Bainbridge Island Flute Teachers

I like to take whatever style of music students are interested in and use that interest to foster a deeper understanding of music in general.

Chuck Easton

Chuck Easton teaches guitar, upright bass, jazz and beginning piano, jazz flute, music theory, improvisation, and arranging.

He played in jazz, swing, and big bands in Seattle and toured throughout the West Coast during the ’70s. Chuck is a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Composition award.

Chuck moved to Boston in the late ’70s and completed his music degree from Berklee College of Music in 1980. While there, he studied guitar and arranging. Lots of great music in the big city, but he missed the mountains, and made the decision to return to his home in the Northwest. Chuck and his wife, Autumn, eventually settled in a rural area on a ridge south of Chimacum.

Over the years, he has played many different styles of music, but bebop-influenced jazz is his favorite. A long-time faculty member of Centrum’s Jazz Pt. Townsend, Chuck teaches basic theory and coaches student ensembles during the week-long summer festival.

Chuck was on the faculty of the NW Big Band in Pt. Townsend for many years. He later took over conducting duties for six years.

For thirty years, Chuck has played bass with the Pt. Townsend Symphony Orchestra, and he’s also served as a board member. Chuck played bass for several years with the Turtle Bluff Chamber Orchestra.

Chuck performs locally in bands of various configurations- trio, quartet, quintet, and his R&B septet. He enjoys writing arrangements for his band, and plays guitar, bass, piano, flute, saxophone, and occasionally chromatic harmonica, Eb tuba, and trombone.

Sorcha Barr-Deneen

Bio: Sorcha Barr-Deneen is a sought-after flutist and music teacher who recently moved to western Washington. She leads masterclasses, adjudicates competitions and auditions, and performs throughout the community, and has played Flute and Piccolo with the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra since 2019. 

Sorcha earned her Master of Music degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Additionally, she earned a Certificate in Arts Management from the University of California, Irvine. 

 

Sorcha has premiered dozens of new works ranging from guided group improvisation to solo flute to flute and electronics; these premieres have taken her across the country with special performances in New York City, Illinois, and Colorado. Her orchestral and chamber music experience includes performances in New York City, Chicago and Italy, where she has often been Principal Flute or featured soloist. 

 

Sorcha’s teaching style revolves around the beauty that we can create with music; ultimately, this is art! She especially focuses on beautiful tone and musicality, with attention given to mindfulness and concentration. Each lesson includes technical work and precision, as well as more exciting musical work – she caters to your goals, needs and preferences! She has experience teaching beginners through college students and her students have placed well in regional and state-wide competitions and auditions, going on to study flute performance in well-respected universities. 

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