After piano lessons, trumpeting in the band, singing in the choir, exploring recorder, euphonium and mandolin -- and a folk guitar habit during the 60’s -- I took up the flute at the age of 18. I studied flute with Michelle Sahm, Leonard Mironovich, Douglas Worthen, and others; and attuned my ears, mind, heart and hands to the mythic, magical sound of the flute.

My entrée into the Boston flute-making world was with a company that made French-style cases for top-of-the-line flutes. This led to a four-year apprenticeship at Prescott Workshop, makers of renaissance- and baroque-period flutes and recorders. Post apprenticeship, I helped establish and run two small businesses: making copies of a German baroque flute, and contributing my voicing and tuning skills to the prototype design of a new piccolo.

In 1991, together with talented flutemaker Emanuel Arista, I worked to create Emanuel Flutes, a company that builds concert flutes, one at a time, for professional players and soloists around the world. As the fluteplaying member of this partnership, I helped develop the acoustic identity of the instrument, the sound that shapes its niche in today’s concert halls. As flute-finisher, I padded, tested, and played every flute and headjoint produced by Emanuel Flutes between 1991 and 2002.

Since then, I’ve worked on most popular brands of flutes, and I now pad and repair hand-made modern and historic Boehm flutes under the name of Syrinx Flute Repair.

Over the years, I’ve worked silver and steel to tolerances of half a thousandth of an inch, sawed up twisting logs of Thai boxwood, carved curves into cork, fitted shims under thousands of pads. I’m good at gauging the thickness of fresh or ancient layers of shellac. I’ve consulted with artists at the height of their careers, coordinated exhibits, masterclasses, and presentations at trade shows in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, and am available to teach conservatory-level classes on the care of the modern flute mechanism. I also write essays about flute-making, flute-makers, and other lovers of the instrument.

But my most satisfying work is to understand and enhance the unique connection each flute player or flutemaker has with his or her instrument. I strive toward that goal through careful listening, meticulous craftsmanship, and service to my customers.

I am a member of the National Flute Association, The British Flute Society, The American Musical Instrument Society, several regional flute associations, and the National Coalition of Independent Scholars. I live in Cambridge, Mass., with my husband, Robert Kanigel.