For more than five decades, pianist Tiina Mitt Flawn has shared the rare gift of transforming sound into story—captivating audiences across North America and Europe with a musical voice shaped by heritage, discipline, and an almost magical ear. As Westbrook’s Artist of the Month, her story is one of devotion to both craft and community, making her upcoming move from the neighborhood especially poignant for those who have been fortunate enough to know her.

Music has been woven into Tiina’s life from the very beginning. Born into a deeply artistic family in Canada, she is the third generation of musicians—her grandfather, Albert Erm, was a celebrated principal percussionist with the Estonia Opera and Symphony Orchestra. By age three and a half, Tiina was already revealing extraordinary talent. After hearing a Sunday school song, she sat at the piano and played it back purely by ear. When her mother, a piano teacher, asked how she knew what to do, Tiina simply pointed to her ear: “my ear said so.”

Blessed with perfect pitch and nurtured in a musical household, Tiina began her studies at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, eventually earning her A.R.C.T. with first-class honours. She later completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Toronto and a graduate diploma in Performing Arts at the University of Western Ontario, where she received cum laude for a master’s recital featuring the entire Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach.

Her training extended internationally—most notably in Salzburg, Austria, where she spent seven formative summers at the Mozarteum Academy, studying under revered professors and performing as the final soloist in the Festspiel concert each year.

Throughout her musical journey, Tiina has been supported by her husband, Jonathan, whose encouragement has been a steady and loving presence. As she notes, “my husband, who has been my biggest supporter and very knowledgeable also about classical music,” has shared in her artistic life with genuine appreciation and insight. Their partnership has enriched her career and grounded her through decades of performances, travel, and study.

Tiina’s musical soul has always been drawn to structure, clarity, and beauty—qualities she finds endlessly inspiring in Baroque music. She describes her early years of practice as filled with genuine joy; a love of learning and a curiosity for sound that has carried her through a lifetime of artistry.

Over the years, she has taken master classes with Guido Agosti, Carlo Zecchi, and Winfried Wolf, and has been awarded more than 20 scholarships, including the prestigious Aga Wagstaff Harris Scholarship, also awarded to Glenn Gould in 1957.

With a career stretching more than 50 years, Tiina has performed over 500 recitals across the United States, Sweden, Italy, Estonia, Austria, and Germany, as well as an impressive number throughout Canada. Her performances have graced many of the world’s most respected venues, including:

One of her most treasured performances took place in 1999 in Tallinn, Estonia, a concert given in memory of her grandfather, Albert Erm. The audience included many of his former colleagues from the Estonian Symphony Orchestra as well as past students. Tiina describes the experience as “very special,” a moment that beautifully intertwined legacy, family, and the continuity of artistry across generations.

During her 3.5 years in Westbrook, Tiina has also shared her talents with local audiences. She has performed for community events at Savannah Quarters, including the Ladies Golf League closing dinner and a festive Christmas carol sing-along where residents selected carols for her to play on the spot—an effortless task for someone with perfect pitch.

She has also shared educational performances, including a fascinating program demonstrating the connections between classical and rock music, interweaving lecture and live performance.

Looking ahead, Tiina hopes to return for future recitals featuring composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, and Brahms—a program she looks forward to presenting wherever life takes her next.

As Tiina and Jonathan prepare to leave Westbrook at the end of the year, they do so with deep gratitude for their time here.