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Fall 2015
UWSP OBOE BULLETIN
TEACHING ARTISTS, TRANSFORMING LIVES.
Opportunities
UWSP Wind Ensemble oboists after their terrific concert
Free Lesson
Come check out UW-Stevens Point and get a
free oboe lesson! You’re welcome to spend an
hour or a day, visiting the school and Music
Department.
Everything Oboe Day
Put February 13, 2016 on your calendars for
UWSP Oboe Day/Woodwind Workshops Day.
It’s like a mini-camp, as we’ll have master
classes, work on reeds and play ensembles.
Visit uwsp.edu/music for more information.
Auditions
Auditions are required for all incoming music
majors and minors prior to admission to the
Department of Music. Dates for admission and
scholarship consideration for Fall 2016 are:
February 27, 2016
March 12, 2016
Solo & Ensemble Prep Day
April 23rd, 2016 is a chance to come in for a free
lesson prior to State Solo & Ensemble .
Summer Music Camp
UWSP Camp COFAC – an oboe camp and band
camp combined - will be June 19-25, 2016. We’ll
make reeds, play oboe ensembles and more! For
more information, visit
http://www.uwsp.edu/cofac/FineArtsCamp
The oboe studio is part of the
outstanding Department of
Music at the University of
Wisconsin – Stevens Point.
Oboists can pursue degrees
in music, music performance
and music education. Many
music students are even
double majors outside of
music! A new opportunity is
an Instrumental
Performance Certificate for
intensive music performance
studies as a non-major.
If you are considering
UWSP, come for a day on
campus and attend classes
and rehearsals, get a lesson
with Prof. Berk and meet
students already in the
program. This is the best
way to see if UWSP is the
right place for you.
Oboe in Football Season
Now that school is in session, many high school oboists
are involved in bands and wind ensembles, but not
everyone has the option of playing their oboes at
school if the school has marching band in place of
concert band. While I appreciate marching bands and
the lessons and friendships they promote (I was in the
percussion line in high school and drum major in my
college band), marching band doesn’t help double
reed players develop on their instruments. If you find
yourself in this situation, or are even just too busy
with other obligations, there are still ways to combat
your oboes skills from slipping. Obviously the best
way would be to take private lessons and to work
with an oboe teacher outside of school.
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Oboe in Football Season (continued)
If private lessons are not an
option, then search for great oboe
recordings and add them to your
playlists. There are many options
today for downloading excellent
recordings. Listen to amazing
performers and ingrain their tone
into your ideal of what an oboe
should sound like. Some
suggested oboists are: Diana
Doherty, Allan Vogel, Hansjörg
Schellenberger, Eugene Izotov,
Alex Klein and François Leleux.
Students who have a clear
concept of what professional
oboists sound like are more likely
to adapt their embouchures and
the shape of their mouths to try to
recreate that sound. Without that
sense of quality tone, students
sometimes just play the reed and
allow it to be as bright and
“reedy” as it wants to be.
So if you’re in marching band,
enjoy the experience and all that
it offers! In the meantime,
though, keep developing your
skills on the oboe so you can be
prepared for your concert
ensemble rehearsals with strong
embouchures, good air support
and a solid sense of tone.
Secondly, you’ll need to find some
time with the oboe and get your
“chops” (both embouchure and
fingers) in shape. Find some music
and sight read pieces. Pick one to
work on, and enjoy the process of
making it better every time you
practice. One book I particularly like
is Oboe Solos, edited by Jay Arnold
(available on Amazon) as it has a
variety of great pieces to study.
Aaron Rodgers doesn’t play the
oboe, but imagine how much he
would practice if he did!
Excellence takes time and effort
but is worth it.
Online Events Calendar
The College of Fine Arts &
Communication is a vibrant college
with events to attend almost daily
during the school year! For
information about current events,
LIKE us on Facebook or visit our web
page at www.uwsp.edu/cofac to
view the schedule of events.
Why study music at UWSP?
22:1 student to faculty ratio
100% graduates hired or
enrolled in graduate school
within one year of
graduating
Multiple large ensemble and
chamber music
opportunities for students
Personal attention in a
supportive environment
with high expectations
A UWSP oboist making reeds during studio
class. All oboe students at UWSP learn reed
making and reed fixing as part of their studies.
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I appreciate hearing from you!
Please call or email.
Stacey Berk
Professor of Oboe
stacey.berk@uwsp.edu
715-256-1526
UW-Stevens Point
Department of Music
Noel Fine Arts Center
1800 Portage Street
Stevens Point, WI 54481
www.uwsp.edu/music