Andrea Diggs
Andrea Diggs, currently based in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, is the flute professor and Founder and Director of SCREECH (Shepherd Community Recorder Ensemble with Extraneous Comedic Happenings) at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. She is a classically trained flutist, vocalist, educator, and performing artist whose work includes classical, jazz, musical theater, and traditional Appalachian music. A native of Virginia with deep family
and musical roots in Appalachia, she began singing at church and with family at a very early age, and took formal piano lessons around the same time she started school. She knew by 8th grade that she wanted to study flute performance at Shenandoah Conservatory, which she ultimately did.
Andrea earned both her Bachelor (‘02) and Master (‘04) of Music in Flute Performance from Shenandoah University, studying with distinguished flutists including Frances Lapp Averitt and Charlene Romano, and baroque flutist
LaVerne Sargent. She has pursued additional training through Summer studies including the Pierre Monteux School
for Conductors and Musicians, the Flute Orchestral Institute, and Shenandoah Performs. While at Shenandoah, she
was a member of both instrumental and vocal ensembles. Post-graduation, she studied voice with Barbara
Hollinshead.
As a performer, Andrea has appeared as a soloist and ensemble musician throughout the East Coast, most notably
at venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Wolf Trap, Strathmore, and Lincoln Center, as
well as throughout France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Colombia. She has performed with
ensembles including the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Greater Washington, The
Washington Chorus, and Arts Chorale of Winchester. She currently performs with Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra,
Main Street Chamber Orchestra, and the Middleburg Film Festival as flutist/piccoloist. She is also the
mezzo-soprano section leader and soloist at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA, and sings soprano with
Winchester Musica Viva, the premiere chamber choir of the Northern Shenandoah Valley based in Winchester, VA.
In addition to ensemble work, she is an early music soprano soloist, having performed with several ensembles and
other musicians in the region. Most recently, she was the soprano soloist for Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at Trinity
Episcopal Church in Upperville, VA. She also enjoys music theatre and performed the roles of Sister Margaretta in
The Sound of Music and Cherry Sundae in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Old Opera House in Charles
Town, WV. Her artistry extends to original music as well, having released a women’s empowerment album, One
Mighty Fine Day, in 2019 on Band Camp and the single, “Daisies,” in 2022, a modern murder ballad, available on all
major streaming platforms. This song marks the start of her return to her roots, and the start of her personal mission
to elevate and educate the general populace on the musical culture of Appalachia. She plans to eventually release
several of her other originals when she gets around to it.
Andrea’s stage experience extends behind the curtains as well. As an arts administrator, she got her start by
collaborating with other students while at Shenandoah Conservatory on independent projects. She served as both a
choir manager and orchestra manager, and gained stage crew experience volunteering as a sister of Sigma Alpha
Iota. While teaching at Ellsworth Music in Ranson, WV, she started and ran the Ellsworth Masterclass Series and
was the recital coordinator for several years. She has also organized and co-organized several independent
community projects over the years throughout Jefferson County, WV. In 2012, she was the Founding Board
President and de facto Executive Director for Charles Washington Symphony Orchestra, a community ensemble
focused on family-friendly concerts and community engagement. She is currently the Managing Director for
Winchester Musica Viva.
A passionate music educator, Andrea first started teaching in 2001. She has taught private flute, voice, piano,
ukulele, recorder, and Appalachian music lessons at various institutions during her career, as well as early childhood
music since 2006. She also spent six years in private and public school classrooms teaching pre-school through 8th
grade and has been the music specialist in many early childhood classrooms and community schools throughout VA,
WV, and MD. After training on and teaching the Music Together© program for several years, she developed a new
program primarily comprised of her own original children’s songs, Note-able Minds™, which she taught both in her
classrooms and the community. She has trained several others on her program, which is now being taught
throughout the region as both a stand-alone and supplemental curricula. In recent years, she has presented at music
educator conferences on a variety of topics including beginning flute, recorder ensemble playing, and
neuroinclusivity in the classroom and music. As a neurodiverse musician herself, she has lectured extensively on the
topic in both workshop presentations and as part of solo and chamber performances.
Andrea enjoys other realms of musicianship, including composition and arranging, and is a highly sought-after
adjudicator and has served as Music Director/Vocal Coach for the Old Opera House and Clarke County High School
in Berryville, VA.
While music is Andrea’s main focus, she has always loved being in nature far away from most other people (not you,
of course, dear reader who made it to the end of this long droll of my accomplishments). In 2024, she became a
certified West Virginia Master Naturalist and volunteered at Cool Spring Nature Preserve. She is the owner of
Symphonic Garden, where she creates flower bouquets inspired by music with an emphasis on using native plants