The Dahlia Flute Duo

Flutist, Mary Matthews, enjoys a varied musical life as a soloist, chamber musician, lecturer, and clinician. She has appeared as a soloist with the Firelands Symphony, Pottstown Symphony, and Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestras and tours nationally as a member of the Dahlia Flute Duo. Ms. Matthews is currently based in Hartford, CT as a Doctoral Candidate at the Hartt School in the studio of Janet Arms.

Ms. Matthews has won numerous competitions including the Kathryn E. MacPhail Young Artist, the Firelands Symphony Orchestra Young Artist and the Baldwin-Wallace Concerto Competitions.

She received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Mary Graham Lasley Young Artist Competition and was a finalist in the 2010 Coeur D'Alene Young Artist Competition, the 2009 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition and the 2009 JC Arriaga Chamber Music Competition. In 2007, she was invited to perform with the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival chamber orchestra at the 75th anniversary Bach Festival in Severance Hall.

As a member of the award-winning Dahlia Flute Duo, she has appeared in concert at the National Flute Association Convention, The International Alliance for Women in Music Convention, the College Music Society National Conference and numerous regional flute festivals. With the duo, she has also recieved a Yamaha In-Residence Fellowship, a Creative Baltimore Artist Grant, and three Peabody Development Grants.

Ms. Matthews is an adjunct faculty member for the Hartt School woodwind methods course and is on faculty at the Community Division. She also teaches with Hartford Symphony's CityMusic Program and she holds a private studio in Manchester, CT. Ms. Matthews has been on faculty at the International School of Music in Bethesda, MD, the Royal Arts Academy in Olney, MD and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory Outreach Program in Berea, Ohio. She is a co-founder of the Dahlia Flute Duo Summer Masterclass and through the Creative Baltimore Artist Grant, co-founded a lecture-recital outreach series at high schools in the greater Baltimore area.

She began her formal flute studies in the Eastman Preparatory Program where she graduated with distinction in performance. She holds a Master of Music Degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory. Her principal teachers include Janet Arms, Emily Skala, Laurie Sokoloff, George Pope & Jan Angus.

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Melissa Wertheimer is a diverse performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral music. She is a piccolo specialist, new music enthusiast, and dedicated scholar of women in music.

An artist-teacher, Ms. Wertheimer is Adjunct Flute Faculty at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD, as well as at The Music Institute, HCC's community music division. Ms. Wertheimer is also a Music History Instructor for the Peabody at Homewood Program of the Johns Hopkins University. She additionally teaches flute at the Chesapeake Arts Center and from her private studio.

With the Dahlia Flute Duo, Ms. Wertheimer has given recitals, lectures, and workshops in 11 states. The ensemble has received grants from Yamaha, the College Music Society, the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, and the Peabody Institute. The Dahlia Flute Duo also hosts an annual summer flute masterclass, and continually premieres new works.

Ms. Wertheimer has performed as piccolo and second flute with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and Concert Artists of Baltimore, as well as principal flute in the orchestras of the College Light Opera Company, Maryland Choral Society, Syracuse Chorale, & Ithaca College at Avery Fisher Hall. She has performed under numerous conductors, including Edward Polochick, Daniel Hege, Jeffrey Grogan, Jeffery Meyer, and Simeone Tartaglione.

Ms. Wertheimer won second place in the 2009 Piccolo Artist Competition of the Flute Society of Washington, DC. In 2007, she became the first student in the history of Ithaca College to win the Ithaca College Concerto Competition on piccolo. With the Dahlia Flute Duo, Ms. Wertheimer won Honorable Mention in the 2010 Young Artist Competition of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, as well as placing in the final round of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition.

Ms. Wertheimer is the Instrumental Artistic Director of HexaCollective, as well as the ensemble's flutist and piccoloist. She also performs with Vivre Musicale and the Golden Egg Ensemble. Ms. Wertheimer has been featured on the NPR program "Crossing Borders," the Peabody Spotlight Series, the University of Baltimore Spotlight Performing Arts Series, the Peabody Institute Thursday Noon Recital Series, & at the Avalon Theatre Stoltz Listening Room.

Ms. Wertheimer holds a M.M. in Piccolo from the Peabody Institute and a B.M. in Flute from Ithaca College. Her teachers include Marcia Kämper, Laurie Sokoloff, Wendy Herbener Mehne, & Carron Moroney.