Michael Laderman Flute Lessons and Performance

I started playing the flute way back in my junior high school band. I always loved it, but somehow never got that great. Besides the old standard marching band music, I got into a bit of jazz and some classical (you know those smooth dreamy pieces by Faure and Bizet) a little of this and a little of that.
I could muddle through, but always kept hitting a wall and didn’t get much farther. So I put the flute away for a while and didn’t think of it much until I had to move to New York for 6 months. While packing, I saw the flute and put it in my suitcase on a whim.
Once in New York, I took the flute out and thought, «Here I am in NYC, one of the great musical cities in the world. I should get some flute lessons!» A co-​worker referred me to Michael and he changed my (musical) life.
It turns out that I was doing everything wrong: my posture was off. I was breathing like a fish out of water, and my vibrato sounded more like a sheep than the angel’s voice I was imagining in my mind’s ear. After just a few lessons my girlfriend told me how much better I sounded, and after a few months I could hear and really feel the improvement a lot.
I’m back in SF now, but Michael’s lessons have stayed with me. And whenever I’m in New York for a few days, I always try to find time to schedule another lesson so I can keep getting better.
The fact is, I play only for my own enjoyment. And lately, I’m enjoying it a lot more!