Mary Holzhausen Music Lessons and Performance

At the age of 60, with a longtime background in African and Indian music, I wanted to learn to play an African style flute. I began a search for a flute teacher who would be willing to help me with this unconventional project. After looking at a couple of teachers, Mary Holzhausen came highly recommended as someone known for her open-mindedness and who would likely be interested in helping me acquire some flute basics that I could apply to my African flute.nnFrom the beginning, Mary was enthusiastic about this project, and even though it was outside her usual Western classical focus, she was able to provide the guidance and inspiration I needed because of her great depth of knowledge and prodigious expertise as a flutist. After several lessons, I realized I wanted to play the flute music of Bach and others as well. Because of certain limitations of the particular African flute I had, I decided to start learning the standard Western classical flute. Whereas the African flute required only three fingers, this new flute required NINE. This is where Mary’s greatness as a teacher came into play. Many times, I would be frustrated and struggling with something and Mary would always have a solution. She would break it down and help me to overcome my frustration and set me on a path to success.nnBeyond the technical aspects of learning the flute, Mary always exudes her love of music. In times of frustration she reminds me to look for the joy of music—that’s why we do it. She reminds me to look for a balance between the struggle to overcome limitations and playing something I can enjoy playing—enJOY. There’s that word again. Always look for the joy along with the toil. Mary exudes a joy for music and a great love for her students. You can hear it in the way she talks about them. It is clear that spreading the joy of music is her life’s mission and her students are all the lucky beneficiaries of this magnanimous gift she gives us unconditionally.

We love Mary. So patient, kind, and just good at teaching.