Sonic Immersion
Faculty Artists
Shanna Pranaitis
Course Coordinator
FluteXpansions Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Co-Founder and Artistic Director of FluteXpansions, Shanna Pranaitis is a radically traditional flutist who fearlessly explores the growth edges of sonic possibility and creates profoundly moving immersive concert experiences by integrating new and historically reimagined works with theater, movement, lighting and storytelling.
Close collaborations with colleagues around the world have led to recitals and performances on five of the seven continents and include performances at such festivals as the Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL) and Darmstädter Ferienkurse (DE), and in such hallowed halls as Carnegie Hall and the Tonhalle Zürich. Her debut solo CD of Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf’s works for flute (NEOS) was hailed as “remarkable” (Memeteria) and a “virtuoso testimony” (Musicalifeiten).
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As a coach certified by the Ethical Coaching Collective, Shanna utilizes her multi-hyphenate experience as a performer, teacher, arts administrator, non-profit development director, and entrepreneur to expand the possibilities for musicians beyond the typical realm. As an arts entrepreneurship coach, she specializes in strategic transformation for artists to live creatively fulfilled and financially empowered while powerfully anchored in their own authenticity.
Shanna performs on instruments made by the only two female flute makers in the industry – Burkart flute and open-hole piccolo (specially modified for her) and Kingma open-hole bass and alto flutes.
Photo credit: Niklaus Strauss
Matthias Ziegler
Faculty Artist, FluteXpansions Co-Founder
Matthias Ziegler is one of the world’s most versatile and innovative flutists. He is committed both to the traditional literature for flute as well as to contemporary music and concepts that cross the boundaries between classical music and jazz.
Accordingly, his performances take place in a vast range of contexts: he was principal flute with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, has toured with the percussionist Pierre Favre, performed with the pianist George Gruntz as well as with the American contrabass player Mark Dresser. He has been cofounder of the ”Collegium Novum Zurich“, where he has worked with Mauricio Kagel, Heinz Holliger and George Crumb.
Concert tours have brought him to the US, Japan, Australia, South America and Israel. Many recordings on CD document his inclusive musical interests. Matthias Ziegler currently teaches at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he is leading a research project about the Telematic Performance Format, which has become essential during the pandemic.
Searching for new sounds he enormously broadened the expressive potential of the traditional flute and the electro-acoustically amplified contrabass flute. Amplifying the flute allows him to increase the volume of the microsound structures of the flute to an audible level.
Photo credit: Andrej Grilc
Eric Lamb
Faculty Artist
Flutist Eric Lamb is in demand internationally as a concerto soloist, recording artist, recitalist, concert curator and chamber musician. Eric is Lecturer of Flute Performance and Head of Woodwind, Brass and Percussion at the International Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. Before this appointment, he held a two-year position as Lecturer of Music at the University of Auckland School of Music in New Zealand where he taught both chamber music and flute.
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A student of Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he completed his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt, Germany with
Thaddeus Watson (Orchestral and Concert Soloist Diplomas) and later at the Sculoa di Musica di Fiesole with Chiara Tonelli.
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Formerly a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), he is presently member of both Ensemble Reconsil, Quasars Ensemble and guest principal flutist in orchestras and ensembles throughout Europe.
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Ine Vanoeveren
Faculty Artist
Belgian flutist and Doctor of Musical Arts, Ine Vanoeveren, is specialized in contemporary music and virtual performances. She obtained her Master’s degree at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liège (2010), in the class of prof. Toon Fret, a Master in Advanced Studies in Contemporary Music Performance and Interpretation (2012) in the class of Mario Caroli, at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana and a DMA in Contemporary Music Performance (2016) in the class of Prof. John Fonville, at the University of California, San Diego. During her doctoral research, Ine focused on the development of a performance practice method for the music for flute solo by Brian Ferneyhough.
Ine won several international awards, including a BAEF grant in 2013 and the Kranichsteiner Stipendienpreise for Interpretation by the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in 2016. She is artistic coordinator and performer of the digital arts collective studio.POC, that focuses on the fusion of art, performance and new technologies. She also works as a creative and innovation consultant for the technology campus Corda Campus in Hasselt (BE) and is a frequently asked keynote speaker about artistic web3.0 possibilities.
In 2018, her book ‘Tomorrow’s Music in Practice Today: a practical guide towards performing contemporary music’ has been published by Antwerp University Press. This book is a pragmatic tool for every conservatoire student or musician who wants to tackle the new Repertoire.
In addition to performing, Ine is an assistant professor in contemporary music performance at the Royal Conservatory of Liège (BE) and the coordinator of the postgraduate eArts at PXL-MAD in Hasselt (BE).
Photo credit: Reuban Radding
Jane Rigler
Faculty Artist
Jane Rigler began her speciality in flute performance at Northwestern University (B.M. 1988) and developed her work further in experimental music at UCSD (M.M. 1991, Ph.D. 1996). Her international career performing edgy, complicated compositions as well as becoming a professional improviser started while living in Spain. In New York she deepened her compositional work with electronics and performed as a guest artist with established contemporary ensembles (Either/Or, Wet Ink, etc.). She continues to be a featured soloist in many international electronic music festivals (CubeFest, SEAMUS, NYCEMF, SIGGRAPH, NIME, etc.).
