I am professor of flute at Delta State University where, in addition to private flute I teacher music history and direct the flute choir. I hold BM, MM, and DMA degrees in flute performance and has studied with William Bennett, Torkil Bye and James Pellerite. Over the years I have gained an international reputation as a performer and teacher of flute. I have taught classes from Vienna, Austria to Wellington, New Zealand. I have been featured soloist with the Mississippi Symphony and the Mississippi Chamber Orchestra.

I was selected to perform and present at the National Flute Association Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2003. There were two topics: one on old French flutes which I discussed my instruments and performed and the other on sight reading for amateur flutists. I was profiled in the Marquis Who’s Who in America, 2003 edition. My composition “Mockingbird Variations” is published by ALRY Publications.

As a recording artist I have released two solo CDs, one of Kuhlau Sonatas on the Centaur label and one of music by Mississippi composers on the Delta Classic label. In a review of the Kuhlau CD, Fanfare Magazine states "Pettway plays with impressive technical skill, producing a smooth legato and consistently phrases with intelligence. But his greatest asset is the strong rhythmic vitality which he brings to this music. This a quality not often found in flutists..."

In fall of 2003 I was on sabbatical from my teaching job to do a study on flute and piano music by Canadian composers. While traveling and doing research in late September, I gave classes and performed at the University of British Columbia, the Victoria Conservatory of Music and Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington. Later I traveled to Toronto for further research. The result of my study was a concert of all Canadian flute music performed in April, 2004.