JMU Flutes

So, so proud of these graduates! They are all headed towards exciting next chapters. Congratulations! 🎉

Dr. Rebecca Needham (DMA Flute Performance, Pedagogy, & Literature) will be teaching music at Blinn College and Austin Community College in Texas. Hooray!

Isabelle Pearson (MM Composition, and also wonderful flutist and pianist!) will begin a PhD in Composition at the University of Oregon.

MaryKate Mandeville (BM Music Education, AND one of our Outstanding Seniors selected by the faculty) plans to teach middle school band in VA. Her students will be so lucky to have her!

Our also got a shoutout at commencement for winning a CVPA Travel Grant to Bulgaria this summer!

So excited for these wonderful people to do good in the world! We will miss you! 💜💛🎶

Bravo to Daniel Esperante, who performed the Ibert Concerto with the JMU Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the 2026 Concerto/Aria Competition! Gorgeous performance! And as a bonus, Daniel also conducted Elgar’s Ni**od Variation to honor graduating students! Bravo to Symphony flutes Daniel, , .g.lisson , and !

It’s a busy season here! Congratulations to Isabelle Pearson on an inspiring MM Composition recital! Such beautiful and varied music! And lovely to hear her and much of the featured as soloists, orchestral players, with singers, and in a flute trio to conclude it all! Check out her music ! 🎉💜💛

Congratulations to Emma Lisson on her beautiful junior recital! Her lovely program featured works by Martinů, Coleman, Paradis(?), and Burton, with pianist Jeanette Gipson! So proud of you! 💜💛🎶 .g.lisson

Brava to MM student Isabelle Pearson, who played a gorgeous recital last weekend! Not only did she play a flute program beautifully, she also played a lovely piano program! AND she’s a composition major! So proud of her hard work and many talents! 💜💛🪈🎹✍️🎵

Huge congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Needham ! She successfully defended her DMA project, “The High School Piccoloist: A Resource Guide,” and has submitted it to the JMU Graduate School! We’re so proud of you, Becky! 💜💛 🎶

Congratulations to DR. Dominic Baldoni! He graduated with his DMA in Flute Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature! And later that night he conducted a cantata at the church where he serves as full-time Music Director—organist, pianist, choir director, etc.! He will also continue to teach Music Theory at JMU. His gifts are many! Bravo, ! 🎉💜💛🎶

TODAY!! Come stop by the first level of the music building and support our studio by our purchasing some yummy treats (or a JMU Music Lanyard!!) 💜💛🎶

HUGE congratulations to !🎉 He successfully defended his DMA project and document and has earned his forthcoming new moniker, DR. Baldoni! A wonderful flutist, astute scholar/writer/composer, patient teacher, steadfast pianist, and creative church music director. He can do all of that, and he’s a fabulous human, too! He has contributed significantly to and in so many ways, and we’re happy to have him continue on our faculty. SO proud of him! BRAVO, Dominic! 🥳💜💛🎶

It’s been a celebratory week in the JMU Flute Studio! Congratulations to DMA student Daniel Esperante, selected as a winner of the 2025-26 JMU Concerto/Aria Competition. He’ll perform the Ibert Flute Concerto with the JMU Symphony in April! Bravo, Daniel, on an incredible performance! 💜💛🎶