Baltimore-based flutist, Audra Ziegel, is an award-winning soloist, as well as a sought-after clinician, private flute instructor, and freelance performer at both the regional and national level. In May 2021, Ziegel was awarded second prize in the prestigious Myrna W. Brown Artist Flute Competition. Ziegel was also invited to give solo performances at consecutive National Flute Association (NFA) annual conventions in Salt Lake City (2019) and Orlando (2018), as well as consecutive Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions in 2020 and 2021. Other recent engagements include lecturing as an invited guest artist at the 2020 University of Virginia Flute Forum, serving as the co-principal flutist of the 2019 and 2018 International Fellowship of Conductors, Composers, and Collaborators (IFC3), a lecture at the 2019 Philadelphia Flute Fair, guest artist performances and masterclasses at Tennessee Tech University, East Tennessee State University, the University of Delaware, and Franklin and Marshall College, as well as multiple appearances as a featured guest soloist on the Towson University Faculty Chamber Music Recital Series. Ziegel formerly served as principal flutist of the Hunt Valley Symphony in Baltimore and the Urbana Pops Orchestra in Urbana, Illinois, and has performed professionally with many other ensembles throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Illinois, including the Illinois Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, Charm City Players, the Central Pennsylvania Oratorio Singers, the Yang Ying Band, the Concert Band of Central Illinois, and the Kankakee Valley Symphony. Ziegel is currently on the faculty of The Peabody Preparatory, and St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Md, and has adjudicated festivals such as the Maryland Senior and Junior All-State auditions, ILMEA Senior Honor Band auditions, and the Flute Society of Washington Student Honors Competition.

Ziegel graduated summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), earning a Bachelor’s degree in Flute Performance. She received her Master’s of Music in Flute Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was awarded a full graduate assistantship. Her primary teachers include Jonathan Keeble, Bradley Garner, Jack Wellbaum, and Roger Martin. In addition to the Myrna Brown Artist Competition, Ziegel has been a prize winner in numerous competitions including the 2018 National Flute Association Convention Performer’s Competition, the 2017 Flute Society of Washington Masterclass Competition, and second place at the 2004 and 2005 Central Ohio Flute Association Young Artist Competition. She was also a quarterfinalist in the prestigious National Flute Association Young Artist Competition in 2009.