Beth Chandler Cahill, Professor of Flute, enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. Praised for her musical versatility and colorful sound, Dr. Cahill has performed and presented at festivals throughout the United States and abroad, including engagements at National Flute Association Conventions, Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions, the Midwest Clinic, and Música no Museu Festival Internacionale de Flauta, Oboé e Fagote in Rio de Janeiro, as well as universities nationwide.

As a soloist, she has performed at major venues throughout the world, including solo recitals at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Portuguese Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has won numerous awards and honors, including the top prize of the Flute Talk Competition, for which she was featured on the cover and in an interview in Flute Talk Magazine. Dr. Chandler has been a semifinalist in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York City, National Flute Association (NFA) Piccolo Artist Competition, and the NFA Young Artist Competition, in addition to being a prizewinner in the NFA Masterclass Performers and Orchestral Audition Competitions. She has performed at the NFA Conventions in Orlando, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Charlotte, New York City, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Phoenix, Orlando, Boston, and Los Angeles. She has also been a featured performer at the Florida Flute Fair, Texas Flute Festival, and the Staunton Music Festival. She was the winner of the Myrna Brown Artist Competition and a recipient of the Mary Louise Remy Endowed P.E.O. Scholar Award. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Chandler studied with Trevor Wye in Kent, England, as one of six students selected internationally. Other solo performances have included concerto appearances with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and closer to home, the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra, JMU Jazz Ensemble, and JMU Wind Symphony.

Prior to her faculty position at JMU, Dr. Cahill served on the faculty of the University of Florida, as a teaching assistant at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and held teaching positions at the New England Conservatory Extension Division and the Boston Music Education Collaborative. Dr. Chandler maintained active private studios in Cincinnati, Boston, Waco, and Austin, Texas, in addition to presenting masterclasses and workshops throughout the United States. Her current and former students have enjoyed successes in regional, national, and international competitions, prestigious masterclasses and fellowships, as well as highly competitive summer programs, and have been accepted to top graduate programs. Many former students have attained college faculty and military band positions, jobs in public and private music education around the country, as well as internships and employment at arts centers and symphony orchestras nationwide. Dr. Chandler was honored to receive the 2016-17 JMU College of Visual and Performing Arts Distinguished Teaching Award.

She is a member of the Bluestone Winds, the faculty woodwind quintet in-residence at James Madison University. The ensemble performs both on and off campus, presents clinics in public and private educational settings, and has been featured at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the

Virginia Music Educators’ Association Conference, and in concert at the Kennedy Center. She frequently performs in various other chamber and large ensembles, including the Valley Wind Ensemble, as well as with regional orchestras.

She served as President of the National Flute Association from 2012 to 2014, having also served previously two years as Vice President. In addition to serving as a past member of the National Flute Association’s Board of Directors, she has also served as chair of the Commercial Members Committee, Nominating Committee, as a member of the Strategic Planning, Endowment, and Finance Committees, and as a judge for several of the NFA's annual competitions. She is the advisor for the JMU Flute Club and is also an active member of the Flute Society of Washington, for which she has served as Program Chair for the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention.

A native Texan, Dr. Cahill received a Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from Baylor University as a student of Helen Ann Shanley, a Master of Music with Academic Honors from New England Conservatory, where she studied with Paula Robison, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Flute Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a cognate area in Arts Administration. Her other principal teachers include Jack Wellbaum (piccolo) and Trevor Wye.

She recently released TIME PLACE SPIRIT on the MSR Classics label, an album of music for flute and piano, with pianist Paulo Steinberg, which is widely available online and on CD. The stylistically broad program includes poignant works by Amirov, Chaminade, Karg-Elert, and Frazelle.

Beth Chandler Cahill joined the JMU School of Music faculty in 2001. She lives in the Harrisonburg, Virginia, community with her husband and twin teenage sons.

Please see bethchandler.com.