Texas High School All State Oboe and Bassoon Masterclasses
Where to go on Saturday for the masterclass – arrive by 1:45pm on November 16th:
Berkner HS
1600 E Spring Valley Rd, Richardson, TX 75081
Dallas Area Oboe and Bassoon Masterclasses
All State Etudes for Oboe, Bassoon, English Horn, and Contrabassoon
November 16, 2024
2:00pm to 4:00pm
Berkner High School in Richardson, TX
Oboe Clinician: Dr. Sara Renner, University of Texas, El Paso
Bassoon Clinician: Dr. Susan Nelson, Bowling Green State University
Soloists and Student Observers welcome. Soloists perform part of the music and receive a critique from the clinician.
Observers play when others play, but not by themselves. Soloist spots limited – we recommend signing up early if you wish to be a soloist (play for the professor).
$25 for soloists – $10 for observers
On time deadline is November 1 (after that late fee of $10 applies)
Enrollment closes November 10th after 11:59pm
No refunds offered.
This is an in-person event.
*This masterclass will be working on high school level music – younger players are welcome to sign up, however please note that they will mainly be observing since they are usually not working on the high school audition music yet.
FAQ:
Q: Can people play contrabassoon or English horn for this masterclass?
A. Yes. The EH music is the same as the oboe music (but the contra music is different, so they can play the contra music, but the entire class may not be focussed on the contra etudes)
Q: Are you planning any other masterclasses in other cities (Austin, Houston, San Antonio, etc…)?
A: No, unfortunately we are not.
Q: Are you planning any other masterclasses for other dates?
A: No, we are not.
Q: Can I watch this online?
A: We are not planning to stream the masterclasses. This will be an in person event.
Q: Can parents stay and watch?
A: Yes, and there is no charge for that.
Q: Can lesson teachers come and watch?
A: Yes, lesson teachers are welcome to attend and watch for free.
Meet our clinicians below!
Dr. Sara Renner
Dr. Sara Renner joined the faculty at the University of Texas El Paso in 2023, where she serves as Assistant Professor of Instruction of Oboe. An accomplished oboist with a multifaceted career, Dr. Renner is an active performer, educator, and recording artist. She has taught at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the University of Alabama, Washburn University, and the Omaha Conservatory of Music.
An active performer, Dr. Renner currently serves as Acting Principal Oboe for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. Her orchestral experience has spanned numerous orchestras in the Midwest including the Springfield (MO) Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, and South Dakota Symphony.
An advocate for new music, Dr. Renner commissioned a set of new works for unaccompanied oboe and English horn for her first solo album, Oboe: Unfolded, which was released in 2020.
Dr. Renner played second oboe on Parable of a Stormy Sea for oboist and composer Alyssa Morris’s newest album, Ruminations, which was released on the MSR Classics Label in 2022. This collaboration led to a featured recital of music for oboe trios on the 34th season of the celebrated Vespers Concert Series in Omaha, Nebraska in 2023, including the Midwestern Premiere of Parable of a Stormy Sea.
Dr. Renner has extensive experience as an international performer. In the summer of 2017, Dr. Renner joined the festival orchestra of the OperaMaya International Music Festival based in Cancún, Mexico as Principal Oboe, where she performed across the Yucatán. Dr. Renner was appointed to Woodwind Faculty in 2020 and continues to serve the festival during their summer season. As the former principal oboist of Shen Yun Performing Arts, Dr. Renner has performed in numerous opera houses and concert halls in the United States and abroad, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, David Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, Barbican Centre (London), Arts Centre (Melbourne), Bunka Kaikan Theatre (Tokyo), and others. She completed three international tours across Canada, Europe, Argentina, Australia, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
Dr. Renner holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Performance from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, respectively. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in 2019 from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where her secondary discipline was Musicology with an emphasis in Early Music. Her teachers include Dr. Mark Ostoich, Dwight Parry, Christopher Philpotts, and Dr. Susan Hatch Tomkiewicz.
Dr. Susan Nelson
Dr. Susan Nelson is the Associate Professor of Bassoon and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Ohio, and enjoys an active career as a performer, teacher, and clinician. Dr. Nelson is an advocate for new music as well as chamber music for the bassoon, and is the Director of the non-profit organization Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition (BCMCC) and founding member of Across the Grain bassoon/percussion duo.
Dr. Nelson teaches at various camps, including BGSU’s Double Reed Camp and The Renova Festival. She has performed with the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, Michigan Opera Theatre, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and Helena Symphony, among others. She has also given solo performances at the International Double Reed Society Conferences in Boulder (CO), Redlands (CA), Oxford (OH), New York, Tokyo (Japan), and Thailand, among others.
Dr. Nelson has taught bassoon and theory at Stephen F. Austin State University and played with the Stone Fort Wind Quintet in Nacogdoches, Texas. She also taught at both Adrian (MI) and Heidelberg (OH) Colleges and was a member of the Heidelberg faculty wind quintet. She also held the position of principal bassoon in the Great Falls Symphony and was a member of the Chinook Winds quintet in Great Falls, Montana. She can be heard on the album Elements, through the MSR Classics label, which features winning works from select BCMCC competitions. Dr. Nelson is a graduate of the University of Kansas, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Michigan. Her primary teachers include Jeffrey Lyman, Carl Rath, and Alan Hawkins. Dr. Nelson is a Fox Artist. www.susannelsonmac.com