specific finger technique regimen based on students’ needs, assisting students to make the most of their practice time, and tone development through specialized vocal techniques that results in a singing quality in one’s playing. I specialize in Baroque flute and piccolo which lends a flexibility to adapt to any playing style and I love imparting that skill to my students.

Dr. Kelly Catlin

Praised for her “beautifully rich tone” (The Flute View), Dr. Kelly Catlin is an innovative flutist, composer, and teacher based in Atlanta, Georgia. In April 2021, she released her critically-acclaimed debut album of original electroacoustic flute works, titled Backstory.

As an electroacoustic composer and educator, she is dedicated to demystifying music technology and composition for young performers. A proponent of interdisciplinary arts collaboration, Dr. Catlin co-produced and composed the music for the original Off-Off Broadway production, Magic the Play, in New York City. She worked with designers, playwrights, cast, and crew to bring this production to sold-out audiences at Theatre Row in February 2018. Dr. Catlin enjoys teaching the next generation of out-of-the-box thinkers and strives to build self-confidence in her students through music and creative self-expression.

Dr. Catlin earned her doctorate in Flute Performance with a minor in Composition from the University of Georgia. She also holds a master’s degree in Flute Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a bachelor’s degree in Flute Performance from California State University, Long Beach.

http://kellycatlin.com/

Lesson Specialties:

I enjoy helping students through challenges to do with fundamentals (register, intonation, vibrato, dynamics, tone production, etc.). I love working with students of all ages.

Jovana-Liz - Grad Photos - Final Edits-14.jpg

Dr. Jovana Damnjanović

A virtuoso flute player, Dr. Jovana Damnjanović, leads a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. As a soloist, Dr. Damnjanović was a winner of the Midsouth Young Artist Competition, the Raleigh Area Flute Association Young Artist competition, Flutissimo Young Artist Competition, the Brumby Concerto Competition, and a prize winner of the San Diego Flute Guild. Dr. Damnjanović has performed as a soloist and with various chamber ensembles all over Serbia, the USA, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.

A native of Serbia, Dr. Damnjanović graduated in Flute Performance and holds a master’s degrees from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and Georgia State University. In 2014, Dr. Damnjanović was offered a scholarship to attend the Universität für Musik and darstellende Kunst International Summer Academy in Vienna which allowed her to study with Kersten McKall and Felix Renggli. Dr. Damnjanović earned her DMA degree at the University of Georgia under tutelage of Professor Angela Jones-Reus.

Dr. Damnjanović has recently written a book of ten concert etudes for solo flute titled MAYKA based on the sounds of Serbian folk music and is looking forward to her appointment as a flute professor at the University of North Georgia starting in Fall 2022.

LESSON SPECIALITIES:

Orchestral excerpts
Mozart Concerti
Competition/audition preparation
Phrasing
Baroque Music
Tonguing (I have some great exercises for really advanced students)
Articulation (in terms of style)
Tone
Vibrato

Teresa Feliciano

A native of Puerto Rico, Teresa Feliciano attended the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance with a minor in education. While completing her studies, she was part of the flute section of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and played with other renowned local ensembles. She received her Master of Music—also in flute performance—from Georgia State University where she studied with Sarah Kruser Ambrose.

Teresa has played professionally with numerous organizations in Puerto Rico and Georgia, New York, and Washington DC. In addition to her performance career, she has been a private music instructor since 2004. Teresa conducts flute and piano lessons, coachings and sectionals throughout the metro Atlanta area. She is currently on the faculty of ZTunes Music and works as a freelance Spanish translator and interpreter.

LESSON SPECIALTIES:

I absolutely looooove teaching beginners and the basics of tone production in regards to breathing and supporting to play without tension—I like to work with students that have a small sound due to a tight embouchure or students who are struggling to play with braces.

Allison Carroll Slater

Allison Carroll Slater is a metro-Atlanta area flute teacher and native of Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education after studying flute under professor Angela Jones Reus, serving as the principal flutist in the Wind Symphony, and marching both piccolo and sousaphone in the Redcoat Marching Band.

After graduating from UGA, Allison taught 6th-12th grade band, marching band, and everyone’s favorite elective - the History of Rock & Roll - at Social Circle Middle High School.

Later, Allison attended Louisiana State University where she performed with the LSU Golden Band from Tigerland (sousaphone), served as the principal flutist in the Symphonic Winds, taught at local high schools, and studied music education with Dr. Jim Byo and wind band conducting with Dr. Damon Talley.

After graduating with her Master’s degree in Music Education, Allison returned to teaching high school band at Walnut Grove High School, where she taught band, percussion classes, guitar classes, and marching band.

For over a decade, Allison has taught group and private lessons to flutists as well as other instrumentalists. Today she maintains an active studio in metro-Atlanta for flutists of all ages! Allison is also a member of the esteemed all-adult symphonic band, Tara Winds, and will be traveling to France this summer with the band to perform in the Festival des Anches d'Azur in June.

On most days, Allison can be found practicing flute or planning trips around the world with her trusty sidekick, Severus (her adorable black cat) or building Lego or playing racquetball with her wonderful husband, Phil!

LESSON SPECIALTIES:

I adore rhythm work and love helping students master the art of sight reading (aka not being so nervous during the ‘unknown’ parts of auditions, but feeling confident and prepared with a sight reading system in place!) both for auditions and ‘regular’ daily music!

I love providing students with new and proven ways to practice, prepare, and master challenging sections of their music!

Helping students create beautiful, warm tones in the upper register is my jam! No more worrying about being ‘too high, loud, or screechy’ - I love helping students become confident and comfortable with their upper ranges, and have some great mindset work and techniques I use to help with this!

Your Guest Artists...

