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Won Lee, Flute Instructor at The University of Texas at Dallas
John possesses an exceptional artistic curiosity and musical expertise. He has a remarkable talent and enormous passion in music performance. He is creative, talented, intelligent, hardworking, and passionate. Gorgeous and delightful tone, strong projection, wide range of dynamic, and his enthusiasm are some of the highlights about his personality and as a musician. I have witnessed his potential and excellence...There is something special in him and I highly recommend John.
Dawn Weiss, former Principal Flutist of The Oregon Symphony
John Nguyen is a fine young man, possessing great passion and commitment for all that he does. From the start, John demonstrated himself as a highly self-motivated student, not only academically but on the flute. He never takes the easy way out, starting the flute as a sophomore! He has chosen to work on very challenging repertoire, including the Ibert Flute Concerto and the Prokofiev Flute Sonata in a short period of time, pieces most college students would only attempt in upon graduating. John is also unstoppable in his dedication and commitment. During our lessons, John always arrives extremely prepared because he never wants to waste any money, wanting every moment of his lesson time to be beneficial. For instance, he needed to learn the flute excerpt from the Mendelssohn “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for the National Youth Orchestra audition. He showed up for his first lesson on the excerpt not only memorized but playing it extremely well. As a person, John clearly lives by high standards and morals in everything he does. While I was out of town, I entrusted him my house key and had him take care of my dog, fully aware of his trustworthiness and accountability.
Corrie Cook, Second Flutist of The Vancouver Symphony
John’s excitement and drive to absorb knowledge and skill is insatiable. I’m continually amazed by the amount of information he demands from me in his lessons, how much he can assimilate, and how much he can retain in a short period of time. In two brief years he has risen to the top of his peers in his playing ability both in his school, in our city’s leading youth orchestra, at honors ensembles and competitions at the state level and even successfully competing with college students for spots in masterclasses of world-renown artists. And his smile, infectious!
You can’t help but be inspired around John. John is a student who I believe will master anything his passion ignites. He is quick, studious, honest, curious, diligent, humble and full of potential. He doesn’t shrink from a challenge and doesn’t collapse under harsh criticism. He has many of his own ideas but is willing to listen to other ideas and incorporate them into his understanding. He has boundless energy and puts that energy to good use such as founding a music outreach club.
John is a rare gem. He is happy. Genuinely happy, and not naively so.
Thaddeus Donoho, father of Jadelyn
John Nguyen’s combined skill, experience and love for music make him a highly qualified flute teacher. After finding out about John online and seeing how all of his students were so happy and genuinely very glad to have him as their teacher, my wife and I decided on John to be our daughter’s first flute teacher as well! John has all of the best qualities that one would look for in teaching music. His love for music is contagious and has inspired my daughter to put more time into practicing and has also helped her find her way in exploring things much further! Since beginning to take flute lessons with John this past January of 2019, I have seen various areas of my daughters playing improve dramatically. For instance, she became very proficient in all kinds of scales which helped her in becoming first flute chair in the intermediate band at her school! He was also very good at working on building a strong foundation when it comes to techniques and good habits. He is experienced in many different genres of music as well and it doesn’t matter if you are just starting or are advanced, John will most definitely take you or your child’s flute playing to a whole new level! His patience and genuine passion for playing and teaching elevates him to the very top as a flute teacher and as a great person! We could not have been happier with the results and the entire experience!
Paul Nguyen, Winner of the 2019 Piano Santa Foundation Grand Piano Scholarship
John is an incredible mentor and has taught me new things and practice tips despite playing a different instrument from mine. With his help combined with the dedication of my own piano teacher, in the spring of 2019, I won the Piano Santa Foundation's Grand Piano Scholarship, which awards a grand piano to winners for two years. The feat could never have been accomplished without John's help.
