studio class in Kulas Recital Hall 2013
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Alexa attempts updates every 6 months or so, and greatly appreciates any current information
Hannah Hammel is the Principal Flute of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. A native of Richmond, VA, Hannah holds degrees from Rice University (MM 2017) and Oberlin Conservatory (BM 2015). An active solo flutist, she has won several competitions including the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and Orchestral Excerpt Competition, and competitions of the Atlanta, Houston, Mid-South, and Ohio Flute Associations. As an orchestral flutist, prior to winning her position with Detroit, Hannah was principal of the Knoxville Symphony. She has also been a guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, and New World Symphony. She has attended summer festivals including Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Round Top Festival Institute, and Music Academy of the West where she was awarded a Global Academy Fellowship allowing her to perform with the New York Philharmonic. Hannah also has extensive performance experience with contemporary music and historical performance on the one-keyed Baroque flute, and is an avid teacher. After graduating from Oberlin, she studied at Rice with Leone Buyse.
Candy Chang is a flutist and piccoloist with the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, where she performs with the concert band and woodwind quintet. She graduated from Oberlin in 2016 with a dual major in Arts Administration and a minor in Historical Performance (Baroque flute) studying with Michael Lynn and Kathie Stewart.
As a military musician, Candy performed at the 2017 U.S. Presidential Inauguration for President Trump and his family where she was featured as a soloist. She has also shared the stage with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and American a cappella group, Pentatonix. Candy has appeared on Classical King FM’s Northwest Focus Live, Spokane Public Radio’s From the Studio, ABC, ESPN, and FOX news.
Passionate about new music, Candy has premiered over 75 works by living composers. She performed regularly with Oberlin's Contemporary Music Ensemble through which she collaborated with four-time Grammy winner, eighth blackbird, and toured to the University of Richmond to perform at Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival.
Putting her arts administrative training to use, Candy interned with the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Maple Valley Youth Symphony, and Academy of Music Northwest. She currently serves as the woodwind quintet’s tour manager, booking over 50 concerts a year throughout the west coast.
Amanda Dame graduated in 2016, with a double degree in flute and biology. She recently completed a Master of Music at the Peabody Conservatory, under the guidance of Marina Piccinini, and released her first CD in 2021. Amongst her numerous awards are first-place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Woodwind Competition in Washington, DC, first-place awards in the Best Mozart Performance category of the global Great Composer Competition Series, the Central Ohio Flute Association Young Artist Competition, Rochester Flute Association Emerging Artist Competition, Donald E. Webster Scholarship Competition, and the Stefan Scholarship Competition. She is also a substitute flutist with the Canton and Firelands Symphonies. During her studies at Oberlin, Dame performed with the Oberlin Orchestra at Chicago Symphony Center as a part of their 150th-Anniversary tour. She also appeared frequently as an ensemble-member for faculty concerto recordings. She has appeared in the Schikele Bassoon Concerto and the Augusta Reed Thomas Bassoon Concerto released on the Oberlin and Naxos labels on the album Full Moon in the City. She has also appeared in recordings of the Carter Flute Concerto and the Trigos Guitar Concerto No. 1. Amanda is the Director of Wind Ensemble at the Bryn Mawr school, and co-founder of the Virtual Woodwind Academy, a thriving online business.
Erica Zheng graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2017 with a double degree in Biochemistry and Flute Performance. In 2014 and 2015, Erica was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, touring cities nationwide including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver. Erica has performed in masterclasses for renowned artists such as Bonita Boyd, Paula Robison, Gary Schocker, and Susan Hoeppner. She was a finalist in the 2013 National Arts Centre Bursary Competition, and a national finalist at the Canadian Music Competition in 2011. Erica graduated with a PhD in Chemical Biology from Harvard University where she was also member of the Collins Lab at MIT, and played in the Harvard Graduate School Dudley Orchestra. Erica’s doctoral research focused on developing new treatments for antibiotic-resistant and antibiotic-tolerant bacteria. Her work has been highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, bridging small molecule screening, mechanistic studies, and machine learning. She is the first author of original research articles in Nature Communications and Cell Chemical Biology, and has co-authored publications in Nature Microbiology, Nature Aging, and Molecular Systems Biology. After a stint as a visiting lecturer at Wellesley college, she now applies her scientific expertise in chemical biology, drug discovery, and bioengineering to assist clients in the drafting and prosecution of patent applications for the law firm Clark and Elbing.
