- Move Better - Breathe Better - Play Better -
Enjoy playing the flute and feel good while you’re doing it!
If you’re a flutist and you’re:
experiencing pain when you play;
struggling with breath;
not quite connecting your musical vision to your audible reality;
Then I’ve got the resources and support for you!
Hi, I’m Emily and I’m a flute teacher and movement coach.
Emily Sapa is a professional flutist, music educator, and Alexander Technique teacher (M.AmSAT), active in Pittsburgh, PA and North Dakota. She received degrees in flute performance from the University of Minnesota, studying with Immanuel Davis, and Drake University, and performs in a variety of solo, chamber, and orchestra settings around the country.
Emily thoroughly enjoys sharing music with students of all ages and abilities. She coordinates a thriving private studio from her home base in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh that spans the globe. Before moving east, she taught flute at Oakland School for the Arts and Berkeley High School, and participated in the Music in the Schools program with the Berkeley Symphony. Over the course of over 20 years of as an instructor, Emily has been a faculty member of colleges, including Gustavus Adolphus College and Minnesota State University, Mankato; community music schools, including St. Joseph's School of Music, St. Paul, MN; and summer music camps, including International Music Camp at the International Peace Garden. Emily coaches chamber ensembles and has directed the flute choirs at Gustavus and St. Joe's.
Emily discovered the Alexander Technique during her musical studies and found it to be an effective way of helping her learn to release excess tension built up from years of flute playing, as well as a means to more fully liberate her tone and musicality. She completed a three-year, 1600 hour teacher training program at Alexander Technique School New England under the direction of Missy Vineyard in 2014. Emily teaches AT at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and offers private lessons and group classes in the Pittsburgh area and Bismarck, North Dakota. She is particularly interested in working with young actors, musicians, and music educators and has given workshops for students and faculty of Slippery Rock University, the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, San Francisco School of the Arts, and the International Music Camp, amongst others. Emily has recently launched a new AT website featuring workshops and group classes for musicians: embodiedmusician.com.
Emily is a member of the American Society of the Alexander Technique.
Emily Sapa (photo by Kira Stackhouse)