Summer Flute Project 2026
When: June 15-19, 2026
Purchase Tickets Here for the discounted tuition rate of $250 prior to June 1st.
Purchase Tickets Here June 1st and later at the full tuition rate of $300
Where: The Performing Arts Center at Mesa Community College, 1520 S. Longmore in Mesa, AZ
Elevate your skills at the MCC Summer Flute Project, a fabulous five-day flute camp/flute intensive experience that brings renowned guest artists and local artist faculty together with flutist participants in a stimulating, enjoyable, and supportive environment. Enjoy the camaraderie of other flutists and grow as a musician and performer. This summer's outstanding guest artists are Brian Gordon, Abby Coffey, Brian Luce, and Jarrett May! The Artist Faculty features top flutists from the valley including Rhonda Bowen, Abby Coffey, Michelle Stolper, and Lisa Dektor who bring their expertise and enthusiasm to daily chamber ensemble rehearsals, topic classes, discussions, interactive offerings, reading sessions, flute choir, and group warm ups.
Mornings start at 9:00 am with a group warmup class, followed by flute choir and coached chamber ensemble rehearsals. After a lunch break (participants bring their own lunch, SFP provides healthy snacks and drinks) the afternoon course offerings and performances with Guest Artists and Artist Faculty begin at 12:30 and end at 4:00pm. On Friday the SFP ensembles and flute choir present a free concert at 5:00pm
Register early to be included as a performer in master classes. Priority will be given to week-long participants with limited space available for single-afternoon attendees.
The week-long program is available to high school, college, and adult flutists. Single Afternoons and concert-only options are open to everyone.
Auditions for full-week flutists are a brief video submission due Friday, June 5th at midnight. Excerpts will be sent via email after registration and ticket purchase. Alternate arrangements may be made as needed in case of conflicts. The audition is for chamber ensemble placement only.
Reviews from past participants:
"Hands down, this is the BEST flute week in Arizona for high school and adult players of every ability! I plan to attend every year! It's fun, affordable and a super supportive, positive, friendly environment to learn, grow, and experience everything flute!"
"The MCC Summer Flute Project was such an inspiring experience for me. It's a great way to connect with the flute community, gain new perspectives and ideas from flutists you may not learn from otherwise, and re-energizes your love for music."
"The SFP is a really great opportunity to work with/learn from amazing local and national artists here in Arizona for a really reasonable price. And the environment is really friendly and fun."
"Everyone was very welcoming and friendly! All the coaches were excellent! Great music, great artists, great participants. An excellent flute camp."
"Every year I look forward to this flute camp and being able to connect with others about our passion for the flute. The faculty are very nice and are very willing to help with any issues you come across. The environment is one of the best that I've ever been a part of. Everyone is so welcoming and supportive no matter the skill level. The classes that are offered genuinely help you with flute playing and the faculty are some of the best teachers I've seen. If you've been playing the flute for years or just starting and want some more exposure and help with the instrument, then the MCC Summer Flute Project is the place to go."
"Imagine a weeklong intensified flute lesson-playing, listening, learning about all things flute! Seasoned flute teacher/performers serve as faculty who give their all to build flute skill, sound, and musicality. Summer Flute Project is an excellent value for pushing your flute playing to a higher level. Time well spent."
2026 GUEST ARTISTS
Abby Coffey is a versatile flutist, piccoloist, educator and arts administrator in St. Paul, Minnesota. Abby is the Director of Finance and Operations at Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts. An avid performer, Abby held the position of Flute 2/Piccolo in the Symphony of the Southwest for seven seasons, in addition to performing frequently as a substitute musician with The Phoenix Symphony. She has also appeared with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, West Valley Symphony, Arizona Opera, Arizona MusicFest, Colorado Music Festival, and the Nashville Ballet. Abby won first prize in the 2019 National Flute Association’s Piccolo Orchestral Audition and Masterclass Competition.
Abby graduated Summa Cum Laude from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education where she studied under Dr. Carolyn Totaro, and holds a Master of Music in Flute Performance from Arizona State University, studying with Dr. Elizabeth Buck. Abby completed a certification in Arts Administration Management through the University Massachusetts-Amherst.
