High School

I am both friendly and serious, and my flute lessons are both fun and
serious. I love working with students who are self-motivated, whether
the motivation comes from a simple desire to improve flute skills for
the pure enjoyment of music, or from career aspirations. I work best
with students who enjoy getting below the surface of how things work,
both musically and technically. The rigor that I apply to teaching is on
a sliding scale, depending on the goals of the student, and is highly

I love the harp and I hope to instill that love into the students I teach. I mostly teach beginners of all ages. I belong to one of the largest harp studios in the bay area. So student can start with me and go on to one of the other teachers for advanced work, either in the folk harp area or pedal harp area. Students have the opportunity to perform in a yearly recital as well as performing in ensemble in Harpeggio's "20 Harps for the Holidays" Winter Concert. Students don't have to perform in front of others, if they don't want to.

I am the Education Director at MoonSchool, the educational arm of 42nd Street Moon Theatre Company. We have a range of classes available for both private students and ensembles. I teach private voice lessons along with Moon's resident MD, Dave Dobrusky. The emphasis of our lessons tend to be focused on audition material, singing for pleasure/practice and preparation for events.

Melissa Smith performs solo recitals and collaborates with pianists, singers, instrumentalists, theater groups, and opera companies throughout the Bay Area. Her teaching practice emphasizes fostering "musical imagination" and strives to bring out the inner musician in each child at every lesson. Her studio has grown through word-of-mouth from fewer than ten in 1995 to over thirty devoted students today. Smith teaches students on their own instruments in the familiar surroundings of their own homes, which fosters enhanced progress at the piano in each student.

I believe that a solid classical foundation on any instrument in essential to learning to play your instrument well. I have studied with the greatest flutists in the world: Julius Baker, Jean Pierre Rampal, Bob Willoughby, Tom Nyfenger and others, and played in many different idioms: Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Ensembles performing new music, Jazz and Improvised styles, Brazilian Choro, Samba, Bossa Nova, and Latin Jazz. I have regular workshops for my students, divided into beginners/intermediates and advanced.

Ms. Flemming is whole-heartedly dedicated to the art of music teaching, working with students of all ages, discovering their unique talents, and having fun with them at the piano!

Born in Los Angeles, CA, Kathleen Flemming began her formal piano study at age seven, and in a short time was notating by ear the music she heard on the radio and TV.