Her compositions play with movement, space, languages, ancestral songs, game techniques and invite all to imagine and improvise. As a certified Deep Listening© facilitator she offers inclusive listening experiences throughout the world. Jane thrives at artist residencies like Civitella Ranieri, Montalvo, Ucross, Hambidge, and Harvestworks that promote her collaborative nature. Thanks to the US-Japan Friendship Creative Artist Fellowship (2009-2013), Jane studied Noh theatre, Aikido, and performed over twenty concerts in Japan. In 2016 she toured in Italy, France, Germany, Finland and Spain offering workshops and interactive concerts with a NewMusic USA grant. In 2019-20 she explored Ireland on a Fulbright Award where she studied Irish (Gaeilge), Sean-nós and ancient Ogham scripts for a series of new compositions based on the stones, ancient trees and landscapes. Jane appears on various labels such as Neuma, Tzadik, Porter, DewDrop, Sachimay. An Associate Professor at the University of Colorado (UCCS) she teaches flute, Sound Art, listening, computer music, composition and improvisation.
Lisa Bost-Sandberg
Faculty Artist
Dr. Lisa Bost-Sandberg is a flutist, composer, and improviser deeply committed to contemporary music as well as its rich roots in the classical repertoire. She has performed as a featured flutist-composer for the New York Flute Club’s “Solo Flute Spectacular” concert, served as the guest artist for the Utah Flute Festival and the Seattle Flute Society Horsfall Competition, and performed on flute and bass flute for the virtual film premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Oxygen for 12 flutes, presented by Carnegie Hall. Bost-Sandberg has toured internationally and has recorded on the Albany, GIA, and North Texas Jazz labels.
As a composer, her music has been performed at major conferences and festivals across the United States and abroad. She is the 2023 North Dakota Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer, and her works have been honored as prize-winners and finalists in composition competitions of the National Flute Association, the Flute New Music Consortium, and the American Trombone Workshop.
A dynamic and impactful teacher, Bost-Sandberg has taught masterclasses, presented lecture-recitals, and led workshops at numerous institutions and festivals. She is the Teaching Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of North Dakota and teaches at the International Music Camp. Originally from Montana, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in flute performance with a related field in composition from the University of North Texas as a recipient of the prestigious Masters and Doctoral Fellowship. She is also a graduate of New York University (Master of Arts) and The University of Iowa (Bachelor of Music).
Hilary Abigana
Faculty Artist
Photo credit: Betty Fleck
Melody Chua
Faculty Artist
Melody Chua is considered a pioneering force her generation in the development of interdisciplinary performances with new technologies. Her portfolio includes works with 360° touchscreens, 360° videos, Ambisonics, motion capture systems, live-coding, pressure-sensitive shoes, real-time projection visuals, and sensor-augmented instruments, while at the same time reflecting critically on the multifaceted issues surrounding human-machine interactions. Her current research at the Zürich University of the Arts focuses on the development of an improvisation machine (AIYA) that takes inputs from a sensor-augmented flute (Chaosflöte), and she examines the human-machine relationships, shifting posthuman identities, and forms of agency that manifest within performances with this machine. Melody is the co-founder and co-executive director of Null-state, a non-profit organization and performance ensemble committed to advancing the development of sensor-augmented instruments, live coding, and electroacoustic music education.
Awarded a Fulbright-Swiss Government Excellence grant for the development of the Chaosflöte, Melody has performed and presented at various festivals such as the Zürich Digital Festival, Zürich Design Biennale, ZKM Next Generation Festival, Geneva International Film Festival, Network Music Festival, La Côte Flute Festival, Swiss Digital Day, PAM-Hörmal Festival, Performing Media Festival, Immerse: Creative City Project, and the USF New Music Festival, in addition to engagements at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology Zürich (artist residency), Immersive Arts Space Zürich (diploma residency), University of South Florida (artist residency), Atlantic Festival Future Music Lab (fellowship), Montreal Contemporary Music Lab (performer), Kein Museum (solo installation exhibition), and the Timucua Arts Foundation (artist residency), among others. As an educator, Melody has given lectures on electroacoustic music, improvisation, and interactive music programming at institutions such as the Zurich University of the Arts, University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, Wayne State University, The Melrose Center, and the Atlantic Music Festival.
Meerenai Shim
Feldenkrais
Translated in Korean as “Milky Way” or “Galaxy”, the artistic career of Meerenai Shim (pronounced “ME-ren-ey”, like they) is appropriately expansive and all-encompassing. A flutist with a new music focus, she promotes contemporary work through myriad channels, including as a solo performer, her chamber ensembles, her record label, and her own discography of three albums, all of which have been warmly reviewed.
Ms. Shim has performance credits across the United States, including within the Soundwave Biennial in San Francisco, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, the National Flute Association’s annual Conventions, and numerous universities. Her impact across new music manifests in part from her two chamber ensembles: she is involved as a founding member of the innovative flute and percussion duo, A/B Duo (2013) and joined contemporary flute trio Areon Flutes in 2016.
Meerenai Shim holds degrees from San Francisco State University (M.M.) and DePaul University (B.M.), and is a fiscally-sponsored affiliate of InterMusic SF, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to small-ensemble music in the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside of performance, she founded the independent record label Aerocade Music in 2015, which has released one dozen albums to date of contemporary classical, electronic, and experimental music from the West Coast. Meerenai is also a Guild Certified Feldenkrais PractitionerCM and has been a movement coach for musicians since 2012. She makes her home in Silicon Valley with her husband Dave.
Yoga, Meditation
Morgann Davis
Morgann Davis is the professor of flute at Millersville University and a freelance flutist, 200hr registered yoga teacher, and certified meditation instructor. She operates Davis Flute Studio in Lancaster, PA and enjoys leading musicians in yoga, mindfulness, and other concepts of physical and mental wellbeing. She can be heard in performance with ensembles like the Lancaster Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, Reading Symphony, Allegro Orchestra, and Endless Mountain Music Festival. Morgann has served on the Career and Artistic Development Committee of the National Flute Association and is the Program Director of Nextgen Youth Music. When she isn’t performing, Morgann enjoys writing about the experiences we have as musicians on her blog, practicing yoga, and reading voraciously. www.morgannelycedavis.com