Paul Thompson and Shelly Monier are what he calls sort of friendly rivals.

They're both flute professors -- he at Southeast Missouri State University and she at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Thompson said often when potential students come to audition at Southeast, he'll ask what other institutions they're looking at, and SIU Edwardsville will always be on the list.

"Because she's such a good teacher, and she's magnetic," Thompson said.

Monier is a graduate of Southeast who studied with Thompson while obtaining her bachelor's degree in music education. Although, he said she began taking lessons from him even prior to that in high school.

They've kept in touch, and he's seen her succeed equally as a musician and professor. Monier completed her master's degree in flute performance at Illinois State University and her doctorate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Aside from her teaching at SIU Edwardsville, she conducts the Flute Choir there and is the president of the Flute Society of St. Louis.

Now, Thompson will bring Monier back to Southeast on March 8 to teach a flute masterclass and perform a recital.

He highlighted Ian Clarke's "Hatching Aliens" that Monier will play. The piece was inspired from the 1979 movie "Alien" and formally premiered in August 2008. Thompson said the composition mixes pop, rock and jazz influences into its classical music foundation, giving off an eerie resonance.

He added the extraterrestrial sound is also a result of extended techniques -- meaning for a flutist, unconventional breathing or finger patterns.

Thompson said Monier will switch to the other end of the music spectrum for a 1701 Baroque piece by Marin Marais entitled "Les Folies d'Espagne." It'll be set up in collaboration with the nine performing students at the masterclass, as the theme is in 24 variations.

"Shelly will start off, and then, basically, [the students will] all be lined up and they'll just go down the line, one after another," Thompson said.

Thompson noted it can be easy as a private lesson instructor to become either too lenient or too strict. He said Monier holds that rare balance between kindness and professionalism. But he recalled she has downright talent, too.

"Even to this day, I don't think out of all the students I've taught, here and elsewhere, I don't know that I've ever had anybody play the scales as well as she does, which sounds like a very mundane thing, but believe me, that's pretty foundational," Thompson said.

Thompson said it's tradition that masterclasses precede a recital. It has a little something to do with pedagogy and sparking inspiration in students, but, essentially, it comes down to fairness.

"It's also fair in the sense that if the students play for the master teacher, it only seems fair that the teacher should then play for the students," Thompson said.

There's no real comparison to participating in a masterclass, according to Thompson. Musicians practice in so many distinct ways, from private rooms, individually, to taught lessons with an ensemble. And each of these experiences is slightly different. Same goes for a masterclass.

"It's often more nerve-racking than doing your senior recital or something, because the room's full of other flute players and you're being judged and you want to impress -- it's tough," Thompson said. "It's a kind of uniquely effective way to toughen yourself up."

As a professor, himself, Thompson sees the importance of providing his students different perspectives from different players.

"They get a lot of me, and if you've been studying with me for two or three years, with anybody, there comes a point where they probably can predict what I'm going to say before I even say it," Thompson said.

Learning from a female and someone who grew up in the United States like Monier as opposed to from Thompson, who grew up in England, brings new ideas to the table.

Thompson said, being an alumna, Monier serves as even more of a role model to current students. She's proof that a life dedicated to music isn't impossible.

"That with a lot of hard work and some gifts, chiefly perseverance, you really can make it in the profession," Thompson said.