Ann Koenig
Recorder Player
​Ann Koenig is the music director of the Desert Pipes, the Phoenix-area chapter of the American Recorder Society, of which she is a lifetime member. Having started her musical life on orchestral woodwinds (clarinet, flute, oboe), Ann switched to recorder and a focus on early music in her music degree studies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she later served as a church and school musician and president of the Milwaukee Area Recorder Society (MARS). Ann also holds a BA and MA in German, and had the opportunity to play recorder, sing in ensembles, and participate in clinics and workshops during her three years of study in Germany and two years of work in an American university program there. Ann moved to Arizona in 2002. After a fulfilling full-time career in international education with part-time recorder playing and directing, she retired in 2021 and is thrilled to be back to teaching recorder.
​
As a music teacher, Ann’s goal is to facilitate the joy of self-expression through the language of music. Honoring the many different ways that people learn and use language – by listening, observing, imitating, reading, creating – Ann’s recorder teaching focuses on supporting her students’ desire to learn and enjoy making music, and facilitating the development of physical and cognitive skills they need for individual and ensemble playing. Ann is also an avid researcher and music history buff, and in her teaching and ensemble conducting, she incorporates approaches based on the latest studies in brain science related to practice and performance, alongside centuries-old instrumental techniques and principles of musical expression. Arrange a recorder score from an 18th-century printing of an organ prelude, or create a recorder performance piece from a medieval tune, or prepare a special arrangement for a student? That’s an enjoyable project for Ann, because it is all a part of her commitment to enabling others to experience the joy of making and sharing music with others.
