hidden cues

Today we're releasing the first half of our conversation with oboist Emily Tsai. Emily is the Assistant Principal Oboe in the Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and can be seen performing regularly at the Kennedy Center in Washignton, DC on opera, ballet and musical theater productions. She is also the Assistant Oboe Professor at the University of Maryland School of Music. We enjoyed speaking with Emily about her multifaceted music career, and we hope you enjoy listening!

We're excited to share the second half of our episode with Korinne Smith! Korinne is a flutist, teacher, and female leader in the music industry. As a flutist, she has performed throughout the United States and Europe. As an educator, she has held teaching positions at various institutions specializing in flute pedagogy of all levels. Dr. Smith is the Sales Manager of the Wm. S. Haynes Company and currently serves on the NFA’s Commercial Members Committee. She holds a BMus from Nazareth College of Rochester and MMus and DMA from the University of South Carolina. We hope you enjoy Part 2!

This week on hidden cues, we're thrilled to be sharing the first part of our interview with Korinne Smith. Korinne is an accomplished classical musician who has combined her lifelong passion for music with a deep desire to educate and inspire others to reach their musical goals. Her journey began in childhood, singing in church before discovering the flute in elementary school—an instrument that became her lifelong companion. Inspired by an influential music teacher, Korinne pursued degrees in music education and flute performance, earning both her master’s and doctorate while serving as a band director in Rochester, New York. We hope you enjoy this episode - available now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify (linked in bio!).

Today's episode is the second half of our interview with Dr. Megan Arns, Director of Percussion Studies and Co-Interim Associate Director of the School of Music at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. This episode is a great continuation of our conversation with Megan about her career, and her experience of motherhood as a professional musician. If you liked Part 1, definitely make sure to listen to Part 2. (And if you haven't heard Part 1 yet, go check it out!)

This week we're talking with percussionist Dr. Megan Arns. Dr. Arns is a percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and educator with a diverse set of skills and a driven passion for her craft. She is a member of the music faculty at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO where she is currently serving as the Director of Percussion Studies and Co-Interim Associate Director of the School of Music. Megan received her D.M.A. in Percussion Performance & Literature and M.A. in Ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music. She was also awarded performance degrees from Florida State University (M.M.) and Truman State University (B.M.), where she was recognized as a Presser Scholar. Her primary teachers include Michael Burritt, John W. Parks IV, Michael Bump, Bill Cahn, and Nyoman Suadin. Megan is also a fellow podcaster, and co-hosts the @Percussion Podcast. We had a great conversation with Megan, and we hope you enjoy listening. Link in bio to stream.

Today on hidden cues, we're sharing the second part of our conversation with violinist and teacher Dr. Lauretta Werner Merriman. As a dedicated performer, Werner performs solos in regional concert series and at international conferences. As an educator and conductor, Werner frequently judges and adjudicates music competitions and orchestra assessments. As a researcher, Werner researches and explores the topic of mindfulness for musicians by reinterpreting mindfulness-based therapies and sport psychology models for musicians. We love speaking with musicians who have multifacted careers like Lauretta's, and we hope you enjoy listening! hidden cues is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of hidden cues, we're sharing the first part of our conversation with violinist and teacher Dr. Lauretta Werner Merriman. Dr. Merriman currently teaches violin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Werner taught as Assistant Professor of Violin/Viola at Longwood University, Lecturer of Violin at West Virginia University, as a Suzuki violin instructor at both the Pittsburgh Music Academy and the Hope Academy of Music and the Arts in Pittsburgh, as a violin faculty member at Camp Encore/Coda, and as a quartet teaching fellow at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. Lauretta shared many wonderful insights into her life and career in this episode, available now.

Today we're sharing part 2 of our interview with Shannon Kiewitt, and continuing to dig into how she balances her fanily life and performance career. Shannon's impressive career has included the United States Army Field Band in Fort Meade, Md., and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band in Fort Monroe, Va. She also performed at the 1999 Belgian Clarinet Academy in Ostend, Belgium, attended the International Orchestra Institute Attergau in Upper Austria in 2000 and was a semi-finalist in the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition in 2003 - and these are only some of the highlights. We hope you enjoy the rest of this interview!

We're interviewing fellow clarinetist Shannon Kiewitt in our most recent episode of hidden cues! Gunnery Sergeant Shannon Kiewitt of Sevierville, Tenn., joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in January 2011. She was appointed to the bass clarinet section in March 2017. Gunnery Sgt. Kiewitt performs with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour. We loved speaking with Shannon about managing her career alongside being a mom, and we hope you'll take the time to listen to this episode! Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Happy New Year! It's already that time of year again...in this episode, Amanda and Amy chat about their 2025 yearly recap. We'd love to hear from you in the comments: what was your favorite part of 2025, and what are you most excited for in 2026?