Ellyn Butler graduated in 2018 with a double degree in flute and psychology. Ellyn is a fourth year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Northwestern University and a Psychology Extern at the Urban Youth Trauma Center in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. After Oberlin, she spent three years as a data analyst at the University of Pennsylvania's Brain Behavior Laboratory. She is interested in how various characteristics of violence exposure, such as the perpetrator, severity, timing, and unpredictability, alter brain structure and function to lead to mental illness. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
Katie Kim graduated in 2018, and graduated with an MMus and MA in chamber music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2019. Katie is based in San Diego, California and can be heard in orchestras throughout the county, including the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra, Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Poway Symphony, where she holds principal chair. Katie has been a prize winner of many competitions, including the 2020 John MacGregor flute prize, the 2020 RCM Governor’s Recital Prize in Chamber Music, and the 2018 Lansum International Competition.
Moises Lopez Ruiz, graduated 2017, completed his MM at Cleveland Institute of Music with Mary Kay Fink , graduated from Peabody's artist diploma program studying with Marina Piccinnini and is currently teaching in Spain, his home country.
Heeyoung (Helen) Lim, graduated in 2019 and recently completed graduate work in education administration in Korea.
Tasi Hiner and Aram Mun.
Aram graduated in 2017 and again in 2019 from Oberlin's artist diploma program. Aram then got her Masters degree from Rice studying with Leone Buyse. Aram is currently enrolled in the artist diploma program in Montreal and won their concerto competition on 2024.
Tasi Hiner graduated in 2016 and recently graduated from UCLA where he did a masters with Erin and Denis Bouriakov. He won the Young Artist competition of the Las Vegas Flute Club in 2023.
Yuanfei Chen, graduated in 2019 and got a masters in Arts administration from Indiana University
HeeJeong Yoon, graduated in 2019, and has a private studio in Korea.
Julia Pyke, was appointed principal flute of the Spokane Symphony in July 2022. Julia graduated in 2019, and then got her masters degree and a professional studies certificate at San Francisco Conservatory studying with Tim Day, where she also won the concerto competition. Her performance of the Leibermann concerto took place in Fall of 2021. She has been one of the most visible students featured on SFCM’s social media channels, with her videos on SFCM's TikTok page totaling a staggering 2.7 million views. She has attended Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, and Texas Music Festival, and started subbing with the New World Symphony while a sophomore. While at Music Academy of the West, she was a finalist for both the Duo Competition and the Keston MAX audition in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Dylan Masariego graduated in December 23. He is studying for his masters at CIM, primarily with Cleveland orchestra piccoloist Mary Kay Fink. Awarded second place in the 2023 Walfrid Kujala International Piccolo Young Artist Competition. He was one of only 6 semi finalists for the NFA's Young Piccolo Artist Competition of 2022, and was chosen as the alternate for the finals. He is also the recipient of the NFA's First Generation Scholarship for 2022. Dylan is the piccolo player for the Lima Symphony in Ohio and has a part time position in the Cleveland Orchestra's administration.
Gabriel Cruz-Ruiz graduated in 2023 and recently won a position with the Puerto Rico Symphony. Gaby has won many, many scholarships, masterclass opportunities, competitions and mentorship opportunities. He was recently a finalist for the Chicago Flute Club's Young Artist Competition and in March 2024, he won the Young Artists Competition in the Dominican Republic.
Zishu (Lily) Xie, graduated from Oberlin in 2019, and then graduated with a Masters degree from The Frost School of Music, University of Miami, where she was a teaching assistant to Prof Jennifer Grimm. Lily was principal flute of the China National Youth Orchestra which toured the US in 2017. She recently graduated from the performance artist diploma program at Peabody with Marina Piccinnini and freelances in the DC/Baltimore area.
Oliver Villanueva graduated in 2015 and went on to a Masters at Boston Conservatory and studies at the Frost School. In 2024, Oliver won a Piccolo/Flute position with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic.