When she isn’t obsessing over tuning exercises, balancing a nonprofit budget, or offering grant writing coaching, Abby enjoys perfecting homemade pasta recipes, and spending time with her husband and their toddler, two dogs and cat. (Wednesday, June 16, 2026)
Brian Gordon, recently retired as Associate Principal Flute and Piccolo with The Phoenix Symphony and spent 27 summers with the prestigious Eastern Music Festival. He has played as a guest with the Detroit, St Louis, and Boston Symphony Orchestras. Brian graduated form the Eastman School of Music and the Indiana Jacobs School of music and studied with William Hebert, Walfrid Kujala, Kazuo Tokito and Marcel Moyse. He is a sought after teacher and coach and enjoys his longtime private teaching studio. (Tuesday, June 17, 2026)
Brian Luce, is “an authoritative soloist” praised for his “technical agility” and “lyric power,” and is a professor and Associate Director of the University of Arizona School of Music. His performances as a soloist and collaborations in the Luce-McLaughlin Duo, Arizona Wind Quintet, Luce-Caliendo Duo, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society, Dallas Wind Symphony, Ulsan Symphony Orchestra, and Tucson Chamber Orchestra have been broadcast and appear on numerous recording labels. He has served as principal flutist of orchestras in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas and during the Crested Butte Summer Music Festival. Brian performs and presents master classes worldwide as a Yamaha Performing Artist. He is a prizewinner in many competitions including the National Flute Association, Myrna Brown, and Mid-South young artist competitions. He is published by Editions BIM and IntegrityInk, and his articles on performance and pedagogy have appeared in Flute Talk Magazine and Flute Explorer Magazine. He gives lecture-recitals and workshops on his award-winning dissertation, Light from Behind the Iron Curtain…Edison Denisov’s Quatre Pièces pour flûte et piano and actively promotes music from his Native American heritage. He enjoys time outside performing and teaching as a USSSA, USA, and PGF fastpitch softball coach. www.brianluce.com (Thursday, June 18, 2026)
- Jarrett May joined The Phoenix Symphony as Piccolo/Utility Flute at the start of the 2025–26 season. He previously held positions as piccolo and second flute with the Palm Beach Symphony and Florida Grand Opera, and has performed as a guest musician with numerous orchestras across the country. Jarrett is the recipient of numerous honors, including first prizes in the Seattle Flute Society Young Artist Competition and the Eastman Tal-Perkes Young Artist Competition, as well as second prize in the Philadelphia Flute Society Young Artist Competition. At age 16, he was named a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Scholar and appeared on NPR’s From the Top. He has been featured as an instrumental fellow at the Music Academy of the West and Spoleto Festival USA, and was a member of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States, touring Latin America under the baton of Marin Alsop. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Jarrett was a young pupil of Terri Sundberg, Professor of Flute at the University of North Texas. He completed his high school studies at Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Nancy Stagnitta and graduated with Young Artist Honors. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, studying flute with Bonita Boyd and piccolo with Anne Harrow, and went on to receive his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Tara Helen O’Connor and Ransom Wilson. While at Yale, Jarrett completed a residency in Vienna at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute as part of a concert series celebrating the great chamber works of Arnold Schoenberg. (Friday, June 19, 2026)
2026 Artist Faculty:
- Rhonda Bowen (flute professional, clinician, educator, Gilbert Symphony Orchestra, DEFproject, CAFE)
- Abby Coffey (flute professional, winner of the 2019 NFA Piccolo Orchestral and Masterclass Competition, frequent performer with The Phoenix Symphony)
- Michelle Stolper (Principal Flute of the West Valley Symphony, frequent performer with The Phoenix Symphony, DEFproject) https://michellestolper.com
- Lisa Dektor (flute professional)
clockwise from upper left: Rhonda Bowen, Abby Coffey, Christina Steffen, Kehokule'alani O'Daniell, Michelle Stolper, Andrea TenBarge
Registration and Tickets:
Complete the Registration Form online
Download, print, complete and sign the release packet to bring with you or mail the completed packet to
Christina Steffen, Music Department, Mesa Community College, 1833 West Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85022
Week Long Registration | Single Day Registration | MCC Release Packet
After completing the Registration form, purchase tickets below. The MCC Release packet may be completed and forms signed to bring with you on the 1st day.
On and after June 1st use the link HERE
- Week-long registration
$250 before June 1st
$300 after June 1st - Monday – Friday 9am-4pm in the MCC Performing Arts Center, 1520 S. Longmore, Mesa, AZ 85202
- SFP Ensembles Concert Friday, June 19th 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Single afternoon tickets available $40 Tuesday – Friday 12:30pm-4:00pm (free admission to master class available for non-flutist family members of participants performing in the master class).
Tuesday - Abby Coffey + Recital with pianist Wan-Ting Yu Purchase Wednesday Afternoon
Wednesday - Brian Gordon Purchase Wednesday Afternoon
Friday - Jarrett May + recital with pianist Wan-ting Yu Purchase Friday Afternoon
Engaging flute classes on a variety of topics and master classes with the guest artists and artist faculty. multiple offerings of recitals, master classes, topic classes, focused workshops, and interactive offerings presented by the guest artists and the artist faculty including reading sessions, managing performance anxiety, tone development, phrasing, expression, technical development, AMEA Regional Etudes, beatbox flute, the "other fingerings", and much more. Other topics may include breathing, articulation/tonguing, orchestral excerpts, pedagogy, extended techniques, low flutes, intonation, vibrato, acoustics of the flute. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday feature 12:30 recitals followed by the afternoon offerings.
Lunch-time Concert Only: $10 Tickets available soon on Purplepass
Tuesday, June 17 - Abby Coffey with pianist Wan-Ting Yu
Thursday, June 18 - Brian Luce with guitarist Christopher Caliendo
Friday, June 19 - Jarrett May with pianist Wan-Ting Yu
