Conductor - Nadya Potemkina

Conductor, violist, and educator, Nadya Potemkina directs Wesleyan University Orchestra and Concert Choir, coaches chamber ensembles, teaches instrumental conducting and orchestral literature, and is the music

director of FluteFest and AD HOC BACH, both performance and community engagement initiatives. Professor Potemkina remains active as a violist and welcomes every opportunity to play chamber music with her colleagues and to perform works by student composers. Prior to Wesleyan, Professor Potemkina enjoyed a number of guest-conducting opportunities, in the United States and abroad, with regional, community, and youth orchestras, served as an assistant conductor of The University of Memphis Orchestras, as the music director of Mid-South Young People’s Orchestras in Memphis, TN, and was a founding conductor of Memphis Occasional Orchestra, an all-volunteer community outreach ensemble. Nadya Potemkina holds degrees in viola Performance and pedagogy, and choral and instrumental conducting from Herzen State Pedagogical University (Saint Petersburg, Russia), The University of Northern Iowa, Ball State University, The University of Memphis, and is a member of NAfME and College Orchestra Directors Association.

Cecilia Burns -

C flute, Alto flute, Bass flute is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans where she received her bachelor and master degrees in music therapy. She is currently a practicing music therapist, flutist, and private flute instructor. Cecilia is the founder and director of the Fairfield County Flute Choir.

Jenny Chere -

C Flute, Bass Flute, SubContra bass flute - B.A. in Music from the University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford. She has studied flute with Barbara Hopkins and Greig Shearer, and currently performs as a member of a flute quartet through the Hartt School.

Joan Curtiss - C flute, Eb Flute, Alto flute, Bass flute - B.M., M.M. Former Music Director of Howlin'Wind Flute Choir of Maine. She has performed with the Hartford Symphony, Hartford Chamber Orchestra, and Simsbury Light Opera. Teachers include Julius Baker, John Wummer, and James Pappoutsakis, Baroque Flute with Stephen Preston. Recordings with the National Flute Choir include Romancing the Flute, Over the Edge, High Altitude, Christmas Flutes, Christmas Flute Encore, and Special Occasions.