Judy Grant is a professional flutist who has received national recognition for her teaching expertise.  Each year, her flute students are recruited by major music schools across the United States and abroad, from Eastman and Juilliard in New York, to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, to the Royal Academy of Music in London.  Ms. Grant’s students have performed in concert halls around the world, have been featured on the NPR show “From the Top,” and have been named finalists of the annual National Flute Association High School Soloist Competition eleven times in the last twelve years, including the First Prize winner in 2010.  In 2008, 2009, and again in 2011, Ms. Grant was the only teacher represented by 2 out of the 8 NFA finalists, students who were chosen from an international applicant pool.  In 2012, the NFA 3rd Prize Winner was also from Ms Grant’s studio.

Known for her problem-solving skills and her ability to uncover students’ true musical potential, she is in high demand as a teacher.  Flutists regularly come from around New England and the nation to train with her.  Ms. Grant’s flute students are regular winners of Boston area competitions and perform as concerto soloists in historic venues such as Jordan Hall, Sanders Theatre, Tsai Performance Center, Gasson Hall, and Trinity Chapel.  For the last 14 consecutive years, Ms. Grant’s students have won positions in both the Boston Youth Symphony (BYS) and NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO), both of which are leading youth orchestras in the United States.  In 2006-2007, Ms. Grant’s flute students held positions in every large ensemble at the New England Conservatory:  YPO, YSO, YRO, Sr. MYWE, and Jr. MYWE, as well as the top two orchestras at BYSO.  In 2007-2008, Ms. Grant’s students were members of six different youth orchestras/wind ensembles at NEC and BYSO.  In 2008-2009, an unprecedented 6 out of the 8 flute positions in BYS and YPO were held by Boston Flute Academy students studying with Ms. Grant.  Ms Grant’s students have continued this level of excellence and success every year to the present.  This year 2013-2014, four of the five flutists in BYS study with Ms Grant at Boston Flute Academy.

In addition to her work at BFA, Ms. Grant teaches flute performance to undergraduate and graduate music majors and non-majors at Boston College, where she has been on faculty for 17 years.  Her previous college appointments were as Lecturer in Music for the UMass Boston Performing Arts Department, and as Adjunct Professor of Music at the Atlantic Union College/Thayer Conservatory.  Ms. Grant taught flute for many years at the All Newton Music School and Brookline Music School, and at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.  These associations gave her the opportunity to participate in pedagogical research studies, develop her own teaching methods with hundreds of students of all ages and levels, and  work with students from varied cultures around the world.  She has taught flute players from more than 19 countries over the course of her career.

In the Boston music community, Ms. Grant has served as President of the Greater Boston Flute Association, Local Chair for the National Flute Association Convention in Boston, and member of the Pappoutsakis Flute Competition Board of Directors.  Ms. Grant was the Founding Manager and later Artistic Director of the BYSO Intensive Community Program, working with celebrated pedagogue Bonnie Black over the span of 10 years to provide classical music training to hundreds of children from Boston’s inner city and other underrepresented communities.  During this time, Ms. Grant was interviewed for several TV shows, including Urban Update with Byron Barnett, Sunday with Liz Walker, and the Susan Warnick Show.  The National Endowment for the Arts praised the high artistic quality and teaching methods of ICP, calling it a model music training program for underserved youth.

Ms. Grant received her Master of Music degree in flute performance from the Boston University College of Fine Arts, where she trained with Boston Symphony Orchestra flutist Leone Buyse.  A native of North Carolina, Ms Grant studied with Brooks de Wetter-Smith at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance while continuing her studies in applied mathematics.  An accomplished performer, Ms. Grant is at home in a wide range of styles, from the Baroque to the contemporary, and in a variety of settings, from concert hall to recording studio.  She credits Leone Buyse with influencing her concepts of orchestral playing as well as the Baroque and Classical styles, and she credits Brooks de-Wetter Smith with influencing her concepts of solo performing, as well as the Romantic and Modern styles.  Ms. Buyse also had a big impact on her piccolo proficiency, as Dr. Smith did with his excellent extended techniques training.  These skills are all being passed on to students at the BFA.

Ms. Grant’s years of professional music training, teaching experience, performing arts management, and community involvement have all come together in one place, at the Boston Flute Academy.