Meet heather
Heather is a flutist, piccolo player, and experienced educator who believes great music lessons should develop more than technique. They should help students become confident, curious musicians who understand how they learn and discover what they want music to become in their lives.
Her approach combines serious musicianship with warmth, flexibility, and a genuine interest in the person behind the instrument. Whether a student is picking up the flute for the first time, working through the challenges of school music, preparing for an audition, or simply wanting to become a better player, Heather meets them where they are and helps them move forward from there.
A Life in Music
Music has been at the center of Heather’s adult life for more than two decades. She studied Music Performance at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, while also pursuing a minor in Education and coursework in Music Therapy—an early combination of interests that brought together musicianship, learning, and an appreciation for the different ways people experience music.
Since 2002, Heather has built her professional career with U.S. Army Bands and the Washington Army National Guard Band, performing on flute and piccolo while taking on increasingly broad responsibilities behind the scenes. Over the years, that career has taken her far beyond the rehearsal room and concert stage: helping create educational programs, shaping performances for different audiences, mentoring other musicians, coordinating major concerts and community events, and helping musical organizations do their best work.
Through all of those experiences, one idea has remained constant: music is both a craft and a deeply human activity. Becoming a stronger musician requires discipline and technique, but it also requires curiosity, confidence, adaptability, and room to discover your own relationship with the music you play.
Flute & Piccolo
B.A. in Music Performance
Minor in Education
U.S. Army Bands
20+ Years Professional Experience
Teaching & Mentorship
Building Strong Musicians
Heather brings the perspective of a professional musician who has spent decades performing, rehearsing, collaborating, and continually refining her craft.
Her lessons are grounded in solid fundamentals—tone, technique, rhythm, musicality, listening, and thoughtful practice—but the goal is bigger than simply getting the notes right. Heather wants students to understand what they are doing, why it works, and how to become increasingly independent musicians.
Teaching the Student, Not Just the Flute
No two students learn in exactly the same way, and Heather doesn’t believe they should be taught as if they did.
She pays attention to each student’s goals, personality, strengths, frustrations, learning style, and relationship with music. Lessons can be structured and challenging without becoming rigid or discouraging, and Heather adjusts her approach as students grow—helping them build confidence, solve problems, and find ways of learning that genuinely work for them.
Challenge Without Rigidity
Heather believes students can be challenged without being forced into a one-size-fits-all approach. Good teaching sets meaningful expectations, but also leaves room to experiment, ask questions, make mistakes, and find different paths toward the same musical goal.
The result is an environment where progress matters—but so do curiosity, confidence, and the enjoyment of making music.
More Than Two Decades of Professional Musicianship
Heather’s musical career has unfolded in places where preparation, collaboration, adaptability, and high standards genuinely matter. Since 2002, she has performed on flute and piccolo with U.S. Army Bands and the Washington Army National Guard Band while taking on increasingly significant roles in leadership, mentoring, program development, and operations.
Along the way, she has helped bring hundreds of concerts, ceremonies, educational programs, and community events to life, from intimate performances to major productions involving multiple organizations and audiences numbering in the tens of thousands.
Through it all, Heather has continued to maintain the professional musicianship that began her career, while becoming someone other musicians and leaders rely on to teach, mentor, organize, and solve problems.
More Than Two Decades of Professional Musicianship
Heather’s musical career has unfolded in places where preparation, collaboration, adaptability, and high standards genuinely matter. Since 2002, she has performed on flute and piccolo with U.S. Army Bands and the Washington Army National Guard Band while taking on increasingly significant roles in leadership, mentoring, program development, and operations.
Along the way, she has helped bring hundreds of concerts, ceremonies, educational programs, and community events to life, from intimate performances to major productions involving multiple organizations and audiences numbering in the tens of thousands.
Through it all, Heather has continued to maintain the professional musicianship that began her career, while becoming someone other musicians and leaders rely on to teach, mentor, organize, and solve problems.
U.S. Army NCO Evaluation Reports
2017–2024
Heather’s Musical Journey
1987
The Flute Becomes Part of Her Life
Heather began playing flute at eight years old and was fortunate to have access to private instruction as she grew up. Those early lessons helped turn an instrument into something much bigger—a creative outlet, a discipline, and eventually a career.
That experience still informs Free Range Flutes today. Heather remembers what it meant for her family to find quality instruction they could afford, and keeping private lessons accessible to other families matters to her.
1997
Education, Performance & How People Learn
At Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, Heather earned a B.A. in Music Performance while also completing a minor in Education and coursework in Music Therapy.
That combination broadened her perspective beyond performance alone. Music could be something to master, but also something to teach, communicate, experience differently from person to person, and use to help people grow.
2002
A Professional Life in Music
In 2002, Heather began what would become a more than two-decade career with U.S. Army Bands and the Washington Army National Guard Band, performing professionally on flute and piccolo.
Over time, that career expanded well beyond performance. Heather became increasingly involved in mentoring, leadership, educational programming, creative direction, and the planning of musical experiences for audiences ranging from schoolchildren to large public crowds. Her evaluations particularly recognize both her professional musicianship and her work developing and mentoring others.
2026
Free Range Flutes Begins
Free Range Flutes brings those experiences together in a private studio built around a simple idea: serious musicianship and individualized teaching belong together.
Heather created the studio to give students strong fundamentals and meaningful musical challenges while preserving curiosity, agency, flexibility, and enjoyment. Students don’t have to fit themselves into one prescribed way of learning; the teaching can adapt to the musician while still helping that musician grow.
Let’s Make Some Music!
Lessons That Start With You
Whether you’re just beginning, trying to get more from school band, preparing for an audition, returning to the flute after years away, or looking for a fresh perspective on your playing, Heather would be happy to meet you where you are.
Free Range Flutes offers individualized flute and piccolo instruction built around your goals, your learning style, and the kind of musician you want to become.