Flutist Donna Shin, the first woodwind player in the history of the Eastman School of Music to be nominated for the highly coveted Artist’s Certificate, joined the University of Washington School of Music faculty this fall as assistant professor of flute.

“Donna Shin is a superb performer, taking on the most difficult repertoire with the panache of a sword swallower,” said Robin McCabe, director of the UW School of Music. “She is a fine communicator and dedicated teacher who will be highly sought after by students of the flute.”

Shin was formerly assistant professor of flute at the University of South Carolina School of Music, and prior to that, at Oklahoma State University.

Shin attended Mercer Island public schools from fifth grade through high school. She received her bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she also received the Performer’s Certificate and was selected winner of the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition. Shin received her master of music degree and graduate diploma with distinction in performance from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Paula Robison and appeared as concerto soloist with the Contemporary Ensemble and the Conservatory Wind Ensemble. Shin returned to the Eastman School of Music for her doctor of musical arts degree.

As instructor of woodwind chamber music and flute, Shin led classes at the University of Rochester (New York) and the Eastman School of Music. In 2002-2003 she was awarded the “Eastman School of Music Excellence in Teaching” prize.

Most recently, she performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and also performed for two seasons as principal flutist with the Heidelberg Schlossfestspiele Orchester in Germany. In Boston, Shin performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Bedford Symphony and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Chamber Orchestras.

Other performances include the New World Symphony, Tulsa Signature Symphony, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Tanglewood Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Shin has won prizes in competitions held by the National Flute Association, April Spring Friendship Arts Festival in Korea, Performers of Connecticut, James Pappoutsakis Society and Seattle Flute Society, to name a few. As a founding member of Paragon Winds (woodwind quintet), she was awarded fellowships from the New England Conservatory and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and won the Grand Prize at the 2000 Coleman National Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena, Calif.

Among other activities, she leads a summer study abroad program each June in Italy, “Music and Culture of Northern Italy,” which provides students the opportunity to explore historic opera houses, composers’ residences and Stradivarius collections, and perform chamber music concerts in beautiful castle courtyards.