Meet The Smoothie Specialist

Why "Flute Smoothie"?

This website was created by Natan Simon as an assignment in his course of study toward earning his

Masters Degree in Wind Conducting from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University.

I grew up playing the trumpet and the only flute experience I had before I started teaching was the eight weeks in a woodwind methods class when I was 20 years old. Let me just say that my flute playing was less than impressive. Since then, I have always been reluctant to pick up the flute again, and so I lost my ability to effectively model on that instrument. Working on this website gave me a nice wake-up call! I am actually excited to play the flute again and I think that my flute players will really get a lot of good information from Flute Smoothie!

Oh, and the theme for the website came to me all of the sudden after each one of my family members, independently of one another, started making fruit smoothies for their own health. Fruit, flute, Flute Smoothie!

Biography

Natan Simon is the Band Director at Shadow Mountain High School and Shea Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona. Natan graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and a variety of approaches to playing the trumpet. While at Northern Arizona, Natan played in the Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Jazz Band, and the Symphony Orchestra. Natan also enjoyed the opportunity to perform in three different drum and bugle corps over the course of five summers, most notably with the Santa Clara Vanguard in 2002 and 2004. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Arizona Music Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, and the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association.

Natan began his teaching career in the Peoria Unified School District, teaching 5th through 8th grade band and strings at two K-8 schools. In his final year in Peoria, Natan had the pleasure of teaching K-6 General Music as well. During that time, Natan was on staff for three high school marching bands, teaching marching. He also wrote drill for nine other high school bands between 2008 and 2010. In January 2011, Natan made the move to the Paradise Valley Unified School District and teaches one 7th Grade Band and one 8th Grade Band at Shea Middle School, and Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Guitar at Shadow Mountain High School. Since Natan's arrival at Shadow Mountain, the band program has grown from 39 students to a projected 60 this Fall. The Concert Band recently qualified for and performed in the Arizona State Concert Band Festival for the first time since 2009. The Marching Matadors play a huge role in their community, performing entertaining music at every varsity football game, all four pep assemblies, the homecoming parade, one Freshman Football and one JV Football game, all while maintaining a rigorous rehearsal and contest schedule.

Natan remains an active performer, playing trumpet in a church orchestra on holidays, and euphonium in the Glendale Community College "Community Band". Natan resides in Phoenix with his wife, who teaches Spanish at a rival high school, but he does not hold that against her. They take care of two dogs, Wilson and Ellie, both black lab/mix.

Sources

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de Villiers, Francois T. 3 Renx. Medieval Flute. Flute in D. http://dflute.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/medieval-flute. 7-21-13.

Duke, Jim. Elder Flute. 2010. Plant Rant: An Elder Spokesman on Elders. The Green Pharmacy Garden. http://thegreenfarmacygarden.com/2012/09/09/plant-rant-an-elder- spokesman-on-elders. 7-21-13.

Early Music Shop. VON13B. 2013. Von Huene Baroque Flute A Grenser a=440. The Early Music Shop. http://www.earlymusicshop.com/product.aspx/en-GB/1002856-von- huene-baroque-flute-a-grenser-a-440. 7-21-13.

Flute Center of New York. 2013. Flute Parts. http://www.flutes4sale.com/home.html. 7-21-13.

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Scott, Andrew. Flute-Parts. 2013. Index of Ebay-Flute. Andrew Scott Music. http://www.andrewscottmusic.com/Ebay-flute/flute-parts.jpg. 7-21-13.

Shepard, Mark. FindingA. 2013. Finding Your Flute. Mark Shepard's Flute Page. http://www.markshep.com/flute/Finding.html. 7-21-13.

St George Players. Flute12. 2013. The Woodwind Instruments. St George Players. http://stgeorgeplayers.wordpress.com/the-woodwinds/. 7-21-13.

Wilson, Rick. 8keyFr. 2013. 19th Century French Simple System Flutes. Historical Flutes Page. http://www.oldflutes.com/french.htm. 7-21- 13.

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THANK YOU

To Our Photogenic Fluitistas, Allison and Leah!