June 19 -23, 2023
Buford High School
2455 Buford Hwy NE, Buford, GA 30518
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Are you a young flutist or parent of a flutist in the Atlanta area looking for a truly one-of-a-kind, WORLD CLASS musical experience this summer?
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Look no further!
***The information on this page is ONLY for students of Buford City Schools. Please click here to be taken the the FLING page for all other students.***
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What makes FLING different?
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1. Fun
Yes, you're going to play flute A LOT during the week, but you're also going to play games and HAVE FUN! Each day is filled with musical activities that involve playing the flute as well as teamwork activities, games (like playing with a gigantic parachute).
2. Enrichment
You already know about the concert flute that we play and about band and maybe some solo music, but have you ever heard music from around the world?
For the 2023 camp, you'll hear a traditional Chinese ensemble AND Brazilian ensemble perform and even get to play WITH THEM. How cool is that!?
You'll further develop your knowledge about music from around the world. Maybe you'll uncover a new favorite style of music.
3. World-class FLutists
You're going to learn from the best of the best! We have an incredibly rich flute community, and for 2023, we have flutists from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the new flute professor at Florida State University, and some of the best teachers and players from the area! *swoon*
Also, this year, you have a chance to apply to play in a masterclass for a guest teacher!
4. Chamber Ensembles
Ever played in a flute choir? How about playing an alto or bass flute? Participants will play in small ensembles every day as well as a flute orchestra!
5. Small Group Classes
Each day, you'll have 3 small group classes led by local professional flutists. Here are some of the topics that will be covered:
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Performance anxiety (aka stage fright)
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Composition
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Music history
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Playing with Boomwhackers
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Music theory
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Flute Jeopardy
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Beatboxing
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Arts fusion projects (think storytelling, puppetry, drawing, etc)
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Rhythm games
...and more!
The Details...
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Sample Daily Schedule
9:00am: Arrive
9:15am -10:15am: Flute choir rehearsal
10:30am -11:30am: Small Group Class 1
11:30am -12:30pm: Small Group Class 2
12:30pm - 1:15pm: LUNCH (bring your own)
1:15pm -2:45pm: Guest Artist Performance
2:45pm - 3:45pm: Small Group Class 3 or flute orchestra rehearsal
3:45pm: Wrap up
4:00pm: Dismissal and pick up
4:00pm - 6:00pm: After care/private lessons (you must register for lessons when you register for camp)
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New for 2023...
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FLING X is a new, advanced track of FLING for very serious high school flutists.
The small group classes will be conservatory-style where students will cover advanced topics that are usually taught at the college and university level.
The small group classes will be led by that day's guest artist and will provide students with an intensive performance-based experience.
You must submit a more comprehensive audition and be accepted into FLING X. Rising 9th through rising 12th graders and graduated seniors can apply for FLING X.
Audition requirements:
Submit VIDEO recordings of yourself playing all 12 major scales 2-3 octaves and 2-3 minutes each of 2 contrasting pieces or etudes of your choice. Piano accompaniment is not required. Single movements of longer pieces are acceptable. Each element (scales, solos, etudes, etc.) can be recorded separately. All scales need to be filmed in one take. Each solo/etude can be recorded and uploaded separately. We recommend uploading videos to YouTube and submitting "unlisted" links. If you need help understanding how to do this, here are instructions.
Please submit a maximum of 3 video links on the registration form:
1 video for 12 scales
1 video for solo/etude #1 (2-3 minutes) of your choice
1 video for solo/etude #2 (2-3 minutes) of your choice.
If you're not accepted into FLING X, you can still participate in FLING!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is lunch provided?
A: No. Students are required to bring their own lunch and water bottle, BUT we will provide snacks.
Q: Which age/level of student should participate?
A: Rising 7th graders through rising 12th graders are encouraged to apply. If you're younger than rising 7th grade and take private lessons, you can email program director, Dr. E to request admission. (katherine@gaflute.com).
We'll have students who are first chair All-Staters who are planning on majoring in music as well as students entering their second year of playing. Students will be divided into groups based on age and playing level determined by an easy recorded audition when you apply.
Q: Is this an overnight camp?
A: No. Just a day camp. Prompt drop off at 9am and pick up at 4pm is required.
Q: We're working parents, and it's really hard for us to drop off and pick up our flutist from FLING. Are there any carpool or aftercare options?
A: FLING is offering an after care option for families who need to pick their flutist a little later. Students can be picked up by 6pm each day instead of 4pm. Just indicate your preference on the registration form! After care requires a $10 per day fee.
Since FLING is being attended by many students in the Atlanta area, we cannot arrange carpools for you, but we recommend that your flutist find a friend from their school who is also attending FLING to set up carpooling.
Q: Is it possible to attend only a few days of camp?
