Professor Nina Assimakopoulos has guided the next generation of flutists, music educators, and arts entrepreneurs for more than 25 years as a flute professor, career mentor, and masterclass presenter. She approaches her teaching with a supportive and joyous spirit, informed by her work as an acclaimed flutist in both traditional and contemporary performance and as an interdisciplinary artist whose work focuses on connecting people, place, and culture through musical storytelling.

Professor Assimakopoulos’ studio at West Virginia University is known for vibrant pedagogy, interactive teaching styles, and a welcoming environment for students pursuing diverse fields of study, including undergraduate and graduate degrees in flute performance, music education, music therapy, music business and industry, and multidisciplinary studies. Her students have won prizes in more than 200 international competitions, as well as prestigious research awards and grants, including the Fulbright Award.

For the past 18 years, her studio has maintained a 100% job placement rate for graduating music education majors. Her students have earned tenure-track teaching positions at universities in the United States and internationally, principal flute positions in orchestras around the world, and full assistantships and fellowships for every graduate of her flute studio who has entered master’s or doctoral degree programs in flute performance over the past 19 years.

Drawing on a career that bridges traditional performance, experimental music, and multimedia creation, Professor Assimakopoulos mentors students to imagine expansive artistic futures. At the same time, she provides a strong foundation in classical flute training and prepares students for traditional career paths including orchestral performance, music education, and graduate study. By bringing these interdisciplinary practices into the studio, she encourages students to develop entrepreneurial portfolio careers that combine teaching, performance, collaboration, and creative work across music, media, and emerging artistic forms, including building private studios, developing online teaching platforms, and creating independent artistic projects.

Professor Assimakopoulos is widely recognized as a leading voice in traditional and contemporary flute performance, having commissioned and premiered over 125 works for the Western concert flute and recorded nine solo albums, many of them award-winning. She has appeared in solo recitals at international music festivals and major concert venues around the world and has toured extensively as a performing artist and masterclass presenter, giving over 800 performances and masterclasses throughout her career.

As an orchestral musician, she has performed with ensembles including the Munich City Opera, the Bavarian Radio Academy Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Professor Assimakopoulos studied with Peter Lloyd at the Indiana University School of Music and Paul Meisen at the Academy for Music and Theater in Munich, Germany.