Heather Verbeck is an active performer and teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she is a member of the flute faculty at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati (CCM). Appointed in 2003, she teaches undergraduate and graduate flute students and a weekly Piccolo Master class, a unique CCM tradition started by the late Jack Wellbaum.
As a clinician, she has given flute and piccolo masterclasses at several institutions and conferences including Wright State University, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Ohio Northern University, Murray State University, the Stivers School for the Arts, Kentucky Flute Festival, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, and Central Ohio Flute Association's Flute Festival (COFA). An active educator, she teaches students of all ages through her private studio at her home in Walnut Hills, and at the CCM Preparatory Department. Through CCM Prep., she teaches private lessons, coaches chamber music and is a faculty artist for their annual Adult Chamber Music Weekend.
A dedicated pedagogue, Dr. Verbeck has had the privilege or working with many wonderful students over the years. Her students have been finalists in such competitions as the National Flute Association's High School Soloist Competition and the national MTNA Senior Woodwind Competition. Her piccolo students have been winners of the NFA Piccolo Masterclass Competition. Her students have appeared on NPR’s From the Top, and gone on to study at world class institutions such as the University of Southern California, the University of Indiana (Bloomington), Ball State University, Miami University, to name a few. Former students play professionally in orchestras, perform on Broadway, and have become educators themselves.
An advocate for the piccolo, she has appeared at the Kentucky Flute Festival, the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, and COFA, giving a presentation titled "A Practical Guide to Creating a Piccolo Practice Routine" and performing piccolo works by American composers, David Loeb, Marilyn Bliss and Michael Daughtery. Additionally, she has organized masterclasses for her CCM Piccolo Class students to play for several world class piccolo artists including Joan Vorhees (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), Jennifer Gunn (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Erinn Frechette (Charlotte Symphony Orchestra), Hillary Feibel (Ft. Wayne Symphony Orchestra), and Arpi Anderson (Lexington Philharmonic).
Ms. Verbeck was principal flutist of the Arc Ensemble, a group she played with from its inception in 2000, and with whom she performed the Concerto of Jean Rivier as a featured soloist. Her orchestral experience includes appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. She is an active freelance musician around the Cincinnati metropolitan area, and she performs in a flute and percussion duo alongside her husband, percussionist Brady Harrison.
