What age did you start playing music?
I started playing the oboe in 5th grade, when I was 10 yrs old. My teacher at the time let me borrow her English horn, so I was lucky to start playing that a few years later.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue music professionally?
At the end of junior year of high school when I started thinking about colleges and majors, it felt like the right choice for me.
What/who are your musical inspirations?
I’ve been lucky to study with incredibly talented and inspiring teachers! Day-to-day, I find musical inspiration from the friends and colleagues I collaborate with. As for musical celebrity inspirations, that’s easy – Hilary Hahn.
If you could program a TSO concert, what music would you select and why?
Faust et Helene by Lili Boulanger – An extremely talented composer who died when she was only 24, Lili Boulanger was the first female winner of the Grand Prix de Rome, an extremely prestigious award of her time – which she won for this piece, composed when she was only 19. The last time I performed this piece it was a deeply rewarding experience – the music is incredible, and it is tragically underplayed. It was extremely inspiring to watch the whole orchestra, myself included, experience this piece for the first time and fall in love with it over the course of our rehearsals.
Oboe Concerto by Ulysses Kay – Ulysses Kay is a local celebrity of sorts, he was born in Tucson and attended the University of Arizona! This solo piece for oboe and orchestra was written during his graduate studies at Eastman, performed once, and forgotten. Recently it has been rediscovered, and it’s been a personal project of mine to sift through the errors in the various versions in existence, and piece together my best idea of how Ulysses Kay wanted it to sound.
Three Cornered Hat by Manuel de Falla – Based on a Spanish folk story – a corrupt governor, the humble and honest miller, and his beautiful wife, whom the governor tries to seduce using his power and status – this piece tells a colorful and exciting story that is as much fun to play as it is to listen to. The piece was performed as a ballet with sets and costumes designed by Pablo Picasso, and today is performed both with and without dancers on the concert stage.
Which concert are you most looking forward to in the upcoming season?
Debussy’s La mer is one of my favorite pieces to present to audiences because of how effectively it portrays an acoustic picture of the sea, as well as how every instrument and section has solo features throughout the piece, giving everyone onstage the chance to shine. The English horn part is deceptively difficult but rewarding to pull off! The rest of the program is equally evocative and I am excited to present the full concert in January!
What do you love about the oboe and English horn?
The oboe and English horn have really unique roles in the orchestra and I think they get to play some of the best solos in the literature, so I feel very lucky to get to play both instruments! I also feel that my personality really fits well with what the instruments demand – between making reeds daily for both instruments to the incredibly delicate nature of the mechanics of the instruments, one must be extremely detail-oriented, meticulous, and precise just to make sure everything is working properly! Only after all of that do you get to start making music – sometimes it is deeply frustrating, but when it works it is extremely rewarding.
What do you love about Tucson?
Seeing the mountains every time I go outside!