As the sole founder of his church's only student-led extracurricular, Lavang Youth Chamber Orchestra, John Nguyen's strong work ethic, dedication, and unwillingness to give up has allowed the orchestra to soar to extraordinary heights. Even back in 2016, when the "orchestra" had only consisted of a handful of musicians who wanted to perform for an annual Christmas concert, John led the group with unprecedented fervor and allowed the orchestra to play difficult repertoire despite the all the musicians coming from all sorts of backgrounds and skill levels. Even so, John was still not satisfied, so he officially founded LYCO in 2018 despite every adult telling him it was an impossible task to not only single-handedly lead LYCO but also to make it successful. But guess what? John raised hundreds of dollars through boba tea sales to buy each member a free T-shirt, found multiple orchestra performance opportunities all around the Portland area (even outside of the church), and made it look easy the entire time. John is truly an inspiration to all that know him and it is a treat for all that get to work with him.
Kaylee Jeong, Executive Director of Project Prelude & Principal Cellist of PYP
Serving as a Chapter Director at Project Prelude from 2018-19, John was always willing to go above and beyond for his students and for the organization. He came to every class prepared with fun, creative musical activities that our students loved, made genuine friendships with all students he worked with, and helped them make remarkable progress through his guidance. Not only was he a confident, dependable leader at his own chapter, but he also offered to help teach at our other chapter on his own time. John's positive attitude and initiative made him a role model for students and instructors alike. He inspired everyone around him with his selflessness, patience, and musical gifts. We are so lucky to have worked with John, and Project Prelude will not be the same without him!
Tina Nguyen, former student.
I have been taking lessons from John for almost a year now and I have to say by far; he is very professional about his work and I trust him a lot. John has worked with me on many countless things and has never given up, from sight reading to exploring different tones despite my lack of knowledge, ability, and regardless of my background. He works with you on things you want to, on things you want to improve on, and on things he thinks that you will benefit from. He pushes me out of my comfort zone which allowed me to explore different fields of where I can go with flute.
Also, having a student as a teacher is more calming than having a professional adult that you don’t know well tutor you with fear of high expectations. Compared to my lesson teacher before, I feel more comfortable working with a person that is near my age. I have learned and improved drastically than I would have ever before with another or without a lesson teacher and I cannot say how grateful I am to come across a person like John to teach me flute. I can say it has been one of the most life changing things for me and I will continue to take lessons from John to pursue my interest in playing the flute.
Sara Shao, 3rd flutist of Westview Wind Ensemble
I would highly recommend John Nguyen as a flute teacher to anyone who has an interest in learning to play the flute. As a fellow flutist in the Westview Wind Ensemble and previously the Westview Symphonic Band, I have had the pleasure of listening to John play every band class, as well as during concerts and solo performances. I have never met anyone as kind, hard working, and dedicated as John. His love for flute is sure to inspire any of his students.
John is always happy to help people improve their flute skills. Over the past year, John has helped me improve my flute playing on multiple occasions, from helping me with my tone on low notes to practicing for my PYP audition. As a teacher, John is very patient, supportive, and detailed with his instruction. John has really motivated me to be more consistent with my practicing, too.
John’s skill and technique in playing the flute is also exceptional. Not only does he play every piece with the utmost note precision, but he has a gorgeous tone and vibrato as well. From his artistic expression, it is evident how much love and passion he has for the instrument.
As a person, John is nice to everyone without exception and quick to make new friends. His personality is uplifting sure to make anyone feel motivated and encouraged while playing.
Molly Krupa and son, Zen, former student
John is an inspirational young man and role model for young people! My son, Zen, took flute lessons from John for a year, until John graduated from high school and moved away for college. My son describes John as "motivational, dedicated, and hard working". We also appreciate John's efforts to build community in the realm of music. He often shared information with us about musical concerts, events and other music programs. He encouraged us to get out into the community and enjoy its music! With his students, John has an insightful awareness of the development of the whole person.
Sheetal, mother of Abhi
John is a wonderful teacher and a mentor to my 8-year-old son. My son has been learning Flute past 1 year now. My son somehow got interested in Flute and wanted to learn it as his first instrument. I started searching for a teacher and found John through his website. John is super talented and great achiever in flute. I have heard him play and it's just melodious.
