Here I am in Rome, Italy, November 2015, waiting to hear a live performance of Verdi’s Requiem.

My spouse studied classical archeology, and I’ll be pilfering his book collection for flute stories.

My trusty classical flute got me through my most intese years of music study.

This beautiful Irish flute doesn’t work anymore due to a crack through the headjoint.

My Native American flute makes a beautiful sound whenever I make the time to play.

I am a professional journalist  in central Wisconsin by day. And at night – for the past several years – I have dreamed of exploring the vast variety of flutes throughout the world’s history and cultures.

My name is Nora Hertel. I earned my Bachelor of Arts at Lawrence University in music (and French, but that’s a different set of stories). My education centered on classical flute, but I also developed a deep interest in folk music and world music.

I grew up listening to my dad’s Celtic music and Native American flute albums. And in school I started to learn about the Japanese shakuhachi, Chinese dizi, and West African Fula flutes. I’ve been aching to delve deeper since.

And this website is where I am going to do that digging. I’ll be exploring stories behind the instrument and its players, marrying my two passions: music and writing.

Happy reading, happy listening!