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Kathryn Shaffer is a flutist, educator, and lifelong learner whose musical journey began in her hometown of San José, California. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University–San José, where she studied with French flutist Isabelle Chapuis, and a Master of Music in Flute Performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under the mentorship of Robert Willoughby. Her additional studies with Maria Tamburrino and composer-flutist John Heiss at the New England Conservatory helped shape her interest in contemporary and extended techniques.
Based in Durango, Colorado, Kathryn has been a member of the San Juan Symphony since 2006. Her orchestral career has also included performances with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, West Valley Symphony, The Continental Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, and the contemporary chamber ensemble Longitude, with concerts across the United States and Europe. She also treasures performing chamber music with her twin sister, pianist Kristen Folden, in California and throughout the Four Corners region.
Teaching is central to Kathryn’s musical life. A certified Suzuki flute instructor, she has maintained a private studio since 1987 and has served on the faculty at Fort Lewis College since 2007. Her work as an educator extends to adjudicating, conducting flute choirs and children’s chorales, leading wind ensembles, curating the Durango Bach Festival, and offering educational lectures for music studios.
A lifelong learner, Kathryn is committed to continual growth as both a musician and a teacher. She actively explores the flute’s history and pedagogical traditions of France and America through reading, interviews, lectures, and seminars, always seeking new ways to support and inspire her students.
She enjoys her family life with her husband and their four children. When not teaching or performing, she unwinds by running on the mountain trails that surround their home.