Flutist, educator, and arts advocate Dr. Carolyn Keyes brings infectious creativity and passion to every aspect of her career. From the concert stage to the classroom and the community, she is committed to sharing the wonders of music making with the world.
An Ohio native, Carolyn has followed her passion around the United States, most recently to join the faculty of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. In addition to teaching, she maintains an active orchestral, chamber, and solo performance schedule. Carolyn is the newest member of DFW-based FlutAria! with flutists Shauna Thompson and Julee Kim Walker, and performs with guitarist Tim Courtney in dZuo, an eclectic chamber ensemble specializing in original transcriptions of everything from traditional Japanese music to punk rock. Carolyn can also be heard regularly with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale. Previously she was a member of the Longmont Symphony in Colorado, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra in Dallas, Texas, and was a frequent performer with the Cheyenne Symphony in Wyoming. Carolyn was a finalist and prize winner in the Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Competition and received honorable mentions in the National Flute Association Masterclass Competition and the Texas MTNA Woodwind Young Artist Competition.
In her teaching practice, she continually strives to find innovative ways to empower her students. In the spring of 2011, she developed and implemented a class on creativity for the undergraduate flutists at the University of Colorado. She utilized exercises from creative writing and theater, along with original exercises, to help the students hone their creative process. She also organized a “scale relay race” to help her high school students improve their technique while having fun and working in teams. Currently, Dr. Keyes is an adjunct instructor at Tarleton State University. Prior to this year, she taught flute, flute choir, and various academic courses at Cameron University. She has also held positions as a lecturer at the University of Colorado, and as flute faculty at the Dallas School of Music, DanaVMusic, and the Jan Angle Memorial Conservatory.
As a recipient of the Priddy Fellowship in Arts Leadership, Carolyn is committed to supporting the arts in schools and the community. Most recently, she served as the administrator for the Longmont Youth Symphony and participated in the Longmont Symphony’s Mentors in Music program, which provides expert instruction to schools in low income districts. Carolyn interned with the Shropshire Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that teaches music to war torn children in Europe and Africa, where she helped to organize their first annual “Practice for Peace” fundraiser. In 2011 she published an article on the role of imagination and the arts in a democratic education in the independent interdisciplinary journal, Consortium.
Carolyn received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Flute Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado. Her previous studies include a master’s degree from the University of North Texas and bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University. Her major teachers include Christina Jennings, Terri Sundberg, Elizabeth McNutt, Leonard Garrison, Nina Assimakopolous, Judith Bentley, and David Yūdo Sawyer (shakuhachi). Carolyn is a Conn-Selmer performing artist.
