Ms. Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo
Lecturer of Flute
Pottle 111
(985) 549-2883
Rachel.Ciraldo@selu.edu
Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo is principal flutist of the Baton 
Rouge Symphony Orchestra and Instructor of Flute at Southeastern Louisiana University.
She began her orchestral career performing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and
has held piccolo positions with the Hingham Symphony Orchestra, in Boston, MA, and
the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, in Victoria, TX. She has also played with the orchestras
of Austin, Santa Fe, Acadiana, Mobile, and Mississippi.
Ms. Ciraldo won Third Prize and the award for the Best Performance of the Newly Commissioned Work in the 2007 National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition. She also won first prizes in the 2006 Byron Hester Flute Competition, 2002 James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and the 1998 Flute Festival Mid-South Young Artist Competition. Her piccolo solo debut occurred in the Boston Symphony’s Orchestra Hall in the Steinway 100th Anniversary Gala, performing with several Steinway Artists.
Ms. Ciraldo is an active chamber musician and performs regularly with guitarist and husband, Nicholas Ciraldo, in the Ciraldo Duo. They were winners on the National Flute Association’s Chamber Music Competition in 2003 and Semi-Finalists in the 2004 Gaetano Zinneti International Chamber Music Festival. They have performed internationally, including locations in Italy, Brazil, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Advocates of classical music education in school, they have participated in community partnership programs with the Austin Classical Guitar Society and twice with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Ciraldo earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University where she studied with Thomas Robertello and Jacques Zoon. She earned a Master of Music degree from Boston University where she studied with Marianne Gedigian. She has also studied extensively with Jill Felber, Amy Porter, and Angela Jones-Reus.