Current Season Guests, Oboist, Performer
Hailed by the New York Times for her “magnificently sweet tone,” oboist Keve Wilson would skip music theory and history as a kid to practice Irish jigs and reels instead. She recently wrapped up production on Broadway as oboist for the celebrated revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. Other Broadway shows she’s held chairs in are Carousel with Renee Fleming as well as the 2014 Tony Winner A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Keve inspires visiting high school band and orchestra students from around the country with her original show Believe NYC — from the Band Room to Broadway. A winner of Concert Artists Guild and solo oboist with the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, she has performed in Amsterdam, Argentina, Austria, Dubai, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Panama, New Zealand, Sicily, and South Korea. She plays oboe for Encores! at City Center and recently recorded for Bruce Springsteen and Stone Temple Pilots. Keve spent 6 years in Los Angeles as 2nd oboist of Opera Pacific, recorded for TV commercials and films, and premiered After Hearing Bach by Peter Schickele for oboe and string quartet. During the pandemic, Keve performed numerous shows with her duo partner and childhood friend Rachel Handman along with their band. The group played at the Javits Center every Sunday for vaccinations as well as at Feinstein’s/54 Below, Chelsea Table & Stage, The Culinary Institute of America, and at Mt. Sinai in NYC.
From Hyde Park, NY and a graduate of Eastman School of Music, Keve studied oboe with Richard Killmer, piano with Judith Handman and dance with Elizabeth Clark. She lives in New York City with her husband Kerry and Portuguese water dog Bugsy.
Oboist, Performer
Oboist Jacqueline Leclair resides in New York City and Montréal Québec and is a member of Signal and Sequitur. She can frequently be heard performing with other New York City ensembles. As of August 2012, Dr. Leclair is Assistant Professor of Oboe at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. From 2007-2012, she was Assistant Professor of Oboe at Bowling Green State University (Ohio). 2010-2012, she also served as BGSU’s MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music’s Director.
Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIIa Supplementary Edition by Jacqueline Leclair is published by Universal Edition, Vienna, and Dr. Leclair’s recording of the piece is on Mode Record’s collection of all the Berio Sequenzi and other solo works.
Summer festivals for which Dr. Leclair has served as faculty and/or performer include the Lincoln Center Festival (NYC), Chamber Music Conference at Bennington College (VT), June In Buffalo (NY), Chamber Music Festival of Aguascalientes (Mexico), East/West Festival (Kazan, Tatarstan) and the Sebago Music Festival (ME) among others.
In addition to performing a variety of classical and other musics, Dr. Leclair specializes in the study and performance of new music. She has premiered many works, and she regularly presents classes in contemporary music and its techniques at schools such as UCLA, the Eastman School of Music, Brigham Young University, The North Carolina School for the Arts and University of California San Diego.
Dr. Leclair has recorded for labels such as Nonesuch, CRI, Koch, Neuma, and CBS Masterworks, receiving critical acclaim in particular for her premiere recording of Roger Reynolds’ Summer Island.
Dr. Leclair studied with Richard Killmer and Ronald Roseman at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and SUNY Stony Brook, earning a Bachelor of Music, Performer’s Certificate, Masters Degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts.
The New York Times has reviewed Dr. Leclair’s performances as “astonishing” and as having “electrifying agility”; and the New Yorker has referred to her as “lively” and “wonderful.”
