Nicole is a great teacher! She took me on halfway through my senior year and helped me grow musically and see things in my music I'd never seen before. She also gave me really interesting and fun music to play so that I enjoyed learning. 
Nicole was very supportive of everything I did for school; she guided and supported me through my solo concerto performance, as well as helped me work out my solos for school orchestra and all-state band music. She is very knowledgeable about music and how to teach it, and I really enjoyed studying under her. She rocks!"
                                                                                                                                  Emma - 18 years old

Nicole is an excellent teacher! I started taking flute lessons from her after years of not playing my flute much. But Nicole helped me pick up where I left off and even improve through only a semester of lessons! I can tell she truly cares about the progress of each of her students.
                                                      Alex - College Student

Our son has been taking lessons from Nicole for a year now. We have been impressed with his overall progress and his continued interest. We appreciate Nicole's professionalism; she clearly communicates expectations for the students and the parents and is very good about keeping lessons and punctuality. The style of the lesson has also been very good for our son--there are lesson pieces, performance pieces, and sight reading. Nicole has also helped our son with music theory. We have had a very positive experience working with Nicole, and are happy that through her style our son continues to enjoy playing the flute.
                                                          Mother of a Student

Miss Nicole is a rare gem. Not only is she a highly skilled flutist, performing professionally on a regular basis, but she has the gift of teaching the flute by breaking each skill into tiny digestible steps. She’s not too nice, not too strict. She is great at reading student body language and modifies lessons to suite individual needs. She also has the ear training that allows her to know what is off and what is needed to improve. When you find a teacher like that, you don’t let go. Miss Nicole is full of wisdom and insight not only on how to play the flute well, but also anticipates needs and spends time brainstorming with the parent to figure out what is best for sustained student growth. When my daughter wanted to study the flute, Miss Nicole was referred to me by a music teacher friend. I had no idea we had hit the flute teacher jack pot. She helped me find a good used instrument, then instructed me to not let my daughter even put the flute to her mouth until they were in a lesson. She set expectations for both me and my daughter that kept her from becoming frustrated with the important, but boring task of preparing her embouchure.  After a few weeks she was playing simple songs with a beautiful tone. A few months later, she was ready to perform in her studio recital. The foundation and proper techniques miss Nicole taught set my daughter up for continued growth and success. As a parent and a musician, I have worked with many music teachers over the decades. Nicole Elkins stands head and shoulders literally and figuratively above the rest. Flute playing and teaching aside, she is a lovely human who cares genuinely about each of her students.
Sasha - Mother of a student

Nicole has proven to be a very effective teacher while maintaining sensitivity to the student's individual needs and personality.  My daughter tried learning flute in her Junior High band class throughout 7th grade and was never able to even make a sound.  She was discouraged and I was surprised when she asked to take band the next year.  I decided to enroll her in lessons with Nicole Elkins after my daughter began 8th grade.  Within just two weeks, my daughter had a noticeable improvement in her sound.  After a couple of months, my daughter was able to meet the demands of her band class at an acceptable level and her band teacher has commented on her constant improvement.  
I have witnessed Nicole's attention to all technical aspects of flute performance and her ability to explain technique in a way youth can understand and apply.  She describes effective practice activities in her lessons to help the student maximize individual practice time and is attentive to following up with all assignments and goals.  My daughter's enjoyment in playing the flute has increased dramatically as a result.  It is clear to me by observing my daughter's lessons with Nicole, that her success in teaching is a result of her solid knowledge and proficiency with flute performance coupled with her ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and sensitive manner.

                                                   Mother of a Student