Oboist joins percussion duo in free concert

Contact: Dannielle Sturgeon

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Guest oboist Andreas Oeste will join forces with percussionists Brant Blackard and Connor Stevens of Duo Tierra Fria in a program of eclectic works for oboe and percussion at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22, in Western Michigan University’s Dalton Center Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Oeste

Oeste is an adjunct instructor of oboe at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, and principal oboe of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania and the Battle Creek Symphony in Michigan. Last April Oeste was awarded third prize at the International Barbirolli Competition on the Isle of Man and received honorable mention in the Gillet-Fox Competition in June at the International Double Reed Conference in Appleton, Wisconsin. Oeste is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan, studying with Dr. Nancy Ambrose King.

Photo of percussionists Brant Blackard and Connor Stevens of Duo Tierra Fria standing in front of a large xylaphone holding mallets.

Duo Tierra Fria

Duo Tierra Fria

Duo Tierra Fria was formed in 2014 while Blackard and Stevens were attending the Eastman School of Music, and they have since performed internationally with the Eastman Broadband Ensemble in Valencia, Spain, and at the soundSCAPE festival in Maccagno, Italy. Most recently, they finished a tour of universities where they performed concerts and gave clinics on performing transcriptions and arrangements for percussion. Those schools include University of South Carolina, Virginia Tech University, Radford University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia and Kennesaw State University. They have also performed and presented at Atlanta Percussion Symposium, Florida State University, South Alabama University, University of Central Arkansas and University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

For more information about the concert, visit wmich.edu/music or call (269) 387-4667.

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