Daphne to Boekhorst, Dylan Masariago and Daniel Jordan post-UN gala concert at Carnegie Hall December 2022, an event replicating a Boston Symphony concert 50 years prior. Daniel was principal flute in Beethoven. Dylan played principal in Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto and picc in Beethoven. Daphne played second on everything.
LEFT: Daphne te Boekhorst, Ben Smith and Yishan Li, post-concert at Oberlin's return trip to Carnegie Hall, January 2023. Daphne played principal in Dett's Oratorio The Ordering of Moses. Yishan played principal in Brahms' Tragic Overture and Rodriguez' A Metaphor for Power. Ben played picc on everything.
Daphne graduated in December 2024 with a double degree in environmental science, did an internship in Europe in the Spring, and is currently enrolled in NYU's arts administration program.
BELOW: Dylan Masariego, Sophia Keil, Daniel Jordan. Sophia graduated in December of 22.
Daniel graduated in May 2023 and is freelancing in the Columbus area.
Yishan Li (left), now studying for her Masters and beginning a doctorate at The University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana, easily wins the award for longest continuous residence at Oberlin as she was unable to return home due to COVID-related travel and quarantine restrictions
Isaiah Shaw, Daphne te Boekhorst and Dylan after an ensemble concert. Isaiah graduated in 23. Isaiah has been an intern with National Flute Association, 2019, an Intern with the Diversity in Arts Leadership 2020, an Imani Winds chamber music Fellow, and was in the NFA's Young Artist mentorship program for 2021. Isaiah graduated in 2024, and is currently living in New York.
Choyi Lee is a third-year student from South Korea. Choyi won the South Carolina Flute Society's Young Artist Competition of 2023 and attended the Round Top Music Festival in 2024.
Jonah Ordower is a fourth year double degree student from New York City studying flute performance and astrophysics.
Nat Kim is from Denver, Colorado. Nat is a third year student majoring in Flute Performance and Biochemistry.
Benjamin (Ben) Smith, senior, is currently at Yale doing his Masters. in May of 2025, Ben's wind quintet won the national Frances Walton chamber music competition held in Seattle. He graduated in 2024 with Flute Performance and a minor in Korean Studies. Ben is a substitute player with New World Symphony. He spent Fall of 22 studying in a semester abroad program abroad at Hanyang University, South Korea, with Minji Kim and Seonah Jang.
JY graduated in December 23. JY is currently a Repair Service Advisor and Playtester at the Flute Center, nbased in New York. JY has also worked extensively with the National Flute Association, as well as his hometown youth orchestra, Santa Monica Youth Orchestra, through the Los Angeles County Arts Intern Program.
Sophia Keil graduated in Dec 2022. She began PhD studies in Cognitive Science at John Hopkins beginning in fall of 2023. Her seeing-eye dog, and honorary flute studio member, is Brea.
Yuyuan Yang (left) graduated in 2022 and has begun her doctorate on a full scholarship at the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana studying with Jonathan Keeble. Josephine Lee (right) graduated in 2021 and came back to Oberlin for a year to work as the interim ensembles librarian. She is currently doing her Masters degree at Carnegie Mellon with Lorna McGee.
Will Adams graduated in 2020. Will graduated from UCLA after completing a masters with Dennis and Erin Bouriakov and is currently freelancing in the LA area.
Sara Hedberg, graduated in 2020, has recently graduated from Boston University where she studied with Linda Toote, with an emphasis on piccolo. She is working in non-profit arts administration.
Karisma Palmore, graduated in 2020, won a fulbright award to study in France and is continuing her studies in France.
Hexin Zhang, graduated in 2019, and recently graduated from the Master Specialized Music Performance Solistin program in Zürich Hochschule der Kunst, studying with Maria Goldschmidt-Pahn
Noah Hoffer, Graduated in 2024 and is working in Chicago.
Sungkyung Lee, graduated in 2021, and recently graduated with Masters from Lynn Conservatory where she studied with Jeffrey Khaner . She was recently the featured artist of All That Flute in Korea
Kelsey Burnham (left) with guest artist Greg Patillo, and Ellyn Butler (right). You can read about Ellyn above. Kelsey began at Oberlin on modern flute and computer science but found her passion on baroque flute and graduated with a B Mus in Baroque flute studying with Michael Lynn and went on to a MM ('21) on Baroque flute at Juilliard on a full scholarship.
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