Award-winning flutist Dr. Elisa Moles is a solo artist, chamber musician, and teacher.

Distinguished for her innovative holistic multimedia approach, genuine musicality, and rich tone, she has been a featured soloist in venues across the nation and is a prizewinner of multiple national competitions. As an advocate of emerging and veteran compositional voices in contemporary music, she has premiered numerous works at universities, conferences, and on national radio.

Elisa maintains an active performance calendar with regional orchestras and her chamber group MEMO duo. Always seeking new ways to bridge genres and art forms, her MEMO duo sold-out show “Origins: After the Dark” was a convergence of a classical flute and harp program with an original fantasy theatrical production, complete with period costumes, multi-media projections, and complex musically-timed stunt choreography.

Elisa has been acclaimed for her scholarship and insightful analyses. She is a recipient of the national Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, awarded for academic prowess and artistry.

Her doctoral research focused on the archetype of the “flute as bird” in Western classical music, delving into

how composers from around the globe have expressed spirituality at the intersection of mythology, music, and nature. Her work has been published in Flute Talk and is featured online on the website of composer David Maslanka.

As a teacher, Elisa works with diverse students of all levels and ages. Previous appointments include the adjunct flute professor positions at CSU Fresno and San Joaquin Delta College, flute instructor at Illinois Summer Youth Music, and theory instructor at U of I Urbana-Champaign and Ball State universities. Additionally, as previous Teaching Artist in residence for the San Mateo/Foster City School District, she taught hundreds of elementary school students each year how to play the flute. She has been a popular clinician, presenting masterclasses at conferences and festivals (such as the California Music Educators Association, and California All-State Honor Bands). She currently runs a private (in-person and virtual) flute studio in Champaign, IL.

DMA, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2017) MM, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (2013) BA Music Performance, CSU Fresno (2011). Her past teachers include Carole Romans, Teresa Beaman, Mihoko Watanabe, and Jonathan Keeble.

Elisa Moles
Flutist