About Elizabeth
From the moment I picked up the flute in sixth grade, playing with others has been the best part of making music. In school, I joined every ensemble possible, learned clarinet and saxophone to play in jazz bands and musical theatre pit orchestras, and even sang in choir. In college and beyond, I fell in love with orchestral playing and the wonderful world of chamber music, and explored solo flute repertoire with brilliant accompanists.
Now, I’m a freelance performer, a flute teacher, and a flute choir conductor. I love teaching the beautiful solo repertoire I’ve learned over the years and finding hidden gems to play with my flute ensembles. The only problem? Outside of academia it’s hard to have consistent access to accompanists or large ensembles to perform with.
I want my students to learn how their flute solos fit with the piano accompaniment.
I want to play beautiful orchestral music but I don’t always have an orchestra to play with.
I want to find classical music for my flute choir to play that is tailored to our skills.
I’ve always been a maker (ask me about my wedding dress sometime), so when the thing I wanted didn’t exist, I thought “how hard could it be?”
And I got busy.
I started creating arrangements that distill complex piano parts into flute parts that preserve the musically important details but are still playable by an actual human flutist. I also arrange orchestral favorites, piano repertoire, and other gems as chamber pieces so flutists can enjoy big repertoire in small settings.
Elizabeth Jolly is a flutist, educator, and arranger based in Kirkland, Washington. She earned Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Flute Performance from the University of Redlands, where she studied with Sara Andon, and pursued additional graduate studies with Donna Shin at the University of Washington.
An accomplished performer, Elizabeth is principal flute of the Seattle Philharmonic. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the University of Redlands Symphony Orchestra, University of Redlands Wind Ensemble (premiering her arrangement of Carmen Fantaisie), University of Washington Wind Ensemble, and at the Beverly Hills International Music Festival. She is a five-time winner of the NFA Professional Flute Choir competition (2022-2026) and has twice performed recitals at the National Flute Association convention as a member of the Jolly Jones Duo. The duo’s most recent NFA convention performance “No Piano, No Problem” showcased Elizabeth’s duet arrangements of flute solo repertoire for teachers to help their students learn to play with accompaniment without needing a piano.
Elizabeth has run a private flute, clarinet, and saxophone studio since 2008. Her students have achieved placements in All-Northwest and All-State ensembles, youth orchestras, concerto performances, and university scholarships. She also works with adult amateur flutists as the conductor of the Seattle Flute Society Flute Choir. Her flute arrangements are published by Jolly Music and distributed internationally by Theodore Presser. When she’s not playing flute or thinking about flute music, Elizabeth can be found knitting, cross stitching, sewing, or playing with her whippet puppy.