John is a patient & calm and a fun teacher. He encouraged my son at every level; he struggled learning Flute from start. He has these great ways to encourage & reward a child to get to the next level. He never gives up on his students. He is very accommodating & understanding, punctual for his classes and is flexible if there is a need. John makes his class challenging but at the same time, it is fun & enjoyable. My son is glad to have found John as his teacher! Thank you, John
Isabelle Zheng, former Executive Director of Project Prelude and former Principal Flutist of the Portland Youth Philharmonic
John worked as a dedicated flute instructor at our McKinley chapter during the 2017-18 school year and will serve as a Chapter Director for Project Prelude during the 2018-19 year. Whenever I saw him, he was working closely with one of the students, helping them with their embouchure or fingering, or even just encouraging them to continue practicing and playing the flute.
John expects a lot from his students, but remains understanding and thoughtful throughout the process. As a result, John's students are able to quickly advance and gain confidence in their playing. Most of all, he was one of the instructors that connected most with the students personally because of his kindness, generosity and empathy. All of our flute students loved him!
John is an excellent choice as a private instructor for any beginning flute student.
Sarah Nguyen, former student
I took lessons with John for about a year. There were many things that we both could relate to. Plus, since boba is the best drink ever, we talked about that from time to time. He really helped me get better on my flute by focusing a lot on tone and it really improved my playing tactics. Plus, he’s actually just a fun person to talk to. If I could, I would take lessons with him more if he didn’t move but things happen.
Truthfully, it was pretty sad when he moved because it felt like saying bye to a friend. I’m definitely glad I took lessons from John instead of someone else. He’s rather professional and passionate about what he teaches. I would recommend John any day.
Christina Lozano, mother of Jackelyn
My daughter Jackelyn really enjoy flute lessons with John: he is very helpful, patient and positive. John is skillful at motivating his students to practice and do well. In his lessons he pays attention to all of the aspects, and the time flies during the lessons. I have seen my daughter's skills and confidence grow as she has studied with him.
I highly recommend Jon to any one looking for a flute teacher. He is very talented and has a wonderful passion for playing and teaching. My daughter looked forward to her lessons and she has learned so much from him.
Dharani Devi Marrikunta, mother of Gagun
I would highly recommend John Nguyen as a flute teacher to anyone who has an interest in learning to play the flute.
My son, Gagan, has been going to John for flute lessons from last 5 months and he really likes John's teaching style and I see a drastic improvement with my son. When we started classes we started with 30 mins classes, John realized my son needed 1 hour classes to focus more and we switched him to 60 min class and we did see a drastic improvement in him.
I really like John's teaching style as he knows how to work with kids.
Jennifer Sinclair, mother of Mikayla Sinclair
John Nguyen has tutored my daughter for almost a year in flute. His patience, prowess, and kindness to her has been a wonderful blessing to us.
My daughter has ADHD and his patient, kind way of teaching has given her a love for the flute that she wouldn't have developed otherwise.
I am hoping that my daughter will be able to continue with John for a good while.
Alessandra Coro, President of Music for Change
As President of Music for Change, a club at Westview High School, I noticed that John was definitely one of the more motivated members in my club. He is a very proactive and dedicated individual, especially when it comes to playing the flute. I can see his passion for the instrument from his time and effort invested in the flute and in the club, especially when trying to get a spot to perform during our events. John is such a driven person, meaning he has set goals for himself he is constantly trying to achieve and he is motivated in a way that pushes him to do better each time. Aside from this, John is quite the energetic soul. He is not afraid to get others out of the comfort zone and is always willing to collaborate and work with others. Furthermore, John is such a caring and kind individual. He works well with others and is always open-minded. I am excited to have him start this business because not only is he working on something he is deeply passionate about, but he is also helping others learn from his talent and skill.
Sheri McLoughlin, mother of Jackson
My 14 year old son wanted to improve his flute skills. We had searched for a local teacher and had trouble finding one, until we found John.
John was very patient and encouraging, and my son related well to him. Through weekly lesson with John, Jackson improved both his fingering for notes and his intonation. He also worked a lot on articulation. John helped my son find music that was interesting and inspiring for him to play, so that practicing was not a chore. When Jackson was having trouble hitting a particular note, John was able to identify a mechanical issue with the flute that required a tune up at the shop. John communicated with me well throughout the process, and was very accessible by email.
It is a bonus that John has been through the Westview band program, where my son will attend next year. I am happy to recommend John Nguyen as a flute teacher.
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