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Sarah Chamberlin has been playing and studying the flute for 27 years, and has maintained her flute teaching studio for the past fifteen years. She graduated from Hofstra University with a BS in Music Merchandising and a minor in Dance, where she was the recipient of the Rhoda Pinsley Levin award for performance excellence. Her current teachers are Jan Vinci (DMA, Julliard School) and Keith Underwood. She has also studied with Patricia Spencer, a specialist in the field of new flute music.  Masterclass with Goran Marcusson
My focus as a teacher varies a bit from student to student, which is one of the bonuses of private lessons. However, here are a few of the core philosophies that permeate my teaching: Consistent practice and being happy playing and improving are the most important things, no matter what one’s natural level of talent is. Any student who loves music and the flute and wants to work consistently on it is someone I’m interested in working with.  Classical Chamberlin Ensembles As a teacher I tend to focus on the following areas with students: awareness of how they play and how they sound, ability to independently problem solve, the student’s effort to practice consistently and effectively, independently using skills and ideas learned in lessons, and developing confidence with all of the above. Learning these skills and enjoying the process of learning them are what creates long term success and joy on the instrument. While honing these skills usually leads to better Nyssma scores, I stress the process of Nyssma preparation and what one personally gains from that over the score itself. Music is a wide and very fulfilling subject matter. Students who enjoy the flute and sincerely want to study it are generally the ones who click with my lessons. Students who are only taking lessons to fill up a college resume or to just have another “activity” in their schedule miss out on the majority of the benefits that studying music has to offer. I sometimes “push” students with challenging pieces and technical exercises but I’m also very prone to slowing things down and isolating what needs to be worked on. This supports long term progress and empowers the student as they become good at an aspect of playing that once frustrated them. The important building blocks of flute playing usually cannot be rushed anyway! Students who start lessons mid year will be taught with long term technical and musical progress in mind as I do not do Nyssma only tutoring.
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