flutist / teaching artist / writer
"A beautiful storyteller"
~ VERONICA LOPEZ,
violist & music educator
"Remarkably talented... I could not be
happier with our collaboration."
~ MOLLY RICE, artistic director of
Real/Time Interventions
"Theresa offered an insightful presentation
that reflected her courage, artistry, & grace."
~ MONIQUE MEAD, violinist & professor
at Carnegie Mellon University
Noted for her "gorgeous, frictionless sound," Theresa Seguritan Abalos is a Pittsburgh-based flutist, teaching artist, & writer. She creates experiences of sound & language to explore themes related to belonging, body, & identity.
Recent performances include "Around the Fire" — a live-art collaboration with Leah Stevens featuring flute, electronics, & storytelling — and Khūrākī, commissioned by the Office of Public Art and created by RealTime Interventions with Pittsburgh's Afghan refugee community.
From 2019-2021 she was the flutist of Ears Engaged, a chamber ensemble bringing interactive experiences of classical music into Pittsburgh's community spaces. During the pandemic, Ears Engaged performed monthly virtual concerts for a senior home through the Iris Music Project.
In 2019 Theresa created "Poems in Practice Rooms", a performance examining race & perfectionism in classical music. Awarded a fellowship from the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, her short-film version (2020) was praised as "profound, sad, uplifting, powerful, and beautiful" (Paul Eiss).
As a teaching artist, Theresa offers workshops on creative expression & entrepreneurship, most recently through Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra & Youth Chamber Connection.
As a window into her creative process, she shares clips of practicing, drafts of creative writing, reflections on building her career through a blog.
2019. With the Philippine-American Performing Arts of Greater Pittsburgh. Photo by Kartinah Dimaculangan.
In 2018 Theresa researched meanings & roles of música folclórica in Argentina, presenting her research at the Society of Ethnomusicology in 2019. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2020 with a BXA degree in Flute Performance & Global Studies.
A daughter of Filipino immigrants, Theresa is deeply grateful to her parents, to Alberto Almarza, Monique Mead, Jennie Dorris, and many others.
Currently she balances part-time work — from Carnegie Mellon's Global Communication Center to the counter of a local bakery — with creative work around Pittsburgh & on Patreon.
October 2021. From a series of improvised music I share on Patreon.
Visit this page for news, photos, & more on Theresa's work.
Patreon is a platform for creatives to generate income from their work through the support of an online community.