Kirsten completed her Bachelor of Music in Flute and Composition at Carleton University in Ottawa. She completed her Masters in Music in Composition at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she studied composition with Stephen Chatman.
Kirsten has been active as a private music teacher for twenty-five years. She played flute with numerous chamber ensembles in a large variety of productions, including the Ottawa presentations of R. Murray Schafer's Spirit Garden, performances of her own flute duet composition at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, and numerous collaborations with singers, choirs, and harpists. She had several of her compositions performed with Espace Musique and Easy Street Productions. She played with the flute quartet Opus Four, from 2002 to 2012 and will return to the quartet this spring.
For the last eight years, Kirsten taught flute, recorder, and theory in her private music studio in Seattle. She volunteered for the Seattle Music Teachers Association and was employed by the Washington State Music Teachers Association as Administrative Coordinator.
She has been living in Ottawa since January 2020 and is accepting new students.
