Our Story
Dr. James Brinkmann & Hannah Leonora Bailey
Hannah and James met in 2009 at a flute camp in California - Hannah was a first-year student and James was one of the camp counselors. Over the next few years of camp they became good friends. Once Hannah was in college, she came back to camp as a counselor and James had moved up to be on staff - most of those camp days were spent together in early morning practice sessions, afternoon duet sessions, and star gazing on the deck after students were asleep, and daily laughing fits. Those flute camp weeks were the highlight of every summer. It has been a dream-come-true to create their own flute camp together and hopefully curate an environment for others to create the same amazing memories!
Hannah Leonora Bailey
Hannah Leonora Bailey picked up the flute at the age of 9 and never hesitated to pursue a future in music. She discovered her passion for performing and teaching at Northern California Flute Camp where she attended as a student then continued to work on staff for six years. Hannah studied with Gary Woodward at Azusa Pacific University, earning her Bachelor of Music in Performance in 2016 and Artist Certificate in 2018. After moving to Boise in 2018, Hannah studied with Dr. Nicole Molumby at Boise State University and received her Master of Music in Performance in 2020.
During the 2016/2017 season, Hannah served as the principal flute with the Orange County Symphony, which included a featured performance as a soloist on the complete Brandenburg Concerti. In the summer of 2017, she traveled to Zhengzhou, China and performed as principal with the Yellow River Symphony. Locally, Hannah played in the pit orchestra for "Into the Woods" at the 2024 Idaho Shakespeare Festival and regularly subs with the Boise Baroque Orchestra. Hannah recently recorded the premiere performance of “Tetra” for solo flute by Taylor Ross. Hannah was previously the director of the Canyon County Flute Choir and currently plays principal flute with the Canyon County Symphony. She performs as often as she can while she continues to pursue her love of teaching with studio locations in both Boise and Nampa, now often joined in lessons by her daughter Leonora.
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Dr. James Brinkmann
Dr. James Brinkmann leads a diverse career as a teacher, performer, and researcher to foster people’s curiosity, creativity, and sense of belonging in music. He is a Flute Instructor for the McKinney School District (TX) where he teaches 6th-12th grade private lessons, masterclasses, flute choirs, and summer flute camp. Prior, he was the Adjunct Instructor of Flute at the University of Texas at Tyler, taught undergraduate lessons and flute methods at Michigan State University, and was on faculty and the woodwind department chair at the Merit School of Music in Chicago. As a clinician, he regularly presents at national and regional flute festivals on effective practice methods, creative flute pedagogy, and community building.
A versatile performer, James creates interactive concerts that encourage listeners to be aware of their reactions with music and share them in fun and meaningful ways. From playing in concert halls to jamming in the subways, he has performed throughout North America and presented at National Flute Conventions, College Music Society Conferences, and gave a TEDx Talk. As an orchestral musician, he played Principal Flute on the national tour of the Netflix Our Planet Live in Concert, previously held positions in the Utah Festival Opera, Northbrook Symphony, Lakeview Orchestra, and has subbed with the New World Symphony among others. He is a two-time prize winner in the National Flute Association Orchestral Excerpts Competition and Donald Peck International Flute Competition. He has a DMA and MM from Michigan State University and BM from DePaul University. He studied with Lisa Byrnes, Mary Stolper, Christina Smith, and Richard Sherman.
