Orlando Youth Flute Choir

  Katie Mess is active as a performer in the Central Florida area in orchestral, chamber, and solo settings. A Florida native, she is Second Flute of the Bach Festival Orchestra of Winter Park  and has also been heard with Disney's EPCOT Candlelight Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Orlando Sings, Opera Orlando, and the Ocala Symphony, among others. An avid proponent of new music, Katie has presented premiere performances for groups such as the Central Florida Composers Forum, the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, The Vienna Summer Music Festival, and the Colorado New Music Ensemble at CU Boulder- of which she was a founding member. She has also composed several works for solo flute and arranged works for flute ensemble.  As a soloist, Katie has been featured on the Bach Festival recital series "Bach @ the Alfond", performed and presented at the National Flute Association and Florida Flute Association annual conventions, and regularly appears on Rollins College faculty concerts. She holds degrees in flute performance and music theory from Rollins College (BA), the University of Colorado at Boulder (MM), the University of Central Florida (MA), and the University of Florida (DMA) where she also completed a cognate in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology with a focus on injury prevention for musicians. Her primary instructors in flute are Kristen Stoner, Robin Etter, and Nora Lee Garcia. In addition to performance engagements, Katie serves as adjunct instructor of flute at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fl, and Seminole State College in Sanford, Fl, as well as maintaining a private studio.