OakwoodChamberPlayers

RICHLAND CONCERT ASSOCIATION

February 18, 2024 – Oakwood Chamber Players

February 18, 2024 – Oakwood Chamber Players

An ever-inventive group of creatives, the Oakwood Chamber Players have been a chamber music staple throughout the Madison community for over 36 years. Driven by excellence in performance, program selection, and outreach to the community, the OCP is committed to bringing Madison and Wisconsin the finest in classical and new art music. Maintaining “a long tradition of stimulating programming” (Madison Magazine), this six-piece, mixed string/wind ensemble’s performances consistently lift up unheard voices, introducing audiences to new composers and works that are sure to become fast favorites. The OCP is particularly overjoyed to be partnering with ALL this season for a year of unforgettable performances. If you’d like to learn more about the players and their upcoming season, please visit https://oakwoodchamberplayers.com/ or find them on Facebook or Instagram.

MEET the PLAYERS

The Oakwood Chamber Players celebrate thirty-six years of music making together. Six professionals committed to excellence in performance, program selection and outreach to the community join to bring Madison and Wisconsin the finest in classical and new art music for mixed ensemble of strings and winds.

Marilyn Chohaney, Flute

Marilyn has been an Artistic Director with the Oakwood Chamber Players since 1989. She studied flute with Bill Hebert in Cleveland, Michel Debost and Jean-Pierre Rampal in France, and has her undergraduate degrees in flute performance and chemistry from Wellesley College. She is a retired family physician Professor Emeritus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her husband, David Lonsdorf, have three grown children scattered across the country. She is an active freelance musician, and has a passion for playing piccolo, which she indulges as piccoloist with the Capitol City Band.

Valree Casey, Oboe

Valree Casey is the newest Artistic Diretor and member of the Oakwood Chamber Players. She is a freelance oboist and English hornist who performs regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles in Southern Wisconsin. Originally from San Diego, CA, Valree studied at the Vienna Konservatorium in Vienna, Austria. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Michigan in Performance, Oboe and a Bachelor of Music from the University of the Pacific. She has been fortunate to study with Nancy Ambrose King, Harry Sargous, Tom Nugent, Michael Turnovsky and Peggy Michael. In addition to her performances, Valree is a private music instructor with a studio full of young, aspiring students. She is also a mother of three boys – twin fifteen-year-olds and a thirteen-year-old.and an eleven-year-old.

Nancy Mackenzie, Clarinet

Nancy Mayland Mackenzie is a native of Madison and is an original member and Artistic Director of the Oakwood Chamber Players. Nancy performs regularly as Principal Clarinet of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Second Clarinet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Nancy pursued advanced degree work in clarinet performance at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, Violin

Hailing from the far-off land of Iowa City, Iowa, Elspeth Stalter-Clouse has been playing the violin since she was 5 years old. She moved to Madison in 2012 to pursue her master’s degree in violin performance, where she studied with David Perry. While in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Elspeth held a performance assistantship with the Hunt Quartet, an education and outreach ensemble that performs in elementary schools throughout Madison. She joined the Oakwood Chamber Players in 2019. Elspeth now lives in Madison with her husband and her ornery cat, OllieBall. Outside of Oakwood, she plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Underground Chamber Collective. When not practicing or rehearsing, Elspeth can be found outside on long hikes when the weather is bullish, and inside knitting when the weather is bearish.

Amanda Szczys, Bassoon

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Amanda King Szczys received her Bachelor of Music degree, Summa Cum Laude, in Bassoon Performance from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. She then earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. Formerly a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Amanda is currently Principal Bassoon of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Second Bassoon of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Amanda has also appeared with the Milwaukee, New World, and Toledo Symphonies. She joined the Oakwood Chamber Players as an Artistic Director in 2007.

Maggie Darby Townsend, Cello

An Artistic Director and member of Oakwood Chamber Players since 2011, Maggie Darby Townsend received her Bachelor Degree in Music from the University of Iowa in 2002 as a student of Charles Wendt. In 2004, she finished her Masters of Music with Uri Vardi at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She works at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the UW-Madison, is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and plays in chamber music groups in the Madison area.

https://oakwoodchamberplayers.com/

Last update 0505/23