A: We understand that the summer can get busy. You are definitely welcome to attend only a few days of the camp, but you will still be required to pay the full fee.
Q: I want to apply for the masterclass. Am I guaranteed to play if I submit a recording?
A: First of all, yay! Secondly, it depends on the number of students interested in playing in the class. We'll only have time for a select number of students. On the application, there is a place for you to submit an audition recording of what you want to play in the class. We'll have a panel of judges listen and choose masterclass participants based off of the audition recordings.
Q: What's a masterclass?
A: A masterclass is like an open lesson. A student performs a solo or orchestral excerpts on the stage in front of everyone, and then a master teacher helps them get better at aspects of their playing in front of everyone. Everyone learns!
Q: Is there an opportunity to take private lessons?
A: Yes! New for 2023, you'll have an option to sign up for ONE private lesson with one of the FLING teachers. Private lessons will take place at the end of each day between 4pm and 6pm. You can sign up on the registration form. Private lessons will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Private lessons are an additional $60.
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Special Buford Fee
$50
Dr. E worked out a plan with BCS to offer instruction for Buford flutists for only $50 in return for use of Buford High School. Participants from other schools are paying $450 for the week.
Non-refundable $50 registration fee is due by June 1, 2023.
Cancellations allowed only until June 12, 2023.
Something Special...
FLING is being sponsored by Flutistry!
Part of the Flutistry team will be in residence during the week of FLING!
If you're interested in upgrading your flute or purchasing a piccolo, Flutistry will be there to help you free of charge.
They'll bring their inventory of flutes and piccolos for you to try. You'll be able to set up an appointment with them during the week of FLING!
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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. ;-)
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.
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Your Guest Artists...
Gina Hughes
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Gina Hughes joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as piccolo and flute during the 2016-17 season. Prior to joining the ASO, she played second flute with the Houston Symphony for two years and can be heard on their recent recording of Dvořák's Eighth Symphony. She also appeared as guest flute and piccolo with the Dallas Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic. In the summer of 2016, she played piccolo with the Central City Opera in Colorado.
As a soloist, Mrs. Hughes performed the Nielsen Flute Concerto as a competition winner at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California and won first place at the Young Texas Artists Competition. She was also a fellow at the Kent Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Round Top Festival Institute. Mrs. Hughes completed her undergraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music with Robert Langevin, principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic, and received her master's from Rice University with Leone Buyse of the Boston Symphony.
In addition to playing piccolo and flute, she enjoys sewing clothes and quilting, cooking (especially Korean food) and spending time with her husband, who is also a musician.
Bichos Vivos
Natalie Smith, flute
Rooted in the Brazilian northeast region, Forró is party music driven by the accordion, triangle, Zabumba (big traditional drum), rounded out by guitar, bass, percussion, flute, violin and vocals. The closest equivalent here in the US is Zydeco with its infectious and highly danceable rhythms. These are deeply soulful songs that also make people swing their hips and dance through the night.
Natalie Smith is a freelance flutist living in Athens, GA. She holds a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory from the University of Georgia, where she was a student of Angela Jones-Reus. Natalie is currently principal flutist for the Gwinnett Ballet Theater Orchestra, the Georgia Ballet Orchestra, and Felix Farrar’s Atlanta Symphoria, and she substitutes regularly with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. She also performs in world music groups including Brazilian forró band Bichos Vivos and the Athens Middle East Orchestra. In addition to playing the flute, Natalie teaches private lessons through her business Music with Natalie and is the founder and executive director of HEART Music, a non-profit organization whose goal is to make high quality music education accessible to all. www.heartmusicathens.org
Spring Music School
Vicki Lu, dizi, guzheng, hulusi
Vicki Lu and Spring Yang, a mother-daughter duo are Chinese traditional musicians based in Atlanta, Georgia. Spring Yang graduated from Sichuan Conservatory in Erhu performance and minored in Guzheng. Her daughter Vicki Lu graduated with her Bachelor's (Music Education and Flute Performance) and Masters (Ethnomusicology) from the University of Georgia and is now pursuing her Ph.D (Ethnomusicology) at the same university.
Vicki started learning the Guzheng, Dizi, and Hulusi at a young age from many Chinese professional musicians. The two travel around the southeast with their school, Spring Music School, and present masterclasses and performances to young musicians and students. Their mission is to spread the knowledge of Chinese culture through Chinese traditional musical performances!
The Spring Music School will be presenting a class on Chinese traditional tunes to FLING. They will give a performance and masterclass about the different types of Chinese traditional instruments: Guzheng, Erhu, Dizi, Hulusi, and Yangqin. Students will then be given a few Chinese folk tunes and popular tunes to play on their Western flutes and be accompanied by the Spring Music School. They will also be given the chance to touch and play with the Chinese traditional instruments at the end!
