Vanessa Fourla is a versatile musical artist, performer, educator, arranger, digital media specialist, and arts administrator. She is currently a Live Music Specialist at Royal Caribbean International, sourcing, casting, and booking musicians for the RCI fleet, as well as acting principal flute with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra. Vanessa has performed and presented at numerous national and international conferences, including the National Flute Association convention, National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Conference, Puerto Rico Flute Symposium, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, Mid-South Flute Society Festival, Florida Flute Association convention, Florida State Music Teachers Association conference, and International Festival Flute Meetings. In her latest transcriptions, she illuminates familiar works of Chopin for flute and piano. These transcriptions have gained attention for their creative flair and she has been invited to perform them at conventions and festivals across the United States. She is also a founding member of the diverse group of all-women performers, KHAOS Wind Quintet and has been on the faculties of the Killington Music Festival and the Frost Preparatory School at the University of Miami.

As an orchestral flutist, Vanessa has performed under the baton of notable conductors Marzena Diakun, Carl St. Clair, José Serebrier, Hobart Earle, Mark Gorenstein, Thomas Sleeper, Gerard Schwartz, Jeff Beal, Constantine Kitsopoulos, and Karolos Trikolidis. She also played principal flute on the Latin Grammy-nominated Sony Latin recording of Jorge Mejia An Open Book: A Memoir in Music, 25 Preludes for Piano and Orchestra.

Her enthusiasm for organizing and promoting classical concerts, her passion for teaching, and her background in music business has led to her positions of Assistant Program Chair and Public Relations Coordinator for the National Flute Association, Publicity Vice President and Director of Marketing of the Miami Music Teachers Association, as well as Media Specialist for YOUmedia Miami.  

Vanessa holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where she was Teaching Assistant to the Frost Flute Studio, a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow, and winner of the 2018 Frost Concerto Competition.  She received her Master of Music degree from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at the California State University, Long Beach, where she was also a Graduate Assistant and Cole Scholar. Vanessa completed her Bachelor of Music at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, and taught at music schools before continuing her studies in the U.S. Her teachers include Trudy Kane, John Barcellona, Rena Urso, Darrin Thaves, Othonas Gkogkas, Katrin Zenz, and Reni Tsalapati, and she is also honored to have learned from Sir James Galway, Carol Wincenc, Ian Clarke, Robert Dick, and Nicola Mazzanti. Vanessa plays a Muramatsu DS flute.