Abi Middaugh was appointed Second Flute of the Flint Symphony Orchestra in October of 2024, under music director Enrique Diemecke. Abi has also performed with the New World Symphony, the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and the University Symphony Orchestra at the University of Michigan, where they recently went on tour to South Africa and Carnegie Hall.
As a soloist, Abi has performed with concertos with the Ann Arbor Symphony and Aspen Wind Orchestra. She was recently named a finalist in the University of Michigan's Undergraduate Concerto Competition, and the Aspen Music Festival Woodwind Concerto Competition. She is the 1st place winner of the 2024
Florida Flute Association College Young Artist Competition and the 2024 Great Lakes Flute Festival Darlene Dugan Young Artist Competition.
Abi is an alum of the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, where she participated in their European tour. Abi has also performed with University of Michigan's Philharmonia Orchestra, Symphony Band, and Eastern Michigan's University Wind Symphony, and in pit orchestras for University of Michigan's productions of Don Giovanni and Orpheus in the Underworld. Abi has performed in masterclasses for Marianne Gedigian, Demare McGill, Mark Sparks, Nadine Asin, Kelly Zimba, Nancy Stagnitta, Jeff Zook, and Sharon Sparrow, among others.
Abi is passionate about bringing new works to life. She has been involved with premieres of Braxton Blake's Toccata for orchestra, Nkeiru Okoye's When the Caged Bird Sings, a fusion of opera, oratorio, and theater, Jude Vaclavik's Bifrost, Griffin Candey's concerto for tenor saxophone Double Aviary, Ryan Lindveit’s bass clarinet concerto written for Andrew Koeppe of the Akropolis Reed Quintet, Hansol Choi's Sahm-Doh for orchestra, and the premiere recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Atonement. She enjoys working with her peers in the composition department, some of whom have written pieces for her.
Abi is the co-founder of an arts equity organization called The Intermezzo Fund, along with violist Alondra Damian-Noyola. Started in 2024, IMF awards scholarships to highschool musicians in Southeast Michigan based on financial need in order to cover musical costs up to $250. Their initial campaign, including their Kickoff Benefit Concert, raised almost 5 times their original goal, and they have given out more than $3,000 in scholarships. Read more here.
Abi is in her fourth year at the University of Michigan, studying with Amy Porter. Other notable teachers include Mark Sparks, Nadine Asin, Hannah Hammel, Jeff Zook, and Kelly McDermott, her former teacher whom she studied with for fifteen years prior to her undergraduate studies.
Abi plays a Muramatsu DS flute and a Hammig piccolo. She is from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and also enjoys running, weight lifting, thrift shopping, baking, and spending time with her friends and family.