Christina Smith, principal flute of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Christina Smith is one of the most sought-after flutists in the country as an orchestral player, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She has held the Principal Flute chair in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 1991, endowed in perpetuity by Jill Hertz. Ms. Smith’s flute solos can be heard on over 40 ASO recordings. She has also appeared with the orchestra numerous times as concerto soloist, including works of Mozart, Vivaldi, Ibert, Rodrigo, Nielsen, Jolivet, Leonard Bernstein, and Christopher Rouse. Ms. Smith performed the southeastern U.S. premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “L’aile du songe,” with Robert Spano conducting.

Ms. Smith began studying flute at age seven. She spent her formative years in Northern California, before attending Interlochen Arts Academy, where she received the Young Artist Medal (the Academy’s highest honor) in 1989. Immediately after graduation, Ms. Smith began her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music as a pupil of Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. After just two years at Curtis, she won the principal flute chair in the ASO at age 20. Ms. Smith has also studied with Tim Day, and has collaborated extensively with master teacher and clinician Keith Underwood.

Throughout her career, Ms. Smith has continued to perform and teach at the nation’s most prestigious summer festivals, including Marlboro, Grand Teton, Strings, Mainly Mozart, and the Aspen Music Festival. She has performed with the Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music chamber orchestra since 1994, and has performed there as concerto soloist several times. In addition, Ms. Smith has been invited to teach some of the world’s most promising young orchestral musicians at the Aspen Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, MD.

Ms. Smith has appeared as guest principal flutist with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vancouver Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. In 2018, she performed with the World Orchestra for Peace in Künzelsau, Germany, and at the BBC Proms for the UNESCO anniversary concerts of the WWI Armistice. She has been featured as a gala concerto soloist at the National Flute Association convention in Salt Lake City.

A prolific and accomplished chamber musician, Ms. Smith helped launch a pre-concert chamber music series featuring ASO musicians—a program that began its first official season in 2011-12, and is now thriving both financially and artistically. Ms. Smith’s longtime collaboration with ASO principal harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson resulted in the 2008 release of a duet album entitled “Encantamiento.” She is a member of the Merian Ensemble, a group of ASO women who perform and commission works by historic and contemporary female composers. The group has recently recorded its first album, "The Book of Spells", to noteworthy reviews.

Equally passionate about teaching, Ms. Smith serves on the faculty at Emory University and maintains a busy private studio. She remains highly in demand to teach masterclasses across the country, and has been featured as the guest artist at a number of flute clubs, including New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Ms. Smith performs on vintage flutes, handmade by Verne Q. Powell. She is proud to be a Powell artist.

Ebonee Thomas,

Assistant Professor of Flute University of Texas at Austin and 2nd flute/piccolo of the Dallas Opera

Hailed for her “verve and pizazz” and the “gleaming purity” of her artistry by the Miami Herald, Ebonee Thomas is Second Flute and Piccolo of The Dallas Opera. She has previously served as Principal Flute of the Knoxville Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera, and spent one year as Second Flute of the Houston Symphony. In addition she has performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Seattle Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and the Fort Worth Symphony. Ebonee has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony. During her summers Ebonee has been a member of Central City Opera, Breckenridge Music Festival, Lakes Area Music and Music in the Mountains.

Ebonee completed a four-year fellowship with the prestigious New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall, she was a featured soloist under Tilson-Thomas, performing Joan Tower’s Flute Concerto and the North American premiere of Christian Lindberg’s flute concerto, The World of Montuagretta.

Along with performing orchestral repertoire, Ebonee is an avid chamber musician, applauded as a “standout” by Theater Jones in a performance for the Fine Arts Chamber Players. She performs regularly with the Austin Chamber Music Society and Voices of Change, a new music ensemble in Dallas, TX. She was a finalist for the Austin Arts Awards for her performance of Valerie Coleman’s Danza de la Mariposa, for solo flute. She recently made her debut performance with the ensembleNEWSRQ, a contemporary ensemble highlighting living and underrepresented composers. Ebonee has been a member of the Firebird Ensemble with Seraphic Fire and can be heard on several of their released recordings including The Brandenburg Project. Ebonee had the rare opportunity to perform John Adams’ Chamber Symphony in Carnegie Hall under the composer’s baton.

Ebonee feels very fortunate to have participated in some very unique projects. She served as Principal Flute of the Star Wars in Concert! Orchestra during their U.S., Canada, and Mexico tour and was Principal Flute of the American Repertory Theater’s revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. She performed for the Kennedy Center Honors as part of the New World Symphony alumni orchestra in honor of Michael Tilson Thomas. She was also part of the Re-Collective Orchestra, the first all-Black orchestra to perform to a sold out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl. Ebonee has also served as principal flute with the Chineke! Orchestra at BBC Proms and during their European Tour. She has performed all over the world. Some of her favorite venues include KKL Luzern (Switzerland), The Elbphilarmonie (Germany), Wigmore Hall (England), Snape Maltings (England), and Musiikkitalo (Finland).

As a passionate pedagogue, Ebonee is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Texas at Austin, Butler school of music. She previously held a position as Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory. Along with all of her musical endeavors, Ebonee serves as a member of the board of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras and, the National Advisory Board of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, the Black Orchestral Network’s Steering Committee and is a member of the New World Symphony’s Alumni Association Committee. She is currently the Piccolo Committee Chair for the National Flute Association.

Ebonee received her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance degree from Southern Methodist University and received her Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers Jean Larson Garver, Claire Johnson, Helen Blackburn, and Fenwick Smith. Ebonee is a Burkart piccolo artist and plays on a Burkart 998 with a platinum Mancke headjoint and a Burkart Elite Piccolo.