Dr. Mary Matthews
Tennessee Tech
Florida State University (Fall 2023)
Beatboxing and Beyond
Flutist Mary Matthews enjoys an active career as an international soloist, chamber musician, orchestral flutist, and pedagogue, and has performed on four continents in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Fundação Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Festival Goethe Institut Música Nueva, and Cité Internationale des Arts. She has been a featured soloist and chamber musician at the Newport Music Festival, and she is a founding member of the Maryland Wind Festival. Dr. Matthews is Assistant Professor of Flute at Florida State University, and previously, she was Associate Professor of Flute at Tennessee Tech University's School of Music. She performs regularly with the Nashville Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Additionally, she is a studio recording artist with the Nashville Scoring Orchestra, where she records soundtracks to TV shows, movies, and video games at Ocean Way, Blackbird, and Wildwood Studios. She is known for her command of extended techniques and her adventurous programming. She is half of Duo Rossignol with soprano Hillary LaBonte, and she is a member of the Khemia Ensemble, a 12-member ensemble dedicated to the programming of diverse and innovative repertoire.
Dr. Matthews has been an educator for over fifteen years, teaching in five states and working with students of all ages. She has presented masterclasses and lectures at Colorado State University, Kansas State University, Bowling Green State University, and El Instituto Eduardo Laredo in Cochabamba, Bolivia, among others. Prior to her appointment at Tennessee Tech, Dr. Matthews was an adjunct faculty member at The University of Hartford's The Hartt School, and she taught applied lessons and chamber music at the Parlando School for Musical Arts in Boulder, CO, The Hartt School Community Division in West Hartford, CT, and the International School of Music in Bethesda, MD. Visit www.MaryMatthewsFlute.com for more information.
Dr. Andrée Martin
Columbus State University
Body Mapping and Masterclass
Professor at the Schwob School of Music, Newfoundland native Andrée Martin has performed at Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, Lincoln Center, and the National Flute Association and American
Musicological Society Conventions. She includes playing Elliott Carter’s Enchanted Preludes for the composer on a concert celebrating his 90th birthday and playing Le Marteau Sans Maître at Carnegie Hall with Pierre Boulez conducting among her most thrilling performing experiences. She has been published in Flute Talk and the Flutist Quarterly and serves as vice-president on board of the Atlanta Flute Club. Andrée was named the Sam and Jacquie Rawls Distinguished Professor in Music which provided funds for the Rawls Body Mapping Library for Schwob students.
Andrée is passionate about issues surrounding musicians’ wellness and injury prevention. She is licensed as a Body Mapping Educator and as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher through the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. She has taught Body Mapping for the Seattle, Atlanta, and Las Vegas Flute Societies. She has served on the faculty of Summerflute and as president on the board of the Association for Body Mapping Education. She hosted the 2017 International Body Mapping Conference at the Schwob School of Music. Information about her Body Mapping courses can be found at www.bodymappingcourses.com and about her
mindfulness courses at www.everydaymindfulnesscourses.com.
Andrée’s students have performed at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and are winners of, among others, the Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Golden Classical Music International,
American Protégé, Grand Prize Virtuoso International “London”, Alexander & Buono International, Atlanta Flute Club, Oklahoma Flute Society, and Artist International Competitions.
As an advocate for international education, Andrée has taught Body Mapping and Renaissance music history courses in Italy, France, and Oxford, England.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
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Ready to sign up?
A few things first...
1. If you're interested in auditioning to play in the masterclass with Dr. Martin (a masterclass is where you get up on the stage with the guest teacher and have basically an "open lesson" with the rest of the participants in the audience watching), please submit an additional VIDEO recording of you performing what you'd like to play in the class. Solo pieces or orchestral excerpts (2-3 excerpts) are encouraged. Piano accompaniment is not required but can be provided if you're invited to play in the class. There is a place on the application form for you to copy and paste the link. Please note that we'll invite as many participants as possible to play in the class. We won't be able to have all applicants perform, but we'll try to include as many as possible. We recommend uploading videos to YouTube and submitting "unlisted" links. If you need help understanding how to do this, here are instructions.
2. There are several parts to the registration process:
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Complete the registration form including providing video links to the required audition material if you're auditioning for FLING X or the masterclass
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Pay at least the non-refundable deposit fee
All good?
Before you start the registration form, please:
1. Decide if you want to audition for FLING X or regular FLING.
2. Record the required material if auditioning for FLING X or the masterclass and have links ready to copy/paste.
3. If you're interested in having a private lesson, read the teacher bios and lesson specialties so you know which teacher you'd like to have a lesson with.
The registration form should say "FLING! Buford" at the top. If it doesn't please click this link:
Please don't hesitate contacting us if you have any remaining questions.
Email Dr. E at katherine@gaflute.com
Special thanks to Buford City Schools for hosting FLING!