Board Members

2021 - 2022 Board Members

Norman Menzales
President

Filipino-American flutist, Norman Menzales, joined the Great Falls Symphony of Montana as Principal Flutist in September 2012 and was appointed the same position with Colorado’s Fort Collins Symphony in May 2013. He is an active orchestral, solo and chamber musician and has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic in New York, the Erie Chamber Orchestra in Pennsylvania, and the Chattanooga Symphony in Tennessee, among others.

An artist dedicated to music education, Menzales frequently performs as solo flutist of Montana’s premier woodwind quintet, the Chinook Winds and strives to bring live, classical music to rural communities throughout the Northwest. He is on faculty at the Western Nebraska Community College and International Music Festival in Loja, Ecuador.

A native of Georgia, Menzales graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Music degree with Dr. Tadeu Coelho and went on to the Eastman School of Music where he received a Master of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate with Bonita Boyd. When not playing the flute, Menzales enjoys cooking, movies, reading and spending as much time as he can with his fiancé and their Cocker-Spaniel, Daphne.

Tyler Menzales
Treasurer

Flutist,Tyler Menzales, is an active solo, orchestral, and chamber musician. Mr. Menzales is the principal flutist of the Billings Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, and Third Flute and Solo Piccolo with the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra in Great Falls, Montana.

Mr. Menzales holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert Langevin. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Bonita Boyd and was awarded Eastman’s prestigious Performer’s Certificate, the school’s highest graduation honor. Other studies include lessons with Mark Sparks of the St. Louis Symphony at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Nancy Stagnitta, at the Interlochen Arts Academy where he graduated with a high school diploma.

In his spare time, Mr. Menzales is a serious cook with an obsessive expertise in dishes featuring the pumpkin. This activity is done in the company of his fiancé and their overly-clingy cocker-spaniel who is always nestled close.

Kirsten McGlynn
Secretary

For the last thirteen years, Kirsten served as second flute in the Missoula Symphony, but is thrilled to serve the Missoula Symphony Association in a whole new capacity! She is a graduate of the University of Montana with a master’s degree in Flute Performance. For years, Kirsten has had a large and thriving flute studio and has been very involved with the Missoula community music scene: adjudicating, offering masterclasses and workshops to flutists in our local schools, co-directing the Missoula community flute choir “Zootown Flutes,” and teaching music classes through the program “Center for Music by People with Disabilities.” Kirsten also recently served as director of 2 Valleys Stage, a performing arts series and school outreach program based out of Seeley Lake.

When she isn’t playing/teaching, you can find her hanging out with her husband and her two kids on a hiking trail, biking or playing outside!

Emily Nazario
Social Media

Since childhood, Emily always had a passion for music. Inspired by her grandfather, a former clarinetist in the United States Marine Band, Emily began learning the flute at age 10.

Ms. Nazario is a freelance flutist based in the DC Metro area and also teaches private flute lessons. Emily holds a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance from the University of Wyoming (2018) where she held a Graduate Assistantship, and completed her undergraduate studies from Ithaca College (2015) where she earned a Bachelor of Music Performance. Emily was a member of the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony, and the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, with whom she performed at Alice Tully Hall in the spring of 2015. Additionally, Emily spent the Fall 2014 semester of her Bachelor's degree living in The Netherlands, where she studied flute at Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Emily was awarded first prize at both the Oklahoma Flute Society's Collegiate Competition and the CedarLuke Young Artist Competition, and was named runner up at the 2017 Wyoming Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition. She has attended numerous summer festivals and workshops, including the Brevard Music Center, Marrowstone Music Festival and Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy.

Dedicated to teaching, Ms. Nazario teaches private flute lessons in Maryland and also through Skype. While living in rural Wyoming, she began teaching flute lessons through platforms such as Skype and has since developed her presentation "The Virtual Flute: 'Skyping' Your Way to a Successful Studio" which she has presented at the Mid-South Flute Society Fair and the Montana Flute Festival. Additionally, Emily has proficient knowledge and skill when it comes to the Baroque flute and plays her own traverso in her spare time.

When she's not playing the flute, Emily can be found hiking in the mountains, practicing yoga, cozying up with a good book, traveling in Europe, or simply enjoying coffee with good friends.

Lauren Reineking
Membership Coordinator

A passionate member of the Montana music community, flutist Lauren Reineking resides in her hometown of Billings where she serves as the adjunct flute instructor at Rocky Mountain College. As a dedicated teacher, she also maintains her own private flute studio and directs community and student flute ensembles in Billings.

She currently performs on flute and piccolo with several orchestras throughout Montana including the Billings Symphony, Missoula Symphony, and Bozeman Symphony. She also performs locally with the Yellowstone Chamber Players and the Rimrock Opera.

Reineking is a graduate of the University of Montana, where she received her Bachelor’s in Flute Performance and studied with Margaret Schuberg. Her other primary teachers include Diana Morgan of DM Flute Studio and Millie Marsh.

When not teaching or performing, she can be found exploring the mountains of her beautiful home state, finding treasures in thrift stores, or obsessing about her favorite historical homes in Billings.

Jennifer Brimson Cooper

Jennifer Brimson Cooper has presented performances and clinics in Brazil, Austria, England, Ireland, Canada, and across the United States. She has served as flutist with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne and Cave Run Symphony Orchestra, KY, and has performed with Huntington Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras. Jennifer is a laureate of many competitions including the William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition, Gilbert/Feld Prize for Woodwind Duo (RNCM), the Elora Festival Young Artists Competition, Pittsburgh Flute Club, Claude Monteaux Flute Competition, and the Cincinnati Flute Symposium. Her research on Canadian Music for Flute has been published in the British Flute Journal, Pan, and she has recorded CD's of Canadian Flute Octets, Flute Quartets as a member of Quartet Laurier, Canadian Flute Duos, and a recording with Awea Duo on Lei Liang’s chamber compilation, Bamboo Lights.

Jennifer received her doctoral degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, MMus from the Royal Northern College of Music, and BMus from Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada. She has served on faculty as Assistant Professor of Flute and Music History at Morehead State University, KY, and has taught at Lutheran Summer Music Festival and Academy, and as a member of the KIIS consortium in Salzburg, Austria. She currently teaches flute in Missoula, MT and performs and tours as flutist with Awea Duo. Cooper is a Powell Flutes Performing Artist.

Pamela Buckheit

Pam Buckheit is an administrative assistant at Great Falls College - MSU and serves as an adjunct flute instructor for their lifelong learning program. She holds degrees from the University of Montana where she studied with Margaret Schuberg.

Sheri Johnson

Coming Soon!