About Me

I live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina with my husband, Tommy, and our dogs.  Our home is located at the base of Spivey Mountain and surrounded by woods, brooks and wildflowers.  Since I was brought up in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, I am right at home living in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains.

I started my studies in flute when I was  ten years old and went on after high school to major in music at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, New York.  I didn't finish my college years there, though.   I left Crane and college life after my first year  and it was not until I was almost 40 years old that I finished my Bachelor of Music degree at Queens College in Charlotte, NC.  On the way to finishing that degree I became interested in biology and went on after my music degree to complete a master's degree in biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  I taught college biology for a short while and then my husband retired from his career as an electrical engineer with Duke Energy, and we moved to our home in Asheville.  The house we live in had been Tommy's parents' home during their retirement.  We added a large post and beam great room.

In Asheville, I tried to take a different approach to flute playing.  I was tired of the music world and the competitive, petty spirit which pervaded it, especially among flutists.   I decided I would play my flute again, but only if I really, truly enjoyed it.  I started looking for places where I could play for free.  I played at church services, in the community band, for musicals, and didn't worry so much about whether I was "the best,"  or whether I was paid, but instead concentrated on enjoying it and letting others enjoy my playing.

Little by little my playing skills returned and I began to wonder, what would happen if I actually practiced a little bit? (Instead of sight reading everything!)  I had made the mistake in previous years  of "forcing" myself to practice for hours on end and it had instilled in me the idea that practicing was distasteful.

I heard of a teacher at Western Carolina University, Dr. Eldred Spell, who is Professor of Flute and taught flute repair.  After attending a masterclass of his, I decided to enroll in the Master's program at WCU.  Little did I know what this would lead to!  Under Dr. Spell's teaching and encouragement I  improved my flute playing and performance demeanor and I studied flute repair with him for two years.  He is a marvellously patient, kind, and generous teacher.  I started working as a flute tech while I was still  at WCU and that is how Flutestar, my home-based flute and piccolo repair business, began.

My repair work on flutes and piccolos must stand up to my own rigorous standards (the ones imposed on me by Dr. Spell!)  and since I'm a flutist myself, I'm not happy until the flutes I work on respond to a light touch with full breath support.  

I am now involved in many varied flute activities.  Flutestar has grown constantly and is a big part of my life.   I am the  founder and director of the Mountains of Asheville Flute Ensemble which performs several concerts a year.  I perform regularly with the flute ensemble, at Biltmore House, sometimes with Kingsport Symphony of the Mountains or other local orchestras, and volunteer (playing flute) at the local Mountain Area Hospice.  I travel to flute fairs in nearby states and teach classes on flute repair and do "on the spot" flute repair in their exhibit halls.    I paint watercolors of flutes and piccolos. 

When I'm not doing my "flute stuff," I enjoy being outdoors and I LOVE contradancing and Celtic music!

                                                     Nancy Shinn     

Why I wish I was a cowgirl... my grandson Darion, age 10.

A painting on the ceiling of a church in Germany.

A hand carved and painted figure I bought while we were in Germany--made of wood.